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Just Frank

Platinum Contributor
Member For 5 Years
If you use a button, make sure it's tightened well. When making my initial spaced clapton, I try to go the same speed, use the same angle, and the same tension on my spool the whole way down. I don't go super fast with my drill either. I just go a nice steady speed. I listen to my drill and find the familiar sound.

When I split up cores or cut my spaced clapton, I try to handle the pieces delicately. I glue the side that goes into my drill and hook up one of the cores to my swivel side. I start slow and steady. Two or three turns, and I smash it flat. I do that a few times then go up to five revolutions. I do that a few times and go up to eight revolutions before I pinch it flat. The farther down the line I get, the more revolutions I can go before it needs help staying flat.


I don't use magnification much. I use it to make sure my button is hooked up properly at first. After that, I only use it when I have to. If something's wrong, I can see it. Sometimes I need to look closer to see what happened, sometimes I just retry and it gets fixed. I use a desk lamp right above where I'm working. Good lighting helps immensely.

Another thing, before doing staggered wires, I always held my spool upright. I eventually moved to holding it horizontally for staggered stuff. I like how it feels better when fusing them together. I dunno, it just feels like I have better control over tension.
 

Just Frank

Platinum Contributor
Member For 5 Years
Recently, I feel like I've been doing well at finding good SFC mech builds. I tried something out the other day, and it feels like I cracked a code lol. I wanted a set of coils to be smaller mass, but crack hard and give really good flavor.. I thought about it for a bit, and came up with some ideas. I know a lot of people say, "There's no ramp". Sometimes I look at the photo and think, yeah right. I've either tried the build they're using or something similar.. Not the prettiest install ever, but these really fire up quick.
Yw6KBeP.jpg
ssE38Ro.jpg

They're N90: 4x30/40ga (3mm ID, 4-wrap). The resistance= .10-.11Ω. Low mass: check. Crack hard: check. Awesome flavor: double check in that Nightmare. 😁 I've got a few of other similar variations in N80 that do well, but I'm super pleased with how these perform. They don't look like much but wait till you try em.
 

FlavorOverClouds

Member For 1 Year
If you use a button, make sure it's tightened well. When making my initial spaced clapton, I try to go the same speed, use the same angle, and the same tension on my spool the whole way down. I don't go super fast with my drill either. I just go a nice steady speed. I listen to my drill and find the familiar sound.

When I split up cores or cut my spaced clapton, I try to handle the pieces delicately. I glue the side that goes into my drill and hook up one of the cores to my swivel side. I start slow and steady. Two or three turns, and I smash it flat. I do that a few times then go up to five revolutions. I do that a few times and go up to eight revolutions before I pinch it flat. The farther down the line I get, the more revolutions I can go before it needs help staying flat.


I don't use magnification much. I use it to make sure my button is hooked up properly at first. After that, I only use it when I have to. If something's wrong, I can see it. Sometimes I need to look closer to see what happened, sometimes I just retry and it gets fixed. I use a desk lamp right above where I'm working. Good lighting helps immensely.

Another thing, before doing staggered wires, I always held my spool upright. I eventually moved to holding it horizontally for staggered stuff. I like how it feels better when fusing them together. I dunno, it just feels like I have better control over tension.
Thanks for the tips. I'm using a lathe and use a clamp to do everything else. The clamp is too heavy for the anything thinner than 30g. Smaller clamps don't bite as hard. I will have to try the button method. Haven't done it in a while. I appreciate your response.

I only want it to taste amazing. Is that too much to ask?
 

FlavorOverClouds

Member For 1 Year
Recently, I feel like I've been doing well at finding good SFC mech builds. I tried something out the other day, and it feels like I cracked a code lol. I wanted a set of coils to be smaller mass, but crack hard and give really good flavor.. I thought about it for a bit, and came up with some ideas. I know a lot of people say, "There's no ramp". Sometimes I look at the photo and think, yeah right. I've either tried the build they're using or something similar.. Not the prettiest install ever, but these really fire up quick.
Yw6KBeP.jpg
ssE38Ro.jpg

They're N90: 4x30/40ga (3mm ID, 4-wrap). The resistance= .10-.11Ω. Low mass: check. Crack hard: check. Awesome flavor: double check in that Nightmare. I've got a few of other similar variations in N80 that do well, but I'm super pleased with how these perform. They don't look like much but wait till you try em.
Excellent work!

