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Clapton wrapping guage?

Hi everyone this might be a stupid question but what would be the best guage wire to wrap clapton and fused clapton coils with? The smaller the better or is it not that simple?
 

mach1ne

Gold Contributor
Member For 4 Years
it doesnt really matter, as long as your wrap isnt too big. general consensus is that 36 is about as low as you wanna go, just due to the added mass of wire. smaller wrap will result is coils with less overall mass, that heat up faster and are more efficient. there is a bit of a tradeoff though in some areas. 40+ gauge wraps can gunk up faster and result in a shorter cycle between cleanings/re-wickings...and it can also break or wear out faster (depending on how hot you get them and how you clean them). for certain things like aliens, i find myself using a '10 gauges smaller' rule as my base...so if i am making aliens with 28 gauge cores, ill use 38 gauge wrap by default. for fused claptons and plain staples i usually try to use something smaller like 40 or 42, but im not sure if there is a 'why' to any of that. i just do as the build gods desire and never questions their will :teehee:
 

chrisakasparky

Silver Contributor
Member For 4 Years
36g I think would be best. 32g is super easy for first time, but you’ll move on pretty quick.
If you could recommend two gauges it would be 28g and 36g. If you really wanna nail it first time or don’t have a swivel, maybe 26g and 32g.
 

Synphul

Gold Contributor
Member For 4 Years
I would agree that if possible stick to 36ga or higher (thinner) wire for the wrap. A lot of people use a rule of thumb of 8-10ga sizes difference between core and wrap, which I agree with to some extent. 28/38, 26/36. However if using 22ga cores I wouldn't use 30ga for the wraps personally. Too much wire mass makes for either slow ramp up or setting wattage higher than desired to overcome the slow ramp up and the result is a blazing hot coil. The thicker the wraps the longer the coils hold the heat too, so after you've taken a puff the coils stay hot cooking the wicks/juice. Been my experience anyway.

Definitely finer wraps for finer core wires. I see a lot of premade (machine made) stuff with odd pairings like 28/30 or 28/32. Maybe it's easier for their machines to work with. Thicker the wrap the stiffer it is and if trying to wrap multiple finer cores the stiffer/thicker wrap is more likely to twist the cores or cause them to collapse together. Finer wrap wire is a bit trickier to see but bends much easier and more suited to the finer edge of thinner core wires. (As the cores rotate, the edge will only be the thickness of a single core wire creating a tighter bend for the wrap).

Not sure if my eyesight's gone to crap or if 38ga really is difficult to see while winding. Either way I used a pair of lighted magnifier glasses like they sell for jewelry work. There's cheap ones for $10-14 on ebay, comes with a variety of lenses with different magnification. Granted once things are spinning it's harder to see each wrap but still makes it easier to see that they're not backtracking and winding onto each other or make sure there's no gaps and the wrap's laying nicely against itself.
 

Kman

Member For 1 Year
I would agree that if possible stick to 36ga or higher (thinner) wire for the wrap. A lot of people use a rule of thumb of 8-10ga sizes difference between core and wrap, which I agree with to some extent. 28/38, 26/36. However if using 22ga cores I wouldn't use 30ga for the wraps personally. Too much wire mass makes for either slow ramp up or setting wattage higher than desired to overcome the slow ramp up and the result is a blazing hot coil. The thicker the wraps the longer the coils hold the heat too, so after you've taken a puff the coils stay hot cooking the wicks/juice. Been my experience anyway.

Definitely finer wraps for finer core wires. I see a lot of premade (machine made) stuff with odd pairings like 28/30 or 28/32. Maybe it's easier for their machines to work with. Thicker the wrap the stiffer it is and if trying to wrap multiple finer cores the stiffer/thicker wrap is more likely to twist the cores or cause them to collapse together. Finer wrap wire is a bit trickier to see but bends much easier and more suited to the finer edge of thinner core wires. (As the cores rotate, the edge will only be the thickness of a single core wire creating a tighter bend for the wrap).

Not sure if my eyesight's gone to crap or if 38ga really is difficult to see while winding. Either way I used a pair of lighted magnifier glasses like they sell for jewelry work. There's cheap ones for $10-14 on ebay, comes with a variety of lenses with different magnification. Granted once things are spinning it's harder to see each wrap but still makes it easier to see that they're not backtracking and winding onto each other or make sure there's no gaps and the wrap's laying nicely against itself.
I need to get some those glasses man thanks for the idea!!! I am 44 years old and in shock that its hard to see the little things even with my new glasses!!!
 

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