What wire strippers?

[dmartn149]

What wire strippers do you guys like for close work, like inside a chassis. I have these6-1/2" Wire Strippers with Pressure Adjustment but they sometimes cut through the wire instead of stripping it.

Thanks

[g1]

I had that style once and ended up smashing it to bits. They were just junk and you could not rely on the pressure adjustment or 'auto-sizing'.
If you want an automatic style stripper, I'd suggest the type with the various sizes built into the head (klein 11063 for example). But for tight spots, I often find there is only room for the manual basic style stripper (stanley 84-214 for example).

[big_teee]

Those look nice.
I am a retired comm tech, I have several high dollars strippers, including ideal.
I usually use the cheap GE strippers.
https://www.amazon.com/GE-Stripper-S.../dp/B00135LG4A
I also strip a lot of small wires with the ends of sharpened diagonal cutters, with the flat side out.
A skill that takes time to develop, so I'm not recommending that one.
T

[dmartn149]

I guess the basic manual style is the way to go. I have these too Heavy Duty Self-Adjusting Wire Stripper sometimes they strip all the way back to the clamping jaw, about 1/4 in. more than intended. CRAP!

[Enzo]

I have no issue with many Harbor Freight tools, but their cheap strippers are just that.

If your adjustable pressure stripper is cutting off the wire, reduce the pressure.

I have used my Palasin stripper for four decades, and it is well worth the price. It is the same overall type as the one in post #1, but instead of one blade across, it is a row of tiny blades - looks like a row of staples in a stapler. WHen it clamps down on the wire, those individual blades shape around the copper conductor. Mine is straight on rather than the right angle like the post #1 unit. But they also make them in right angle type if that is your preference.

Paladin Tools PA-1115P Mini-StripAx Wire Stripper, 32-18AWG

[g1]

I guess the basic manual style is the way to go. I have these too Heavy Duty Self-Adjusting Wire Stripper sometimes they strip all the way back to the clamping jaw, about 1/4 in. more than intended. CRAP!

That's the exact one I had. When it falls apart in your hand and you look at the actual mechanism and how it works, you will wonder how it even worked at all.
The one Enzo posted is the real deal. The HF one is like a toy in comparison.
The manual one never let's me down, if it does it's user error.

[dmartn149]

I can't bring myself to spend $100+ on strippers (there's a silly pole dancer joke in there somewhere) I'll get the simple manual style, Stanley or Visegrip not Harbor freight, though I still like and use some of their tools.

[Enzo]

$100 are not for everybody, but I am a professional who earns his living with his tools. I use them a LOT, and they will strip anything from 12ga house wiring down to the tiny wires in a turntable tone arm. Small wires, I can strip two side by side at the same time if I want. If I have to strip the end of a multiwire cable, I can set the wire stop for llength of strip, and go down the row snip,snip,snip,snip. Faster than I could type that. All neatly stripped the exact same amount.

What I can't afford is the $300 coax crimpers. I don't do enough of that work to justify it. But they do a fine job, are ratcheting so you cannot release them without completing the crimp.

I also have a pair of the cheap GC hand strippers. The two flat blades riveted together kind. I have had them for 60 years, and I think I have a certain level of skill with them. You can set the depth screw, but no one ever does. I'd be adjusting it all day. But I developed the skill to detect the change in resistance as the blade cut through the insulation and hit copper. But for delicate wires, it is too easy to nick the conductor if not sever it. And if I were terminating the end of a snake cable, I'd have to make sure each wire was in the jaws the same depth, no way to automatically do that.

[Dave H]

I also strip a lot of small wires with the ends of sharpened diagonal cutters, with the flat side out.
A skill that takes time to develop, so I'm not recommending that one.
T

I do that. My boss showed me the trick decades ago when I was starting out and I've been doing it ever since.

[Mick Bailey]

A few years back I got a pair from a £ shop ($ store or whatever). I thought they were interesting junk. How wrong I was. They're my go-to strippers for most work and I use them day-in-day-out. They do struggle with PTFE, though. I have some German CK ones for heavy-duty stuff, but those little ones are great.

Does anyone know if these are a knock-off of some US or European model?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Am-Tech-2-W.../dp/B0058GIWL0

[big_teee]

A few years back I got a pair from a £ shop ($ store or whatever). I thought they were interesting junk. How wrong I was. They're my go-to strippers for most work and I use them day-in-day-out. They do struggle with PTFE, though. I have some German CK ones for heavy-duty stuff, but those little ones are great.

Does anyone know if these are a knock-off of some US or European model?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Am-Tech-2-W.../dp/B0058GIWL0

That link didn't work right on my US browser?

[Mick Bailey]

This is the one;

[g1]

A few years back I got a pair from a £ shop ($ store or whatever). I thought they were interesting junk. How wrong I was. They're my go-to strippers for most work and I use them day-in-day-out. They do struggle with PTFE, though. I have some German CK ones for heavy-duty stuff, but those little ones are great.

Does anyone know if these are a knock-off of some US or European model?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Am-Tech-2-W.../dp/B0058GIWL0

Klenk? Maybe not a knock-off but a re-label?
https://klenk.everhard.com/products/...ter-strippers/

[Steve A.]

I have several high quality electrician wire strippers going down to maybe 20GA from Klein, et al, but the fine 22-28GA wires in multi-conductor cables is something else... I usually just heat the tiny wires up with a lighter and strip them with my fingernails but my nails are still very brittle from chemo last year (we all know about the effects of chemo drugs on hair but for playing guitar weakened nails are a much bigger problem!***)

In any case I brought some multi-conductor cable to Harbor Freight to check out these strippers for $2.99 (less 20% for coupon.) They worked great but a quick look at the picture shows that you need a screwdriver to adjust the wire gauge. So I bought a second one (no discount ) and set one up for 22GA wire and one for 28GA wire. One complaint: the spring is WAY too stiff for fine gauge wire...



https://www.harborfreight.com/5-inch...per-36901.html

Steve A.

P.S. Yeah, I have the ones from GC that Enzo mentioned but finding them is another matter as my tools are scattered among at least 2 dozen boxes as my attempts to organize them have been futile.

P.P.S. I've used the automatic strippers from time to time — pretty cool if you need to strip a lot of wire with an insulation that is tough to strip manually but otherwise a pain...



*** I'd been using matte Nail Envy from OPI at the recommendation of a guitarist friend but just spent about $52 at Amazon for an LED light and some Gelish gel foundation and top coats.

[Enzo]

The GC are pretty much the same thing as the Harbor Freight you linked.


What I like about the Paladin is I don't have to line anything up. Some fancy ones have sized dies, so you have to line the wire up in the groove. The Paladin blade is not one blade, but a row of many tiny narrow blades, and they form around the wire conductor wherever it sits in the jaws.