This is similar to a mech boro build I was asked for but as an alien. Something low mass with a rapid fire time. I also ended up with a 4×30 build but half n90 and half n80 cores. I fused some in 38 and some in 40g. They worked great on my single-coil rda, but I am waiting for my buddy to get his new CherryPine mech boro. Great minds think alike.
d59cdcebf40ded8184f36171b0685c2b.jpg


I only want it to taste amazing. Is that too much to ask?
 

VapeOn1960

Gold Contributor
Member For 4 Years
ECF Refugee
My first time looking at this thread... went through the last three pages. Holy cow! It's late and I need to go to bed (or I might stay up all night looking at more) Looks like I have a lot to learn... all I've made is a simple twisted pair LOL. Maybe I will hammer that and pretend I've taken the next step. Hey... who knows, in a few months I might actually make something worthy of posting (I am very good with tools) So when I wake up in the morning I can say I dreamed all night about aliens (only vapers that build will know what I was talking about) :goodnight:
 

CrazyChef v2.0

Gold Contributor
ECF Refugee
VU Challenge Team
Member For 5 Years
Reddit Exile
VU Patreon
Looks like I have a lot to learn... all I've made is a simple twisted pair LOL. Maybe I will hammer that and pretend I've taken the next step. Hey... who knows, in a few months I might actually make something worthy of posting (I am very good with tools)


Don't sell yourself short - twisted and hammered coils can be awesome! Here's one I did a few years ago. I can't remember the specs, except it was a 3 wire twist using SS316L, N80, and KA1 for each wire.


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Just Frank

Platinum Contributor
Member For 5 Years
My first time looking at this thread... went through the last three pages. Holy cow! It's late and I need to go to bed (or I might stay up all night looking at more) Looks like I have a lot to learn... all I've made is a simple twisted pair LOL. Maybe I will hammer that and pretend I've taken the next step. Hey... who knows, in a few months I might actually make something worthy of posting (I am very good with tools) So when I wake up in the morning I can say I dreamed all night about aliens (only vapers that build will know what I was talking about) :goodnight:
If you put the time in, you can get great results. I was making decent aliens within a few weeks. Not all of my "sticks" were perfect, but I could get some nice coils out of them. Over time you learn what works and what doesn't. Your wire/coils will start looking cleaner and cleaner. I try to keep my routine consistent. I think that helps a lot. If you don't have good lighting, I suggest getting a desk lamp. You gotta be able to see what you're doing.

Getting into it, I thought all I wanted to make was aliens and fraliens. I made them for months. I got sick of the same thing over and over, so I decided to learn how to stagger. Staggered fused claptons are just about all I ever use these days. I think they blow aliens and fraliens away personally. I get tremendous flavor out of them. Lots of people don't know how good they are. "Pro" builders will make a few kinds but they make way more money on aliens. They're way easier to make, take less time, and cost less. It's just good business. The kinds I use, I'm not sure if I've ever seen them for sale. I've seen similar, but they're like $30 a set. I'm so glad I learned how to make em though.
 

FlavorOverClouds

Member For 1 Year
My first time looking at this thread... went through the last three pages. Holy cow! It's late and I need to go to bed (or I might stay up all night looking at more) Looks like I have a lot to learn... all I've made is a simple twisted pair LOL. Maybe I will hammer that and pretend I've taken the next step. Hey... who knows, in a few months I might actually make something worthy of posting (I am very good with tools) So when I wake up in the morning I can say I dreamed all night about aliens (only vapers that build will know what I was talking about)
@Just Frank is right. Lots of good advice in his reply. I was fortune to have a mentor who advised me to start with dual-core claptons then add a core. I thought I wanted to make aliens too. Then I saw pictures of sfc coils and decided that's the direction for me. I've been making dual, tri, and now quad sfcs for the past 7 months. I tried aliens a few time but didn't get the feel for it until a few months ago and now I'm trying to stabilize my fraliens. For my vaping preference (under 100W, warm but not hot vape) SFCs are the perfect build for me.

