Insulation stripper. Various tools for stripping wires. How to remove insulation with a knife

In the process of installing wires, one of the most important stages of work is the removal of insulation. It doesn't matter if the wire is aluminum, copper, enameled or plastic insulated, in each individual case it is necessary to follow the technology when stripping it. If you ignore the recommendations and advice on how to strip the wire, then the technical characteristics of the manufactured electrical system will be low. Consider several techniques for stripping insulation from a variety of coated wires.

Structural features of wires

Wires are of two types:

  1. Single core.
  2. Stranded.

Single-core means a wire in which the cross section is formed by one core or wiring. As for stranded wires, the cross section of such a wire is formed by several thin wires, which in some cases are intertwined with each other. In order for the stranded wire to be resilient and elastic, a thread is added to the structure that resembles nylon. Taking into account these features, the technology for stripping insulation in each individual case may differ.

Stripping with a knife

When removing the insulation with a knife, it is impossible to cut the wire in a circle with a blade in a perpendicular position - a notch of the copper core may form. As a result, with a slight bend, the wire will easily and quickly break in this particular place, especially if you undertook to strip the wire with a thickness of 0.6–0.8 mm. After a few bends, the wire breaks completely. When stripping the wire with a knife, the blade should be almost in the same plane with the axis of the wire. Pre-insulation is cut along the core. The insulation cut along the length is laid aside and simply cut off.

With this option for stripping, it is important to be careful, as you can easily injure your hands.

Using side cutters

A tool such as side cutters is often used incorrectly. The tool is taken in hand as it should, absolutely no attention is paid to the direction of the cutting edges. If you use the side cutters incorrectly, you will have to make great efforts. In addition, in this case there is a high risk of breaking off the wire along with the insulation.

It is important that the cutting edges are directed in the direction opposite to the movement of the tool. With this option, the blade will cut into the insulation even with little effort. As a result, the tube insulation is removed from the surface of the core without damaging it.

Reflow method

If you have a soldering iron, you can quickly remove the insulation by thermal method. To do this, heat up the soldering iron tip and run lightly over the plastic insulation. After heating, the plastic will melt and be removed. This method does not violate the conductor in any way. If you need to strip a large number of wires with such a winding, then it is recommended to use a special tool. For example, a special wood burner, which was previously known as "Pattern", would be suitable.

The reflow method is most effective if your wiring is old. After a long service life, the plastic winding on the wire becomes hard and brittle. Moreover, if the wire peeks out two or three centimeters from the junction box, neither the wire cutters nor the knife can handle it. And if you use a lighter or crawl with a soldering iron, then you can strip the wire.

And if enameled wire

If the conductor has a thickness of 0.2 mm, then the best option there will be a mechanical method of removing insulation. For this, a knife or sandpaper is used to scrape off the insulation.

  • To process a cable that has thin insulation, you can use fine sandpaper. Bend it in half with sandpaper inward. Then wind the cable into a bent sheet of emery and, lightly pressing your fingers, pull the wire. This procedure should be continued until the enamel is cleaned.
  • If a knife is used, it is necessary to lay part of the cable on a solid base. Then it is necessary to rotate it in a circle until the enamel is scraped off the surface of the conductor.

If the conductor is even thinner and has a diameter of less than 0.2 millimeters, then the mechanical method will not be effective. This is due to the fact that the enamel will not be removed as a result, and the wire itself may break. In this case, you can master the thermochemical method using a soldering iron and vinyl chloride insulation. To begin with, heat the soldering iron, then put the vinyl chloride on the table, and lead the wire over it with a soldering iron. Under influence high temperature chlorine is produced, which will clean the wire from the enamel.

In most cases, such wires are used in radio communications, and it is he who is wound on inductive coils. It also has a name - littsendrat. In its appearance, it is distinguished by the presence of a large number of thin wires, which are twisted into one conductor and at the same time covered with enamel.

No less interesting is another option for removing enameled insulation from the wire. You will need to buy aspirin tablets. A wire is laid on them and a heated tip of a soldering iron is similarly passed along it. As a result, the wire is exposed and plus everything else and tinned.

