Spaced or Contact - Revisited

[zouzounaki]

So they don’t naturally space when you screw them on the deck? Mine are sometimes pretty tight (but still spaced) when I wrap them, but usually they open out a bit when I screw them on. Depending on the deck, of course. It’s because of this I thought you had to heat it up, squish it closed, heat it up, squish it closed etc. I also don’t like dry burning the coils, that’s another thing that put me off.

I’m going to try making one, but don’t think I’ll be able to wrap it touching. Maybe with the 28awg I’ll manage.

 

[speedfreek67]

Ah, I wrap them on drill bits and screwdrivers @speedfreek67 . Are you using a coil wrapping device? I’ve never tried one.

Yup, I use a coil master winding jig. It has the winder with a little lug on it to hold the wire against the rod, and you twist it whilst holding it against the wire to make the coil.

If I want a spaced coil, I then have to grab both ends of the coil whilst it's on the rod and pull it apart, then press the winder against it to close it down to the spacing I want.

It sounds like a lot of faff, but it's actually really quick and easy, the whole thing only takes a few seconds.

In the video below he first makes a contact coil with a coil master jig and then he spaces it. (I'm quicker!)

 

[Mitz]

So they don’t naturally space when you screw them on the deck? Mine are sometimes pretty tight (but still spaced) when I wrap them, but usually they open out a bit when I screw them on. Depending on the deck, of course. It’s because of this I thought you had to heat it up, squish it closed, heat it up, squish it closed etc. I also don’t like dry burning the coils, that’s another thing that put me off.

I’m going to try making one, but don’t think I’ll be able to wrap it touching. Maybe with the 28awg I’ll manage.

No, not at all. That's only an issue for me at times with big complex coils in dtl setups. SSFC for example. And that's why I'll occasionally space those because of exactly the issue you describe. But I've never, ever had that issue building a mtl coil. I wrap them tight so they're touching and they keep their shape as I keep my jig thru the coil as I tighten the leads down. Sometimes I'll use 5 or 6 or even 7 wraps depending on the deck and as I usually use 2x30/38 or 2x32/38 they never need spacing to fill the deck. One or two more, or less, wraps does the job nicely. Quick gentle fire to make sure they're glowing even with an occasional gentle strum and they're good to go.

 

[zouzounaki]

Interesting. I don’t have a notch, the coil just floats on the drill bit so tends to pull towards the post as I’m trapping the wire, one side the the other. I also only use thin single strands, 28-32 awg depending on the atty, so maybe that’s a factor as well.

@speedfreek67 that’s the way mine come out on the drill bit. I might pull them out a bit more or push them tighter depending on the atty I’m building. The odd time I’ll even up the spacing a bit once it’s screwed on, if it’s a bit wonky. But they’re all mostly much the same, 4/5 wraps at 2 or 2.5mm and 28, 30 or 32 ss.

 

[J.T.C.]

5 wrap spaced NI80 fused clapton in a skyfall. Never a hot spot in sight or no spitting, perfik imo [emoji12]

 

[MiscoDatt]

Yup, I use a coil master winding jig. It has the winder with a little lug on it to hold the wire against the rod, and you twist it whilst holding it against the wire to make the coil.

If I want a spaced coil, I then have to grab both ends of the coil whilst it's on the rod and pull it apart, then press the winder against it to close it down to the spacing I want.

It sounds like a lot of faff, but it's actually really quick and easy, the whole thing only takes a few seconds.

In the video below he first makes a contact coil with a coil master jig and then he spaces it. (I'm quicker!)

Good grief that guy makes the spacing on the coilmaster look far more difficult than it is. Why didn’t he just pull the end of the wire to stretch it out?

 

[Mitz]

I've got the coil master kit as well. No longer use the entire wire wrapping jig tho. I just use the rods. With a little practice it's easy to wrap contact or spaced by hand. The jig works well for single wire builds but isn't great for mtl fused claptons - in my own experience.

The entire v3 kit is awesome tho and I would definitely recommend it to anyone considering buying one.

 

[speedfreek67]

Good grief that guy makes the spacing on the coilmaster look far more difficult than it is. Why didn’t he just pull the end of the wire to stretch it out?

Yeah, that's what I do too. But in Scott's defense, he was probably holding it in an awkward position for himself in order to show it on camera, which doesn't help.

 

[Simon G]

So they don’t naturally space when you screw them on the deck? Mine are sometimes pretty tight (but still spaced) when I wrap them, but usually they open out a bit when I screw them on. Depending on the deck, of course. It’s because of this I thought you had to heat it up, squish it closed, heat it up, squish it closed etc. I also don’t like dry burning the coils, that’s another thing that put me off.

I’m going to try making one, but don’t think I’ll be able to wrap it touching. Maybe with the 28awg I’ll manage.

Yeah, to make my coils contact I would have to heat and pinch them, which with thin wire is almost impossible without mangling them up. Mine are naturally spaced too ... I guess we are just shit at winding coils, lol.

 

[SteveV]

I only make spaced coils, plain Kanthal 27ga, I never count wraps either, I just build it to the size of the deck I'm working on. I use rayon to wick which has to go pretty tight into the coil as it doesn't expand like cotton. This means I can't use anything thinner than 27ga because the coil distorts when I pull the rayon through, I guess I have used this set up for a long time now and it works for me.