I only want it to taste amazing. Is that too much to ask?
 

Just Frank

Platinum Contributor
Member For 5 Years
In order to get better, I challenge myself every so often. I used 7x SS 32ga cores and 42ga SS to stagger. I had to get a new phone and all of a sudden it gets blurry when I zoom in. Not sure if I hit a setting or if it's lighting? It gets grainy so I stayed back a ways.
mVCa3zm.jpg


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I expected the cores would want to collapse in on each other more. Lots of starting and stopping. I worked my way up to 10/12 turns but didn't want to go more. They wouldn't got bent out of shape. It was a delicate process making this one 😁.
 

FlavorOverClouds

Member For 1 Year
In order to get better, I challenge myself every so often. I used 7x SS 32ga cores and 42ga SS to stagger... .

Simply Beautiful! My goal is to get to 8 core sfc by the end of the year which is also my 1-year coil making anniversary. You inspire me!

I only want it to taste amazing. Is that too much to ask?
 

Just Frank

Platinum Contributor
Member For 5 Years
Simply Beautiful! My goal is to get to 8 core sfc by the end of the year which is also my 1-year coil making anniversary. You inspire me!

I only want it to taste amazing. Is that too much to ask?
You can do it! I got a head start on you're coming along great. You've come a LONG ways in a short time. Stags are just about all I use these days. Do you like them better than aliens? I think so people do, some don't. Both when done right can vape awesome.
 

FlavorOverClouds

Member For 1 Year
You can do it! I got a head start on you're coming along great. You've come a LONG ways in a short time. Stags are just about all I use these days. Do you like them better than aliens? I think so people do, some don't. Both when done right can vape awesome.
I definitely prefer sfcs over aliens. The fraliens I made came pretty close in flavor. I'm still getting the hang of prepping ribbon stacks.
c8c790c215d56b2b5bd0e8bc0b34fe52.jpg
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I only want it to taste amazing. Is that too much to ask?
 

Just Frank

Platinum Contributor
Member For 5 Years
I'm still getting the hang of prepping ribbon stacks.
The thing that gets me the most about those is the eerie silence 😁. I get great flavor usually but the coils are so quiet. I've never used to be into sounds, you know how some people are like, "How do I get more crackle?" I do miss the crackle now when I use just about anything with ribbon stacks. Might not even be crackle, round wire makes a sound though vs ribbon.
 
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Just Frank

Platinum Contributor
Member For 5 Years
Seems like it would be pretty springy
to wrap. Looking good

I only want it to taste amazing. Is that too much to ask?
Yeah, super thin wires. I'm surprised it held it's shape as well as it did. If I could master using 44ga to stagger, I might even try 5x36ga 😁. Just thinking about it sounds insane lol. I still can't believe I made the one in the photos. Once I got a few fuses going, I was like, "Ya know what.. this just might work 😆".
 

FlavorOverClouds

Member For 1 Year
Yeah, super thin wires. I'm surprised it held it's shape as well as it did. If I could master using 44ga to stagger, I might even try 5x36ga . Just thinking about it sounds insane lol. I still can't believe I made the one in the photos. Once I got a few fuses going, I was like, "Ya know what.. this just might work ".
36g cores would be pretty insane but an amazing accomplishment. I can't even stagger 40g yet lol

I only want it to taste amazing. Is that too much to ask?
 

FlavorOverClouds

Member For 1 Year
I was having a hard time making staggered cores for my sfcs. Wires kept breaking, stagger wouldn't start correctly, all kinds of problems. I thought to myself that I know what 36g and 38g staggers look like. And frustration being the inspiration to try something crazy, I decided to freehand about 1 inch of stagger, hold the angle and attach a clamp, and then ran the rest of the wire. Worked like a charm. So I started making dual, trim and quads from these freehand/clamp method.

The dual-core came out interesting. I folded the core and ran the outer fuse the opposite way I ran the stagger. The duals came out nice so I made some 3×28/38+38 and some 3×30/38+38 coils. Tonight a made a set of 4×28/38+38g coils.
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I only want it to taste amazing. Is that too much to ask?
 

