I just turned on a friend of mine to vaping last week. He's super into it already, quit smoking completely and loves it. He's very motivated to start building coils, and because of his background in art and design, he's really interested in it. I thought it would be fun for both of us to learn this together. I've been shopping online for some tools...I got a vice off ebay and some typical building supplies. What I need to know is what wire to buy. We plan to experiment with all kinds of builds with different kinds of wire. What are the most used wire gauges for starting out?
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gopher_byrd
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24, 26, and 28 gauge in Kanthal, SS, and Ni80 are good to start out with for simple coils and as cores for Clapton's and fused Clapton's. 34, 36, and 38 for Clapton outer wrap wire in Ni80 and SS. I haven't ventured into the fancier coils that use ribbon so I will let others suggest there... Check out the Coils sub-forum for the coil porn and ideas. Lot's of drool worthy builds happening over there.
first thing.. whooooaaaaaa nelly......... slow down. Keep it simple to start with. Otherwise you will end up with a huge cash outlay and to discouraged to build anything.
Start with a few simple builds, Single wire staple coils. Then do some parallel (2 wire side by side) staple builds.
Then you can start by doing a single core clapton, and when you get how to clapton a single wire down, then advance to parallel (2 wire) claptons.
http://www.steam-engine.org/coil.asp
This will help you plan your coils. No good making a coil that is so heavy you can't fire it, or has resistance so low that it isn't safe to use it.
I would start with 26 and 28 ga kanthal or NiChrome80 and 32ga stainless steel to wrap. It is easier for new builders to work with. 34 and 36 and 40 ga stainless steel is nice, but unless you can wrap a clapton without looking at it.. not much good, the wire is to fine to see if your wraps are straight, so you gotta go by feel.
Start with a few simple builds, Single wire staple coils. Then do some parallel (2 wire side by side) staple builds.
Then you can start by doing a single core clapton, and when you get how to clapton a single wire down, then advance to parallel (2 wire) claptons.
http://www.steam-engine.org/coil.asp
This will help you plan your coils. No good making a coil that is so heavy you can't fire it, or has resistance so low that it isn't safe to use it.
I would start with 26 and 28 ga kanthal or NiChrome80 and 32ga stainless steel to wrap. It is easier for new builders to work with. 34 and 36 and 40 ga stainless steel is nice, but unless you can wrap a clapton without looking at it.. not much good, the wire is to fine to see if your wraps are straight, so you gotta go by feel.
Totally agree here. I just started myself and I found that a magnifying headset is huge help, even if to only closely inspect the beauty you created. Also, you'll probably want to take pics if you pull off a nice one, if you have a camera with a macro lens, cool...otherwise you can get a clipon macro lens for cell phones really cheap.
Thanks for all the suggestions!