Just like
@f1r3b1rd ...not wanting pictures as well I will do my part to ad too it but he pretty much covered the basics.
Nickel coils, just like any other, take time and practice to get the hang off. I have an early DNA 40 release that has bugs in it and doesn't correctly read the coil heating/resistance ratio level correctly. It will limit the coil very quickly giving a cool yucky vape at first but if I take my atty off and screw back on real quick while it's still warm and tell my DNA that it is a new coil it will fire quite nicely and do what it is supposed too. I have tried spaced coils and microcoils in 28 and 30 gauge Ni200 wire from Lightening Vapes and Tempco coming out in the .12-.16 range for resistance. I have used a 3.2 mm drill bit and even a 4 mm with mixed results till I figured out my board was demented like it's owner and we started getting along fine
When I first started wrapping these coils I hadn't read that you were supposed to not dry fire them, but I had read that you're supposed to clean them with alcohol as apposed to torching them (yes, sometimes I even need schooling and to pay more attention to those who know better, I am still learning too
) and I found that once you wrap a coil if you just quickly pulse it once or twice it would help it hold it's shape better and easier to wick as nickel coils are very flimsy and if you try and pull too much wick threw or the right amount too fast it can deform them quickly if not careful. I wouldn't pulse them over and over again or for several seconds. I have probably made 20 or so nickel coils and a few I wrapped just to pulse to see if the way I was winding them was evenly spreading heat threw them and there were no hot spots or if microcoiling nickel was even possible. Most of these were never wicked or vaped on...they were used for educational purposes to get a feel for the wire itself...something I recommend anyone starting to work with Nickel does as it is quite tempermental and far less forgiving than Kanthal or Nicrome is.
I also made these practice coils so I could see the temperature/resistance relation in action....as the coil heats up the resistance increases several times it's original reading and drops down just as quickly as it cools....I don't remember the exact numbers off the top of my head and since I can't vape and read my screen at the same time very well it would be just as good as me guessing...but if I remember right the practice coils jumped from like .16 to .76 or something close to that and dropped back down as quickly as it rose set at 25 watts with the temp limiter set at 400 degrees.
Honestly I've only gotten one good micro and one good non micro coil out of them and I don't play with it much to be a "geneous" or even "well informed" on the subject as my rDNA 40 has become my daily driver with my Subtank and my DNA 30 with my Kayfun or my old Provari with my Nautilus as my second one as I just can't vape one flavor all day and until I have the money to order the Subtank nickel coils from vaporshark to come pare I am waiting for my PVA 40 to come with the newer, bug free, DNA 40D version 4 chip to really dive into messing with temp control....but I am full of information of how not to make the coil as you should be able to tell from above...and sometimes knowing what not to do is just as important as knowing what to do....at least in my world it works like that
It's going to take a little more patience than it does learning to work with Kanthal to get the hang of so like I said, I would cut and clean several pieces of wire, practice wrapping coils in different diameters above 3 mm in your gauge of choice and the first few I wouldn't wick, just put in your atty and see how they fire...once you've got a feel for your spacing or lack there of then wrap a coil and wick and juice it before you fire it because once it's fired it will temper and change your coil...you'll be done working with it once it's fired. I did try and torch a piece of nickel and wrap with it to see how well it would work and although it wrapped into a coil it didn't seem to want to fire right once wicked...I have no logical explanation for this, just my observation....
I hope this is enough to avoid my name from being put into the "drawing"...that is a prize I am sure I am not the only one that is scared of "winning" around here