Removal of PTFE insulation

Fluoroplastic is a polymer that is produced by a chemical method. It has a number of positive characteristics, for example, it does not get wet from water and is highly resistant to organic substances. Its technical characteristics allow it to withstand temperatures up to 300 ° C! As insulation, it is ideal, but the main disadvantage is the high price. In this regard, it is used in special cases. In everyday life, it is applicable to many radio amateurs, since after soldering it has an aesthetic appearance, takes up little space and does not melt.

The material itself has the form of a thin narrow ribbon. She, in turn, is tightly wound on a twisted stranded wire. It is possible to clean such insulation only with a knife. The PTFE is scraped off to the desired length. As soon as the wire is exposed, the insulation is removed to desired length, and the remaining fluoroplastic is cut off.

Insulation from fabric, rubber is cleaned by any of the above methods. The main thing is to prevent notches of the main core!

All of the above methods are manual. They require more time and attention, not to mention experience, when it comes to stranded wires with a small cross section. If you work in this area, and you regularly need to strip wires from insulation, then it is best to partially automate this process. For this, pliers were specially developed, or they are also called a stripper.

With the help of a stripper, the insulation is removed with one touch of the palm of your hand. Consider how to strip wires using the WS-04 stripper.

Specifications of stripper WS-04:

  • It is possible to remove the insulation and cut wires Ø0.5–2.7 mm with a cross section from 0.2 to 6.0 mm 2 without prior adjustment.
  • When adjusting the microscopic screw, you can strip the insulation from a thin wire ranging in size from 0.25 to 0.5 mm.
  • The stripper allows you to crimp on wires connectors without insulation, insulated or automotive wires for a double clamp 0.8-2.7 mm.

In appearance, the stripper resembles pincers, at the end of which there is a cam lever. The upper jaws are movable, while the lower ones are fixed. The left pair is used to clamp the wire, and the right pair is used to remove and cut the insulation. At the first reduction of the handles, the left cam clamps the wire, and the right cam cuts its sharp edge into the insulation. With the constant reduction of the levers, the insulation is gradually removed from the wire. The process of stripping the wire with a stripper takes a few seconds.

The process of sequential operation of the stripper model WS-04 with single-core, stranded and two-core wire:

  1. The wire is wound between the cutting knives, which are located on the inside of the handle. Then they should be brought together. The result is a cut of the end of the wire without deformation. To compare the cut with wire cutters, the end is always flattened and slightly pointed.
  2. At the next stage, one end of the wire is wound between the movable and fixed sponge. After squeezing the handles, the insulation is removed. With such work, no notches are observed on the conductor.
  3. To adjust the exact length of the stripped insulation, you can use the blue movable limiter.
  4. On a two-core wire, the insulation is removed with a stripper in two passes.
  5. From the first run, the PVC tube is removed.
  6. At the second stage, insulation is simultaneously removed from two wires.

The operation time can take no more than 5 seconds!

Among other things, the stripper can also be used to strip the insulation of a telephone cable before pressing it into an RJ-11 connector. If a screw connection is used, then with just one movement, the insulation is removed from the wires.

A stripper can also be used to strip shielded wires. First of all, it should be noted that it is enough difficult task, especially it becomes more complicated if the conductor is thin. So, the first step is to remove the insulation from the shielding braid. To expose the central wire, the braid is untwisted with a needle or spike. It remains to make one movement with the stripper and the wire is released from insulation. Cleaning shielded wire by hand is a tedious job, especially if all you have at hand is a knife. It is very easy to damage the wire with a knife!

So, as you can see, the stripper is a fairly versatile tool that cleans different wires from insulation.

Coaxial cable

You can strip the insulation on the coaxial cable with your own hands. While the equipment for this purpose is inexpensive and readily available, we'll walk you through how to get the job done with wire cutters and a knife. As a rule, such a cable is used for connecting satellite TV and for standard F.