Just Frank

Platinum Contributor
Member For 5 Years
I was having a hard time making staggered cores for my sfcs. Wires kept breaking, stagger wouldn't start correctly, all kinds of problems. I thought to myself that I know what 36g and 38g staggers look like. And frustration being the inspiration to try something crazy, I decided to freehand about 1 inch of stagger, hold the angle and attach a clamp, and then ran the rest of the wire. Worked like a charm. So I started making dual, trim and quads from these freehand/clamp method.

The dual-core came out interesting. I folded the core and ran the outer fuse the opposite way I ran the stagger. The duals came out nice so I made some 3×28/38+38 and some 3×30/38+38 coils. Tonight a made a set of 4×28/38+38g coils.
a216c29c3e3efc9049b51538f8a83cd2.jpg
7350227d591a0112d32a01f0886db6bb.jpg
133a8d31eaafed27b9f377337e65938c.jpg
d299e42618df78f35460f4d82eff66ff.jpg


I only want it to taste amazing. Is that too much to ask?
Looking good! That first one looks really unique.
 

FlavorOverClouds

Member For 1 Year
I was making a 26/40 decore and my spool ran out halfway across the core. So I grabbed another spool and force fused in to create a parafsue. I used that to make this 4×29/40 interlocking alien. In hindsight I wish I had used SS for the second fuse. It would have colored up nicely. I got a couple of new single-coil rdas recently. Can't wait to get a real camera.
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I only want it to taste amazing. Is that too much to ask?
 

Just Frank

Platinum Contributor
Member For 5 Years
I've been making SFC wide enough to use in mesh RDAs. I'm still experimenting with everything but I've found some really good variations. My Profile has been elevated to new heights the past few weeks. I posted this pic somewhere before but here's the first one I loved:
i2HJaN1.jpeg

It's KA1: 12x32/38ga. It reads .09Ω most of the time.

I hooked one up in my VV Mesh V2 RDA tonight that has thinner cores (that are N80 now). It's 12x34/38ga and reads around .11Ω.
5RDZ79Z.jpeg

6el3hdM.jpeg

This one fires up quicker and needs less power (55W vs 70W) . It's really, really good flavor... I'm liking my mesh rebuildables a lot more now. I haven't tried any in an RTA but the Zeus X and Siegfried are just begging for it 😁.
 

VapeOn1960

Gold Contributor
Member For 4 Years
ECF Refugee
You guys (and/or gals) are amazing! I will have more spare time this winter... might give it a go. I just look at these pics and drool (and yes, I know it's not just about making an impressive looking coil... it's about how it works) Lots of time to do my homework.
 

FlavorOverClouds

Member For 1 Year
I've been making SFC wide enough to use in mesh RDAs. I'm still experimenting with everything but I've found some really good variations. My Profile has been elevated to new heights the past few weeks. I posted this pic somewhere before but here's the first one I loved:
i2HJaN1.jpeg

It's KA1: 12x32/38ga. It reads .09Ω most of the time.

I hooked one up in my VV Mesh V2 RDA tonight that has thinner cores (that are N80 now). It's 12x34/38ga and reads around .11Ω.
5RDZ79Z.jpeg

6el3hdM.jpeg

This one fires up quicker and needs less power (55W vs 70W) . It's really, really good flavor... I'm liking my mesh rebuildables a lot more now. I haven't tried any in an RTA but the Zeus X and Siegfried are just begging for it .
I am always inspired by your builds.

I hit a new personal best, nowhere near this but I'll post in a minute. A friend of mine really wants to see me produce mesh like this, he's a huge fan of mesh tanks.

I only want it to taste amazing. Is that too much to ask?
 

Just Frank

Platinum Contributor
Member For 5 Years
His coils were on a different level, perfection. It was his coils that set my bar for what i now consider to b an amazing coil.
I posted in the other thread that his work really opened my eyes. Id been going through my vaping journey with blinders on. After trying his coils, I knew that it was something I wanted to learn how to do. It took me about a year to get my butt in gear but I finally got after it. It's sad that he's gone now.
 

