Is it possible to make a solid core 1mm Kanthal wire thinner DIY style?

[David_]

Hello.

I am vaping and I use 0,5mm Kanthal Wire for my heating coils, I know that I can buy that width of wire from a company in the UK but I have learned that the company in the UK get there wire from Sweden where I live.

But the problem is that the Swedish company sells 1mm wires as there minimum width and the UK company buys that and then makes it thinner to get a variety of widths.

And I wonder if such a task, the action of making a 1mm kanthal wire into a 0,5mm kanthal wire is a industrial process or could I find a way to perform it at home.

Does any one know?

Regards

 

[c_mitra]

The wire is made thinner by drawing through a set of dies- hard metals with defined holes. Every die can reduce the diameter by about 10-20% (depending on the hardness and ductility) - therefore to get 0.5mm OD from 1.0 OD you will need a number of dies in series.

Kanthal is rather hard alloy and you will perhaps need to draw at a higher temp - it may be difficult to do at home. You will need to pull the wire at a constant force through the die.

Swedish people are very innovative- perhaps you will find some way to do it.

 

[SLK001]

Why do you desire so thick of a wire? The thicker the wire, the lower the resistance. If you are trying to reach a certain temperature, then that means that your battery will have to be much larger than the one for the thinner wire. As a guess, I would say that the 1mm wire would have 1/4 of the resistance of the 0.5mm wire.

 

[FvM]

I'm quite sure that Kanthal and other resistance wire materials are available in Sweden in various gauges, but the problem might be to get smaller reels than one or even five kilograms. Wire drawing as sketched by c_mitra is a complex industrial process and not well suited for home fabrication. It might be easier to recycle e-waste for your purposes, e.g. heating coils from a fan-blower.

Depending on the intended working temperature, other resistance wire materials or stainless steel might be suited, too.

 

[BradtheRad]

To launch model rockets we used igniters made from nichrome wire. A hobby shop might carry it.

I broke away all the sandstone around a rectangular 10W low-ohm resistor, and found a wire (I believe nichrome) wound around a rod.

I scavenged potentiometers of a wirewound type (I believe nichrome), from old tv crt alignment circuits. The pots are 30 to 200 ohms.

I scavenged nichrome wire from an electric blanket and heating pad.

 

[c_mitra]

You can certainly purchase nichrome wire in various gauges in small amounts from www.aliexpress.com and they offer mostly free shipping.

 

[David_]

I have tested Nichrome as well as SS316 and a few others and Kanthal is what I like mostly, I use SS316 for when I want to use a clearomizer with temperature regulation.

But for 90% of the time I use a Rebuildable Dripping Atomizer(RDA) in which I have experimented with many kanthal widths but the best option I have found is 0,5mm kanthal using 6,5 turns with a coil diameter of 3mm.

I have been aware that I do not understand the underlying principals of what makes a good heating coil good for these purposes, there is a tool that is great at this site where you get calculated results of heat flux and heat capacity and more.

But as I see it without really getting into the real details I believe it is a question of resistance vs surface area and also mass, since you want as large a surface area as possible with a low enough resistance to enable fast heating while not having too much mass to increase the heat up time, anyway the setup I use as described above have been found through experimenting and I am seeking a rather hefty vaping experience.

I do understand that thinning the wires by my self will not be an option, and it's actually quite funny that I can't find any kanthal below 1mm in Sweden, of course there are lots of that stuff already imported but since I have found the build I want to use all the time then I should buy a much larger quantity than 10 meters at a time.

As for nichrom and such, as I am using Wattage regulation 90% of the time metals such as nichrome and nickel of titanium an others are risky to use in that mode, I go it explained for me yesterday but I can't recall it exactly but nickel is a good example of a metal that can be used in temperature regulation but not in wattage regulation, it has something to do with the way wattage regulation works, and it can create an environment in which the metal will let go of molecules and one would inhale nickel in some amounts.
And the only metals that are safe to use for wattage regulation is Kanthal and Stainless Steal such as SS316.

I think I will try and buy larger quantities from the UK, because the price they take for small quantities is ridicules.

Oh and there is something relating to all this and the problem of getting the wire in Sweden that has to do with definition of high grade kanthal, the kanthal you want to use for vaping is kanthal A1, but strictly speaking kanthal A1 has to be of a minimum width of 1mm.
I don't remember how that played into it all but apparently that created some difficulties for the Swedish industry not being able to sell smaller wires, or something.

 

[c_mitra]

...and it can create an environment in which the metal will let go of molecules and one would inhale nickel in some amounts...

Both Nichrome and Kanthal contains Cr (Chromium), a highly toxic element by itself. In comparison, both Fe (Iron) and Ni (Nickel) are far less toxic. Toxic effects of Al are not well documented.

After first use, Nichrome gets a passivating layer of Cr2O3 whereas Kanthal gets a layer of Al2O3. Both are highly stable.

Stainless steel also contains Cr (Chromium). Chromium toxicity is widely documented.

 

[David_]

After first use, Nichrome gets a passivating layer of Cr2O3 whereas Kanthal gets a layer of Al2O3. Both are highly stable.

Okey, then I wonder about something.

Pretty quickly while using Kanthal heating wire there develops a surface on the wire, which I believe is mostly burnt stuff from the liquid carrying the nicotine. After maybe 4 days of use the coils have started to taste badly enough to make me switch to new coils.

But it happens quite often that I instead take a multi-tool(I never have figured out what these machines actually are called, many names them as dremels, an adjustable speed machine with lot of different attachments) with a metal brush attachment and cleans the coils.

I can see how the surface of the wire gets rough as the metal brushes individual "fibers" scratches the surface more times than a human can count.

Does that in any way put me in danger of creating a situation in which I might inhale something that one really should not inhale?

 

[c_mitra]

...Pretty quickly while using Kanthal heating wire there develops a surface on the wire, which I believe is mostly burnt stuff from the liquid carrying the nicotine. After maybe 4 days of use the coils have started to taste badly enough...

Nicotine is an alkaloid (highly toxic plant product) and a cousin of it (nicotinamide) is a vitamin. What is left on the heating wire is tar, products of incomplete oxidation of organic stuff which may have disagreeable smell and taste. You are using it for e-cigarettes, I presume?

By the way, even if you scratch the surface with a file, the Al2O3 oxide layer will reappear and offer the same protection. You need not worry about the metal toxicity from the heating coil.

Anyway, nicotine is far more toxic than the metals present in the heating coils. Fortunately most of it gets burnt on the way and the little that gets into the blood affects the brain.