Step-by-step instructions on how to strip a coaxial wire:

  1. The cable should be taken away from your body.
  2. Take a utility knife and press firmly on the cable at a right angle from the end of the cable at a distance of 2.5 cm. Do not press with the end of the blade otherwise it will break off and may bounce into the eyes.
  3. At this stage, it is necessary to cut through the outer jacket, braid, foil layer and dielectric foam. In most cases, she has White color. It is with such layers that the vein is surrounded. You will feel some resistance as the blade plunges into the cable. As soon as the blade has reached half of the wire, you need to put less pressure on it. It is extremely important not to damage the central core!
  4. Next, you should walk around the circle of the cable. When doing this, be careful not to leave notches on the core.
  5. Now pull and twist the cut edge of the insulation. By doing this, you can remove the cut end of the insulation.
  6. If wires stick out from under the cable sheath, then cut them off with wire cutters so that they do not go beyond the edge of the sheath. It is important to examine the wire for notches. If there are any, then the above procedure will have to be repeated.
  7. Dielectric foam may partially remain on the main core. You can simply remove it with a fingernail.
  8. To connect the cable to connector F, first remove a small part of the top sheath.
  9. To do this, measure eight millimeters from the previous cut point. Make an incision in the top shell. As in the previous case, the incision is made perpendicular to the wire. Be careful not to snag the braid. In some modifications of the F connector, there is no need to remove the braid, while in others, on the contrary, it should be removed.
  10. If you are not sure whether a braid is needed in your case, then leave it temporarily. This braid is around the dielectric foam. Her wiring is less than a human hair thick, so all work should be done carefully. Just the same, now the incision needs to be made with the tip of the blade along the entire wire.
  11. Remove eight millimeters of the cable sheath so that the dielectric foam wrapped in the winding remains on the core.
  12. The braid wraps over the outer sheath. So, the dielectric is exposed. At this stage, pay attention to the requirement of the F-connector: which end of the wire should be in your case.
  13. All possible wiring should be absent between the braid and the central core. Against the background of a white dielectric, this will be clearly visible.
  14. An F-connector is placed on the end of the cable.
  15. The dielectric must be at the bottom of the connector after it is seated on it. It is unacceptable that he looks out or does not reach the bottom of the connector.

Under no circumstances should the tip come into contact with the F-connector.

The F-connector is now ready for use.

Cable stripping knives

Separately, it should be said about special knives that are directly used to strip the insulation from the cable. For example, the most popular is a knife with a hook. In the process of operation, it is much more convenient than stationery. Moreover, thanks to the thick blade, they can work more confidently and boldly. It will be difficult for them to cut the wire insulation, but cutting the cable along: this is what you need. Such a hook digs well into the cable sheath, so it will not jump out of it. However, such a tool does not have all the advantages, since it cannot provide good cable stripping.

Another special knife is known.

It is very easy to work. To begin with, pull the special bracket with your thumb. It is under it that you will thread the wire. At this point, a small knife peeps out of the handle, rotating around its axis. After laying the cable, the bracket presses it against this knife. Make two or three turns around the wire until you get a notch. Now, without removing the wire, pull the tool firmly towards the end. The knife will turn and cut along the casing. In the end, it remains just to remove the cut off part and continue working.

The only drawback of such a device is that it is necessary to adjust the wheel directly to the depth of one or another type of wire. You can use a piece of wire to adjust.

Also, such a knife does not cope very well with the elimination of insulation. This is due to the fact that the device can flatten a thick cable with careless actions.

So, we looked at the most common methods for stripping wire insulation. Perhaps one of the above methods will be useful in your case. Successful work!

Hello everyone! Today there will be a small review of the tool I want, the cable stripper. In work, situations often arise when you cannot normally clean the cable with an ordinary knife, or it will be traumatic for your hands (I cut my fingers more than once when my hands are covered in oil and dirt) and because I work in production, every second of downtime counts, therefore the work must be done as quickly as possible and not always with high quality (damaged cables, they change every week in the PPR). Of the many devices, I chose this particular tool, because I considered that it was more convenient for me. More about everything under the cut.

Specifications

Length: 170 mm
Max blade length: 7mm
Handle Material: Plastic
Blade Material: Bearing Steel
Stripping cable diameter: Ø 8 – 28 mm

Appearance

The knife is delivered in a blister pack.From the front side large print the name of the tool is written, on the back side there is an instruction for use and all available types of tools from this manufacturer. There is no name of the manufacturer on the packaging, apparently they are made for third-party companies that make their own packaging and stick their nameplate on the knife.


