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CrazyChef v2.0

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I have an X1 and it has a very stiff button throw
You could replace the spring with a lighter one I suppose, but otherwise it was designed for the Hulk, or maybe She-Hulk

I'll sell you my blue chrome one with matching RDA lol :teehee:
You serious Meg? Bout the x1?
That's odd, because the throw on mine (I have the blue chrome as well) is right on par with the Ruby, Broadside, and SΩI Shorty. No where near the muscle needed to use something like a Purge.
 

zephyr

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That's odd, because the throw on mine (I have the blue chrome as well) is right on par with the Ruby, Broadside, and SΩI Shorty. No where near the muscle needed to use something like a Purge.

I got it out to try it again, it's not as bad as I remember but still pretty firm, too firm for my lady fingers! It's more the feeling like I'm holding a lead pipe in my hand I don't like, same for copper 24mm mods, like I'm ready to punch someone in the fave rather than enjoy a nice relaxing vape lol

It may just need a good cleaning, like everything else in that bulk package I got - I never bothered with it because it was huge and heavy (for me)

My SOI Shorty has a slightly easier throw, but I like, um, pretty much no effort, so, magnets :D
 

Guyando115

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Hey, the last 3 aliens I've made, and I'm just making 6 inches at a time to make things easier, as soon as i hit the exact middle it's doubled over. Just once. All 3 times, in the exact same spot. It's doing my head in after i knocked out 2 perfect lengths. I'm thinking i might wait till i get my lt spinner cos it's doing my head in! It's not my wrap, not my angles etc. How can it keep happening in the same spot? Aaargh!
 

zephyr

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Hey, the last 3 aliens I've made, and I'm just making 6 inches at a time to make things easier, as soon as i hit the exact middle it's doubled over. Just once. All 3 times, in the exact same spot. It's doing my head in after i knocked out 2 perfect lengths. I'm thinking i might wait till i get my lt spinner cos it's doing my head in! It's not my wrap, not my angles etc. How can it keep happening in the same spot? Aaargh!

You got at least two options, you could go slow when it gets close to the middle, and as soon as the cores bind up, squish them flat again with some toothless or nylon pliers

Or put a binding wire, ribbon is great for it, to slide down as you wrap to keep the cores flat
 

Guyando115

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Hmm. Just shouldn't be happening though. I'm supposed to get my spinner in a week so i might just make heaps of decores and fused Claptons till it gets here and hope that device makes things easier. So frustrating to have made some and go backwards! Thanks for the tip, i have some ribbon. I'll give it 1 more go and see if that helps. Thank you.
 

jasonandsarah

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Hey, the last 3 aliens I've made, and I'm just making 6 inches at a time to make things easier, as soon as i hit the exact middle it's doubled over. Just once. All 3 times, in the exact same spot. It's doing my head in after i knocked out 2 perfect lengths. I'm thinking i might wait till i get my lt spinner cos it's doing my head in! It's not my wrap, not my angles etc. How can it keep happening in the same spot? Aaargh!
When you start your alien are you in the middle of It? Hard to explain but if you start on the very far end, once you get towards the middle the look of the angle is gonna be harder to judge. So if you set yourself up in the middle you'll be looking a little left but it'll make the transition easier to the middle and all the way through.
There's probably a 75% chance that made little sence. Sorry if Im not explaining it right.
Also everyone's different but I like to stand up and look down at the coil. Making sure the area underneath is clean and I also used to use reading glasses even though I have perfect vision. When you just starting to get the hang of it every little edge helps.
Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
 

Guyando115

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Sorry, i don't really understand that. Starting in the middle? I make 6 inch cores and start right at 1 end, by the drill. It works beautifully for 3 inches then when i get to the middle it overlaps once, just once, then works beautifully until the end. Makes no sense. But, I'll give it 1 more go, I'll try megs advice and if it doesn't work I'll wait for my spinner to arrive. And pray that sorts things out.
 

jasonandsarah

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Do you mean you don't wrap the 1st few inches of your core wires? Is that it?
No I start at the beginning but I set up in the middle. So I'm reaching to the left a tiny bit at the start but when I get to the middle I'm set up perfectly. If your gonna have a mess up it's way better to have it happen in the beginning or end. So I set up to be in the best position in the middle of my wrap. I wrap longer then 6" but I'm just saying what works for me.

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zephyr

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No I start at the beginning but I set up in the middle. So I'm reaching to the left a tiny bit at the start but when I get to the middle I'm set up perfectly. If your gonna have a mess up it's way better to have it happen in the beginning or end. So I set up to be in the best position in the middle of my wrap. I wrap longer then 6" but I'm just saying what works for me.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk


Ah you're talking about where you sit?
 