Wb80

-DIY-demon-
VU Donator
Gold Contributor
Member For 4 Years
VU Patreon
I posted in the other thread that his work really opened my eyes. Id been going through my vaping journey with blinders on. After trying his coils, I knew that it was something I wanted to learn how to do. It took me about a year to get my butt in gear but I finally got after it. It's sad that he's gone now.
His fraliens we out of this world good. I asked him for a crazy low ohm pair. Dual coil .08 and they hit like nothing else ide ever experienced b4.
Btw your coils are rite there with his. AMAZING
 

Just Frank

Platinum Contributor
Member For 5 Years
I've been shaking off my alien rust the last few times I've spun. Started by making standard 3 core aliens like 3x26/36, or 3x27/37ga.
AsZkiYU.jpg

IlcjxgV.jpg


Yesterday I made some with 5, and others with 6 cores.
LpG3zgQ.jpg

Left: 6x30/40ga
Right: 5x29/38ga

Today I made the same as above, but also 7x32/40ga.
FtZfEdV.jpg

iS1QcRy.jpg


Resistance for that one is .28Ω, and using it around 50W.
 

FlavorOverClouds

Member For 1 Year
Those look nice and clean. I don't really like building or vaping aliens but my clients keep requesting them lol. Maybe if they looked as good as yours I would enjoy building them more. Going to work on some fraliens because I love the way ribbon vapes

I only want it to taste amazing. Is that too much to ask?
 

CrazyChef v2.0

Gold Contributor
ECF Refugee
VU Challenge Team
Member For 5 Years
Reddit Exile
VU Patreon

Just Frank

Platinum Contributor
Member For 5 Years
I have a Clutch X18 parallel mech mod. My regular (usually around .12Ω) mech coils don't seem to hit well on it. It's really a softer hit compared to my single 21700 hybrids. I wanted to try make some fatties around .1Ω so I used N90 3x27/40ga. I usually don't make 4mm ID coils but wanted to try something different.
PFZqfzY.jpg

These coils ended up at .09Ω and they smack! Pretty good flavor too but I haven't used a Drop in a while. Not sure if my coil placement is optimal. I'm gonna try these coils in a different RDA to see if I can get some better flavor out of them. I'm thinking a Goon 25 but not sure yet 😁.
 

Just Frank

Platinum Contributor
Member For 5 Years
Got challenged by another builder during our Instagram LiveStream to make my first staggerton. Pulled off this 8×.4/38+2×27/38 and got it colored up. It's my first attempt at a staggered ribbon stack.
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I only want it to taste amazing. Is that too much to ask?
Looks really good! I still have trouble para-fusing ribbon stacks. I hold two wires at once (not sure if there's another way 😆). I always end up with gaps or sometimes having the stack fall apart. Need more practice if I'm gonna do them. I've only made staggertons a couple times.

A couple weeks ago I made a cool looking coil I saw on Instagram. I'm not sure what it's called but might be a reversed staggerton, or an all ribbon SSFC.

N80 2x(6x.3)+4x.3/40ga
410ywMJ.jpg

XHsOPd1.jpg

I ended up trying it out in an Elder Dragon:
77WrHDJ.jpg

tqJxA4F.jpg


It worked pretty nice but I wanted to slim it down a bit. Instead of 6, 4, 6 (standing ribbon placement), I made another that's 4, 4, 4. That one little adjustment helped out a lot. It was quicker to fire and better flavor at a lower wattage. I just looked and I guess I didn't get any photos of the newer one. I really liked how it vaped but it was prone to quick gunking. I was cleaning it daily which isn't typical. I got sick of that and found a SFC coil I made months ago.

N80 SFC: 7x31/42ga:
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FZqdUoG.jpg

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Its a pretty wide wire but not very thick. I forgot how awesome these things vape. I've been trying lots of different coils lately. Some give me really good flavor but nothing like this 😁. That coil ended up right at .2Ω, and I'm using it between 60 and 70W. Flavor level 2000 lol.
 

Just Frank

Platinum Contributor
Member For 5 Years
I spun up some novelty size aliens today 😁. I don't think I can wrap the bigger one without messing it all up.

SS316L: 3x20/34ga
SS316L: 3x34/44ga
WxJlrUv.jpg

LbnolBX.jpg


Yesterday I made some that are 3x32/42ga, so just wondering if I could go smaller today. I don't think I'll be trying 3x36/46ga any time soon.
moCGJwt.jpg

Friggen things are tiny 😆.
 
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