Lately I've been thinking about putting it out there to the world that I freehand. No context, just a statement on a t-shirt or bumper sticker. I just want people on the street to know that I freehand every day. Sometimes twice if I have it in me! Spread awareness. There's no shame in it, though people don't often speak of it. When you're in a tough spot, sometimes you just gotta freehand and get it done. Everybody does it at some point in their lives and that's just fine! It's okay to use your hand if you want.
These terms... ...maybe I'm just not quite right. So many vaping terms just sound wrong to me.
Aaaanyway... ...cool to see someone using the freehand technique. It seems to be pretty rare these days. I can do fused claptons with or without swivels and admittedly, using swivels is less demanding as well as more consistent, but I first learned by freehanding and I still find it more satisfying for standard and fused claptons. You don't need swivels to get perfect fused claptons. It's just more efficient. I think it's something worth at least getting a feel for. That way you always have that to fall back on when you don't have access to a swivel setup. Some tips for ya below.
Success really comes down to a few simple things: the angle of your grip, the tension on your wire, and the calluses on your fingers.
If you go clockwise, then you wanna rely on your thumb to keep the wire in the groove, with your index finger supporting it - thumb almost parallel to the wire, with index more angled, but both fingers at an even height. I personally have an easier time getting the wraps tight going counter (the thumb provides more stable support, which is crucial) - index makes contact closer to the outer edge of the tip, core wire angled more perpendicular to the fingernails with your thumb slightly above the index. From there, you just have to tweak the pitch of your first index and thumb joints to find the pinch that gives you the tightest wraps. Kinda gotta feel it out.
Tension is another thing. It's needed for the swivel technique, but can really mess you up with freehand. If you have a lot of clean, un-carpeted floor, then try tying your outer wire to a doorknob or something, walking the spool back about 20ft, and putting a little tension on your wire. You just want to stretch it out. Don't tug. Just apply even tension until you feel the spool come towards you a tad. Clip the lead at the spool and start with your doorknob side. You now have a long, slack outer wire to work with and feed to the core.
Other than that, it just takes practice. Once you get into the groove (literally and figuratively,) you can easily get tight, consistent wraps.
Another thing that helped me initially... ...sit really close to the drill with your back straight. It's much easier to keep your hands steady when they're closer to your body. Posture is more important than it seems. Just make sure the wire isn't gonna catch you in the eye. Hell, just getting smacked on the arm sucks.
Good luck! Remember to have fun with it. Take breaks if you get frustrated. The thing with freehand is that if you're inadvertantly doing something even sorta wrong, it completely doesn't work. You really have to be deliberate and problem solve or it fails every time.
I would recommend swivels for many reasons, even though I like freehanding. It's the harder way, but it's not so difficult that you can't perfect it in the meantime. But still, get swivels for when you start want to start making the more advanced and exotic wires. If you take to multi-wire coiling, it WILL happen and you will need swivels. Might as well start practicing with them and perfecting your rig before you even really need it.