Guyando115

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Ah OK, i understand. I'm probably just to the left of my drill when i start so i could, move over a touch. But, because I'm only making 6 inches at a time there'd not a huge difference. Either way, I'll take your advice and see how it goes. Thanks.
 

zephyr

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Sorry, i don't really understand that. Starting in the middle? I make 6 inch cores and start right at 1 end, by the drill. It works beautifully for 3 inches then when i get to the middle it overlaps once, just once, then works beautifully until the end. Makes no sense. But, I'll give it 1 more go, I'll try megs advice and if it doesn't work I'll wait for my spinner to arrive. And pray that sorts things out.


Oh hey, are you talking about the Cores collapsing, or the wrap wire just goes over itself? What jason said may be more help than me if it's the wrap wire going over itself
 

Guyando115

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Yeah it's the wrap wire that overlaps just once. I've found if i make 6inch cores then they don't collapse.
 

Guyando115

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I'm hoping that with the lt spinner and the dual core holder thingy I'll be able to make 9 or 10 inches at a time. It's not a big deal but setting everything up takes a lot of time. Fingers crossed!
 

Carambrda

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Hey, which would you rate higher, the x1 or the vcm mech? Sorry to go off topic but I have the option to buy 1 of either cheap right now. X1 comes with matching rda and only costs $10 more.
Neither. I just don't like the VC Tech switch... I have both the VC Tech switch and the Comp-S switch for my brass XXX, and, the VC Tech has been sitting there gathering dust for much longer than I can remember. :p
 

zephyr

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This is hard and makes no sense, how to line up the swooshes? The best spot I got skipped every two wraps

IMG_20180406_104131~2.jpg IMG_20180406_104209~2.jpg
Gonna try again...

Hey, I squooshed it and they lined up a little more
IMG_20180406_104759~2.jpg

*Squoosh squoosh*...come on line up! Lmao!
 
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KarmicRage

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This is hard and makes no sense, how to line up the swooshes? The best spot I got skipped every two wraps

View attachment 108119 View attachment 108120
Gonna try again...
Try to lead your second pass less than the first pass, the first pass you want to lead it to get that spacing but with the second pass the curve of the decore should push itself into place, so use less of a leading angle. Just an idea anyway. Hope it helps

Sent from my MI MAX 2 using Tapatalk
 

Shredtravolta

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This is hard and makes no sense, how to line up the swooshes? The best spot I got skipped every two wraps

View attachment 108119 View attachment 108120
Gonna try again...

Hey, I squooshed it and they lined up a little more
View attachment 108121

*Squoosh squoosh...come on line up! Lmao!*
That actually looks really impressive Meg. I've never tried that. I was going to attempt an alien stagg last weekend but I chickened out.:oops: Maybe I'll work up the courage this weekend.
 

KarmicRage

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That actually looks really impressive Meg. I've never tried that. I was going to attempt an alien stagg last weekend but I chickened out.:oops: Maybe I'll work up the courage this weekend.
Go for it shred, honestly it looks more daunting than it actually is. Hardest thing about it is spacing freehand and there's only one way to get better at that ;) hope ya jump in both feet la

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zephyr

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zephyr

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Getting better! I accidentally grabbed 32 awg for the frames but decided to try it anyway since the 3 in the middle weren't spaced super well anyway, it still worked okay


So it's 3x28 inside 32 wrapped in 38, a little better and longer than the last one but the first pass of alien was actually worse than the other one

I'm going to try 30/40 next time

IMG_20180406_141654~2.jpg
 
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Guyando115

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Hey guys, this is going to sound like a dumb arse question after reading the last few Mges but here goes. When I'm making my decores i find i get a tighter wrap if i keep my 36g on an angle slightly towards the drill instead of at 90 degrees or even slightly in front. My question is, am i making things more difficult for myself when i go to wrap it? Should i stop doing this? Thanks.
 

mach1ne

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Hey guys, this is going to sound like a dumb arse question after reading the last few Mges but here goes. When I'm making my decores i find i get a tighter wrap if i keep my 36g on an angle slightly towards the drill instead of at 90 degrees or even slightly in front. My question is, am i making things more difficult for myself when i go to wrap it? Should i stop doing this? Thanks.
nope thats the best way to get tight wraps :cheers:
 

Guyando115

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Actually, I've got 1 more for you. When using ribbon, is there any way to make it nice and straight? Every now and then it gets caught on the roll and kinks it. Running it through my fingers doesn't always seem to help. Thanks again.
 

mach1ne

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Actually, I've got 1 more for you. When using ribbon, is there any way to make it nice and straight? Every now and then it gets caught on the roll and kinks it. Running it through my fingers doesn't always seem to help. Thanks again.
give it a bit of a stretch. if its already cut, you can grab both ends with pliers and slowly/gently apply more pull on it until you feel it move/stretch a bit. it only has to stretch like .5mm in length to completely straighten out. i do this to almost all my wire, as i pull if off the spool and measure it, and before i cut it off to use.
 

