Hi snake21
I use 1,0mm Nickel wire, the ceramic tubes have a diameter of 1,5cm and a lenght of 17 cm, i use pieces of 1,0mm stainless steel for the legs and connections.
All the bolts, washers and all-thread rod are stainless steel.
I measure the wire ohms with my multimeter, first step measure the ohms of the multimeter “needlesâ€.
If the ohms of the needles are 1.6 ohm (example) and if you need a 2,4 ohm (example) for the coils, you need to add (1,6 + 2,4) before cut the wire.
Now you just need to know how many ohms do you need for each resistance.
You can use this site its very easy to calculate ohms law
http://www.the12volt.com/ohm/ohmslawcalculators.aspIf you are use a GHurd controller, and if each FET can andle 6 amps, just need to know the voltage for dump to calculate the ohms.
About use other metal instead nickel wire, i think that can be done, the resistance of the copper isn´t the same as nickel and diameter and lenght of the coils will be different. (try to use fence wire).
Regards
xoke