A magic toolbox: compact but hefty
In 2015, Le Petit Bricoleur, a French boutique, released a toolkit for vapers and I found it was a good idea. Here, the idea is the same but in agreement with the current constraints of the vaping market with reconstructible atomizers. This goes in line with American standards where efficiency takes over usability.
All vapers and mostly do-it-yourselfers have shouted in rage against unadapted or simply missing tools. It is irritating when you’re not well equipped for rebuildable atomizers.
This kit offers the essential with tools to build nice coils and also to mount them.
This kit is already the third version by Coil Master. In addition to the traditional tools, it offers a smart device, the Coil Master V4, to easily build your own coils, even with big Clapton-type wires.
The brand did a smart job with this box, and almost nothing is missing to make it your principal toolbox except a bit of space for other types of wires.
In Any case, if you are a newbie in the do-it-yourself universe, the kit is worth the investment.
At first sight, it looked useless to spend money in such a toolbox, but with time, I changed my mind, especially because of this tool Coil Master V4 that is versatile enough to cope with different types of wires.
The Coil Master Kit v3 contains:
- A base to determine the resistance of your coils
- Coil Master V4 with a notch for thick wires
- Flat-blade screwdriver 2×0.25 mm
- Cross-headed screwdriver 2×0.25 mm
- Wire cutter
- Needle-nose plier
- Foldable scissors
- Tweezers with ceramic claws
- Bent tweezers
- A coil of Kanthal A1 0,50 mm
- A pad of organic cotton
- An elegant black and red toolbox with a zip
The Coil Master V4 turns coil building into a child’s play
You will find no user manual for the Coil Master V4 made of a black cylinder to which you can add three tubes as a function of the diameter you want for the coil: 15/20/25/30/35/40 mm.
The operation is not intuitive but once you get the basics, it becomes quick and simple.
Let’s see what it looks like:
At first sight, it may be logical to find two pliers, one to cut the wires, the other one to adjust the wires. These pliers are easy to use but of an average quality. Nevertheless, they do the job pretty well. They find their place in the toolbox but sometimes are not easy to remove from their slots because the holes are not well placed with respect to the handles.
The two screwdrivers fit to most of the flat or cross-headed screws that you find in your hardware. Like precision screwdrivers, they can be handled with pressure kept on the screw thanks to their free-rotating head. Their grip is excellent and provide an overall good usability.
Tweezers are in the same vein: easy to use and with a good grip. The ceramic claws will allow you to adjust your coil in security and the other one is perfect to adjust the cotton wick.
Those six tools, located in the left side of the box do not fall when handling the toolbox. The volume they occupy is quite important and I bet that with a better positioning, they would allow more space in this aisle.
On the right side, you will find the Coil Master V4, a pair of scissors of an average quality, a coil of resistive wire in 0.5 mm and six gauges for the Coil Master.
These gauges are inserted in a silicon sleeve. The marks indicating the diameters are not well printed on the steel and are almost un-readable. Not that a small screwdriver is present to remove the notch in order to mount wires of a bigger diameter.
You will also find two free places for spare batteries, which can be useful when leaving on a trip.
Coil Master V4 in details
This is not a gimmick, obviously. Let’s see how it works.
You first have to choose the diameter of your coil and take the right gauge from the red sleeve. I like 25 or 30 mm, depending on my atomizer and/or on the wire. You have to unscrew the top part of the Coil Master and set up the gauge. Then you lock it and you cut a 10-12 cm of your preferred wire.
You insert the wire in one of the two wholes on the side, depending on the direction of the rotation. Then you choose the higher part of the tube as a function of the diameter of the coil.
Finally, you replace the tube on the gauge and you turn the gauge as many often as you want. It is very easy.
The coil you’ve just made is perfect. It may appear very simple to make a coil without this tool, but to make it as perfect is very difficult, believe me.
Add to that the possibility to turn Clapton wires which are very difficult to handle, generally, and it makes the Coil Master V4 a must-have. You can even find a slot to insert the biggest wires that cannot easily fit in the little holes.
The only inconvenient is the bad quality of the Ohm-meter included in the pack. It works with 2 LR6 batteries andyour atomizer can be screwed in to test its resistance. It would have been easier to operate it with the most common 18 650 batteries instead of LR6.
To me, a box or a mod gives a more reliable value and offers the possibility to check if the resistance coil is heating uniformly. To me, a pack of Ceramic Stick Coil Master would have been more useful than a tester.
In summary
The “+”:
- The essential is present
- Tools are useful and usable
- Good vale for the money
- The toolbox is robust
- Fits to any type of mount
- Six diameters available
- Coil Master V4 well designed
The “-“:
- Ohmmeter of bad quality
- The box is hefty
- No user manual or scheme for the Coil Master V4
- Indications on the gauges unreadable
- More space for additional wires would have been welcome
Conclusions
Rating of 4/5. If you want to start with coil building, this toolbox is for you. For about €50, everything is inside and the value for money is excellent. You will be able to turn your own coils easily, with the quality of a professional manufacturer. For the others, it is also a way to keep your tools together, in a compact format.
That is not the authentic coil master kit.
Actually it is, except it is the V2 kit, not the V3. The version 3 has a different case and a different coil jig (the V4). You can tell by looking at these pics that it is the version 2 kit and not the version 3 that is stated in the review.