Guyando115

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I'll give that a go. Making staples is a piece of cake, all I've gotta do now is get my stagger - ing sorted. I'm gonna need more wire at this rate and all the distributors in Australia buy from the US and put a big mark up on it. I need to go to the source!
 

mach1ne

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I'll give that a go. Making staples is a piece of cake, all I've gotta do now is get my stagger - ing sorted. I'm gonna need more wire at this rate and all the distributors in Australia buy from the US and put a big mark up on it. I need to go to the source!
staggered fuse is my least favorite/lowest level skill i think. it was way harder for me than aliens, and because i got aliens easier i ended up making them more often and fell even further behind on my staggering...and yeah i feel you on the international wire ordering. im in canada and just crossing the border costs about $20 on top of shipping. i try not to order anything short of $100 if i can avoid it (paying $20 shipping on $25 item is the definition of pain lol :grumpy:)...

i should make a note regarding the ribbon advise above as well... if its got an actual kink/fold/crushed part in it, stretching might not fix it enough to be safe to coil up. bending ribbon is an art in itself. might be safer to scrap the kinked piece (or save it for ribbon sliders) and replace it.
 

Guyando115

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Ha the Australian govt recently tried to enforce $5 for each item coming into the country! Thank god it didn't pass. The Aussie/canadian dollars are on par so we're in the same boat buying US stuff. With the ribbon, i just tried straightening out a kink and i couldn't do it. Slight bends are OK but, yeah, seems there's a point of no return. I thought Squiddoodes trick with a loop of wire would make staggering easy but it's fiddly work. I've only got a few weeks of practice behind me so all the people here, you included, are so far ahead of me its not funny. Thank god for the internet!
 

Guyando115

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BTW, I'm assuming that a slider is a bit of well, crimped ribbon, that you can use to keep wires in place? I've never actually used 1. Would they help with alien building? Or more for ssfc's etc?
 

Carambrda

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BTW, I'm assuming that a slider is a bit of well, crimped ribbon, that you can use to keep wires in place? I've never actually used 1. Would they help with alien building? Or more for ssfc's etc?
They help to make things a lot more difficult... so more for those who don't like to do things the easiest way.
 

zephyr

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BTW, I'm assuming that a slider is a bit of well, crimped ribbon, that you can use to keep wires in place? I've never actually used 1. Would they help with alien building? Or more for ssfc's etc?

If you have enough slack between your drill and swivels that it looks like you're angling back toward the drill a few degrees to get close alien wraps, ribbon sliders would help yep

Just like you said,clapton an inch or so around a straight stack of ribbon, I always start at the folded end, and pinch with toothless pliers all around - pinch gently because too hard can deform the nice stack


From there you can put another slider right beside the first one same way, then slide it down toward the chuck, and either slide it to the end and glue and stick it in the chuck (I like this way, I can put a lot of tension on the ribbon stack that will keep them straight, and like Caram said, no more sliders needed

If you can't get them straight with tension, you can put one more slider about an inch in front of where you are wrapping and move it along each time you reach it - the sturdier/more tension your ribbon stack has, the farther in front you can keep the slider (or you can skip the slider altogether, and you wont have to pause and restart wrapping the alien)
 

mach1ne

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BTW, I'm assuming that a slider is a bit of well, crimped ribbon, that you can use to keep wires in place? I've never actually used 1. Would they help with alien building? Or more for ssfc's etc?
they can help hold more complex or smaller core wires together. not needed for giant 26 gauge aliens, as the core wires are stiff enough to resist all the tension and forces of building...but if you want 30/40 aliens you might need something. also handy for plain and framed staples, but not so much for ssfc (the slider will grab the spaced wraps and fuck your day up). learning to stop/move the slider/start cleanly again is not as hard as @Carambrda makes it sound lol :cheers:
 

Carambrda

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they can help hold more complex or smaller core wires together. not needed for giant 26 gauge aliens, as the core wires are stiff enough to resist all the tension and forces of building...but if you want 30/40 aliens you might need something. also handy for plain and framed staples, but not so much for ssfc (the slider will grab the spaced wraps and fuck your day up). learning to stop/move the slider/start cleanly again is not as hard as @Carambrda makes it sound lol :cheers:
The reason I make it sound hard is, for me, it proved to be next to impossible to get it right enough times for me to build even a single coil alien at 7 wraps, 3mm ID, 28g Ni80 / 38g Ni80. Whereas without using any sliders at all, it really is easy as pie as long as all the prep work is done right and the drill is sped up to maximum speed after watching the alien wrap catch... so IME the no sliders method is both easier and faster.

