I made a twisted coil..

[vapenat]

Two strands of 24 gauge hand-twisted.. I was impressed with how it came out, and it coiled well.. Struggled to fit it in my derringer..

Anyway, I was told it would give me amazing flavour.. But it feels incredibly muted! Does anyone know why this could be? I've got a picture of the coil but it's a bad picture. Thanks for any advice. If it continues being muted I think I'll just rebuild it and try twisting some other time.

(( Derringer + Reuleaux, 7 wraps of twisted 24 gauge kanthal, currently 0.60 ohms, if anyone wants to recommend a wattage to try ))

 

[Tubbyengineer]

Difficult to see but the wire doesn't look twisted enough, This is what you should aim for...

 

[vapenat]

Difficult to see but the wire doesn't look twisted enough, This is what you should aim for...

View attachment 79303

i think it was a combination of not twisted properly, and the coil being so big that it blocked my little derringer's air holes..

 

[Tubbyengineer]

i think it was a combination of not twisted properly, and the coil being so big that it blocked my little derringer's air holes..

To get good hand twisted wire all you need is a heavy object with some kind of hook type thing on it, loop the wire, hold the ends in a pair of pliers and hang the weight from the wire, then spin the weight. If you have a cordless drill then a cup hook put into the chuck will do the job nicely. You do need to be careful with the derringer (or the bambino or any other of it's imitators) those airholes can be a nuisance. Try to use thinner gauges of wire for twisted builds it helps keep the resistance up - and makes the coils easier to fit in small atties...

 

[stewbacca]

@vapenat for my hand twisted efforts I use a mug, just cut a length of kanthal twice as long as you need, put it through the handle, grasp the two ends with some pliers, raise the pliers in the air (think Lion King here) and spin that mug until you're heart's content.

A drill would be much easier though. @Tubbyengineer I saw a video where they put an allen key in the chuck of the drill and looped the wire around that, seemed to work quite well and looked a bit more secure than gripping the wires in the chuck.

 

[Tubbyengineer]

@vapenat for my hand twisted efforts I use a mug, just cut a length of kanthal twice as long as you need, put it through the handle, grasp the two ends with some pliers, raise the pliers in the air (think Lion King here) and spin that mug until you're heart's content.

A drill would be much easier though. @Tubbyengineer I saw a video where they put an allen key in the chuck of the drill and looped the wire around that, seemed to work quite well and looked a bit more secure than gripping the wires in the chuck.

I use a little screw in hook - the kind you'd put into a window frame for curtain wire. Just clamp it in the centre of the chuck and it will spin nice and evenly...

 

[stewbacca]

I use a little screw in hook - the kind you'd put into a window frame for curtain wire. Just clam it in the centre of the chuck and it will spin nice and evenly...

I guess that would be much more secure than an allen key.

 

[Tubbyengineer]

I guess that would be much more secure than an allen key.

Yep, works a treat - secure, simple and unlike the allen key the wire wont fly off or get whipped around unevenly...

 

[stevietee]

might try this. so far I have been using standard coils. got some pre made clapton rods today, cuz I am too lazy to make my own clapton wire. I made a couple of dual coils but they came out pretty crap, so I ripped them out

 

[stewbacca]

@Tubbyengineer yeah, don't fancy getting whipped in the face with flailing kanthal!

@stevietee give it a go, it's definitely a flavour improvement over straight kanthal, the only reason I don't do it more often is laziness (and pre-made clapton wire) just make sure your build is safe. If you fancy trying anything a bit more fancy have a look at Twisted Messes Youtube channel, I know he can come across as a bit of a pillock, but he does have some simpler builds, also if you just like looking at coil porn.