All types of tools




The tool itself has a corrugated plastic case, with a recess for a sticker of any company. On top is a spring-loaded bracket with an additional knife blade on it, with two cutting sides. The knife comes with a protective cap to avoid accidents.






One side is a regular knife with double-sided straight sharpening, for stripping wires or cutting off excess insulation.


The other side is made in the form of a hook, has a cutting edge inside. Designed for stripping cable insulation.


Knife blade thickness.


By comparison, the thickness of the blade of a conventional construction knife.




To perform the main function, i.e. stripping the insulation from the cable, a blade is installed in the knife handle, which rotates around its axis, depending on the actions performed. The brace is very strongly spring-loaded, has a protrusion for pulling it with your thumb, but does not have any notches (with dirty, oily hands, it will be hard to pull it back). There are notches inside the bracket to protect the cable from slipping during cutting.




The blade is adjustable with the help of a metal wheel, which is located at the bottom of the knife. Adjustment is necessary to adjust the cutting depth, because each cable has its own insulation thickness. The main thing to remember in this matter is that it is better to undercut than to cut.




The blade is bigger.






The knife feels pretty good in the hand, but I wouldn't mind the rubberized parts.


There are some imperfections in the plastic molding on the sides. But for a tool that will soon find itself in a dirty and dusty workshop, this is not a problem.


Now let's take a look and see what's inside.
We twist four screws around the perimeter of the case and cut it in half.




A spare knife immediately catches the eye, which is not mentioned anywhere.


To hold the bracket there is a huge spring.


The mechanism for lifting the blade is also a little regrettable. Plastic carving, well, Christmas tree sticks. And only after parsing the knife, I found out the reason for the tight movement of the adjustment wheel. The blade of the knife was not set all the way, not in the center. In places, traces of grease can be observed.







Working with the tool

The first half of the work will be done at home.
I take the only cable found on the farm.


I try to clamp it with a bracket, but nothing really works, because the cable is 6 mm in diameter, and the tool only works with cables from 8 mm in diameter. Therefore, we can safely say that this is not a tool for the home.


But, the cable can be stripped using an additional knife, which is located on the bracket. Cut the insulation with a hook, without damaging the wires.




With the flat part, cut off excess insulation, or the wire itself. Then clean up the ends for further work.






I will deviate a little from the tool itself and tell you what you can use in everyday life.
Here is such a mini tool, consisting of a clothespin and a sharpener blade. In order not to litter the main topic, everything is under the spoiler.

Clothespin cleaning








Part two, work.
At work, the main difficulty arises with damage to the cables in the track chain. Either the cable cracks and shorts due to the aggressive environment, or the suspension comes out of the guides, falls, breaks and the cart chews the cables under the wheels. Basically, the track breaks down in places of increased accumulation of oil, dirt and water, so stripping and connecting the cables turns into something else.




The photo is far from best quality, but what are.
For experience, we take a cable with rubber insulation, by eye somewhere 4x10, diameter 20mm. We clamp the bracket and adjust the blade.


Now we take the tool to the distance we need for stripping and make circular movements, the more movements, the better the cut.




Then we stop and cut along the cable, it takes a lot of effort to cut such insulation. The knife blade at this moment will automatically turn in the right direction.


We tear off the insulation and then we clean the ends of the wires.


Also, if the cores inside the cable are damaged, or the insulation is damaged, it is possible to cut out part of the insulation on any part of the cable and re-power it, insulate the damaged area.


When there is not enough turning radius for cutting the cable, a knife with a hook helps out.


During the work shift, the tool rescued me several times. It is very convenient to clean the cable with double insulation and screen, cuts everything completely.

Outcome

I understand that not everyone will take something from home to work, because the employer must issue the right tools. But for me, the main thing is convenience in the process of work, because it’s enough to waste precious nerves on working with a clumsy tool.
As for this knife, I can say that the idea is great, but the implementation let us down a bit. Too much plastic where there shouldn't be. In the future, you can replace the plastic thread of the adjustment wheel by mounting the nut and come up with something with the conical part where the knife blade rotates, because when stripping the cable, pressure appears on the edges of the cone.
There are no complaints about the blades and knives, the material is quite durable. It fulfills its role, cuts insulation and cores into a light one. You can only find fault with the quality of sharpening, but this is not a katana)
The plans are to find a replacement for the Soviet megaohmmeter and falling apart indicator screwdrivers.
Thank you for reading)

The product was provided for writing a review by the store. The review is published in accordance with clause 18 of the Site Rules.

