build for a novice. There are a few
technical elements to it.
First is assembling the stack (Fig.1).
I find the easiest way to do this is by
passing your ribbon cores through
the eye of your swivel and folding
them. Then, with a light tension
pulling against the swivel, gently
form the stack with your fingers.
Once it’s together, pinch it between
thumb and forefinger and bind with
some ribbon, then give the bind a
little squeeze with some toothless
pliers.
Repeat this process, but before you
squeeze it, slide it down the cores,
again gently guiding it with your
fingers.
This should align all the cores and
provide a solid grip point for your
drill. Once the bind is in position,
give it a squeeze with the pliers to
firm it up, then mount this in your
drill and tension the system.
Wrap one more bind at the swivel
end and run it to the drill. This will
be your working bind. It gives the
cores one final smoothing out and
will stop the stack from collapsing
as you fuse it.
Start by making small jumps - have
the bind about an inch away from the fuse point and
work up to it, pause, move the bind, and repeat.
As your confidence and skill improve, you will be able
to do larger sections.
The crazy thing about staple coils is the amount of
juice they hold. This is caused by the tiny gaps in
between the ribbons. They cause a capillary action,
which occurs when the adhesion to the walls is
stronger than the cohesive forces between the liquid
molecules, meaning the coil actually sucks the juice
off your wick.
As it has a huge surface-area-to-size ratio, you can
vaporise your juice much more efficiently, giving you
more flavour and bigger clouds.
Special thanks to Squidoode for sharing the story of
the staple coil.
See next issue for
Coil Polishing...
VM15 | 215