For the SSFC coil build, I use a (semi) flat key ring that's about 1 inch in diameter, with masking tape attached to it between the spaced claptons and it. The masking tape acts like a cushion, and, it also provides additional grip on the wires so the key ring doesn't as easily tend to slide off of the spaced claptons. Each time when I move the key ring I gently pull open the key ring to relieve its pressure from the wires before I put its pressure back on again so the key ring doesn't grab the spaced wraps at all. My key ring doesn't apply too much pressure on the spaced claptons because my key ring has been loosened up a little bit. I put it on in such a way that it feels comfortable to work with, and the center of gravity of the key ring is lined up with the wires so the key ring doesn't swing around. If your key ring applies enough pressure on the wires only at the drill side of the key ring, then, at the swivel side of the key ring, you can actually even wrap two small pieces of masking tape around the key ring (one piece on each side of the wires) to prevent the swivel side of the key ring from moving too much. (I found this technique works particularly well for staple coil builds, as the key ring will gently wobble itself towards the swivel so, with a staple coil build, you don't even have to stop the drill and move the key ring.) If you don't have a suitable key ring that can be used to make an SSFC coil build, then mini clothespins also can work.
 

mach1ne

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The reason I make it sound hard is, for me, it proved to be next to impossible to get it right enough times for me to build even a single coil alien at 7 wraps, 3mm ID, 28g Ni80 / 38g Ni80. Whereas without using any sliders at all, it really is easy as pie as long as all the prep work is done right and the drill is sped up to maximum speed after watching the alien wrap catch... so IME the no sliders method is both easier and faster.

For the SSFC coil build, I use a (semi) flat key ring that's about 1 inch in diameter, with masking tape attached to it between the spaced claptons and it. The masking tape acts like a cushion, and, it also provides additional grip on the wires so the key ring doesn't as easily tend to slide off of the spaced claptons. Each time when I move the key ring I gently pull open the key ring to relieve its pressure from the wires before I put its pressure back on again so the key ring doesn't grab the spaced wraps at all. My key ring doesn't apply too much pressure on the spaced claptons because my key ring has been loosened up a little bit. I put it on in such a way that it feels comfortable to work with, and the center of gravity of the key ring is lined up with the wires so the key ring doesn't swing around. If your key ring applies enough pressure on the wires only at the drill side of the key ring, then, at the swivel side of the key ring, you can actually even wrap two small pieces of masking tape around the key ring (one piece on each side of the wires) to prevent the swivel side of the key ring from moving too much. (I found this technique works particularly well for staple coil builds, as the key ring will gently wobble itself towards the swivel so, with a staple coil build, you don't even have to stop the drill and move the key ring.) If you don't have a suitable key ring that can be used to make an SSFC coil build, then mini clothespins also can work.

i totally agree, the stop/start was one of the most consistent things that fucked my aliens up too. i just eventually got so i could keep my hand steady in between the stop/start so my angles and tension didnt change, then i go back to full power on the drill and i can catch my groove and not make a flurb/blip/mistake. its likely just practice that got me that 'skill', or a disdain for fucking up aliens lol (both i guess). i dont 'need' them for anything lower than 30 gauge cores, but i usually still use them anyway (at least one near the middle/between the drill/swivels)...and i definitely need them still for 30+ cores, usually a ribbon slider and a paperclip or two (which are super easy to just knock off as you approach).

for staple variants with complex core configurations i use one tight slider where i am working, and usually just a paperclip or two to keep all the different cores/stacks from getting too wild. for builds with 3+ 'things' (frames/stacks/helixes/whatever) i usually float most of it and not really attach anything to whatever i attached to the swivels(usually my frames/outside cores, but sometimes the center core only for certain builds). the paperclip is enough to keep it loosely together while i fuse it up (it reminds me of a zipper as i fuse and it 'closes' the cores together).
 

Guyando115

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I now know how important it is setting up your core wires. It takes me a while but i get there eventually! Lol. The most success with making aliens I've had so far is by making just 6 inches at a time and not attaching it to anything. Almost every time i do attach to the swivels something goes wrong. I'll just continue this way until my lt spinner/ jig turns up.
 

Guyando115

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Hey all, this would be much easier with a pic but I'm not at home so I'll try explain. I'm using 3 big swivels atm, same as I've seen a couple of pros use but because my vice is so far from where i work, i have 1 swivel, then about 8 inches of wire, then another 2 swivels. I'm going to assume that you'll all tell me that this is no good? I, somehow, need to be closer to vice? Thanks.
 

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