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The work of an electrician is often associated with the use of different devices. To perform a common operation such as cutting wire and other electrical devices, stripping tools are required. The most convenient tools are special pullers and strippers.

But, if you need to strip two or three cables, then you can use a simple kitchen knife. If you plan to work on laying electrical wiring in a house or apartment, then an ordinary knife will not be enough for such a task. The kitchen knife has an awkward blade, and the handle may not be made of dielectric.

Types and arrangement of electrician's knives

A knife adapted for work on connecting electrical appliances has a special blade shape. Often on the wires it is necessary to make circular cuts in the insulation, which is more convenient to make with a curved blade. Many will say that you can remove the insulation with a simple knife, but if the knife does not meet certain conditions, then it is easy to damage the conductive core, especially the thin one.

For the convenience of making circular cuts in the insulation, the blade may have recesses for wires of various diameters. Having placed the wire in this recess, the braid is cut in a circular motion, without fear of damaging the current-carrying core.

Knife with heel

This knife belongs to electrical types, and has another name for a "plow" knife. It is convenient for them to remove the insulating sheath, as it has a curved short blade with a special “heel”. It is designed to limit the depth of the sheath cut when it is necessary to remove the outer layer without touching the inner layers of the insulation.

We must not forget to check the absence of voltage in the wiring before stripping the insulation.

The platform at the end of the blade reduces the friction of the longitudinal sliding of the knife during the removal of the outer sheath, and does not allow the blade to touch the internal wires. It is convenient to strip hard cables with a knife, and it is worse to work with soft sheaths, as they make it difficult to slide the “heel”. In general, stripping tools like a heeled knife are useful for electricians to use.

Hook knife

This electrician's knife is a professional tool. This knife has a straight and short blade with a hook. There is no sharp edge on the blade, except for a sharpened hook. The same models are available with an extra sharp edge on the other side of the blade. This model is well suited for stripping insulation on many.

It is especially convenient to cut the insulation along the wire with such a blade. There are also similar models equipped with devices for making circular pre-cuts.

Knife with a beak

Such stripping tools have a specific blade shape, which is why many electricians do not use it. A knife with a "beak" may be convenient only for experienced electricians, its blade is a bit like the previous design, with the difference that there is no "heel" at the end, and the bend is smoother.

Such a beak-like curved inner point makes it more convenient to cut the wire sheath in a circular manner. This knife can also be used by electricians for longitudinal cuts, but if this work is done carelessly, the core can be damaged, due to the fact that there is no limiter. For novice electricians, such a knife is inconvenient due to manual adjustment of the cutting depth.

Requirements for electrical knives

  • The handle of the knife must be made of dielectric material of sufficient strength: carbon fiber or special plastic, to prevent electric shock.
  • The blade must be made of durable steel to maintain its sharpness for a long time.
  • The shape of the handle should allow the electrician to feel the beginning of the blade by touch.
  • The sharp edge should be straight to make it easier to cut double insulated cables.
  • The knife should be chosen small, which makes it possible to work in a small space, for example, in a cabinet or shield. The blade should also not be too large, so as not to accidentally damage the insulation of adjacent wires in the wiring harness, and also for the convenience of stripping thin conductors.
  • An electrician does not need a knife with a pointed end of the blade to work. When working in dark and cramped places, you can accidentally touch the sharp end with your hands and get injured. When working with a wiring harness, the sharp end of the blade easily damages adjacent conductors.
  • When removing the insulation, the blade must be held at an acute angle to the wire so as not to damage the current-carrying core. The shell should be cut carefully away from you, in pieces, according to the principle of sharpening a pencil.
  • A factory-made quality knife should have a designation of permissible voltage on the handle.
  • If used homemade knife, then its handle must be wrapped with insulating tape or other dielectric material.
Pullers

There are special tools for stripping wires from insulation. They are a versatile tool for stripping conductors, and can be equipped with several cutting elements of various lengths and configurations. But the main element is a special clamp, with which a circular cut of the insulation is made.

These stripping tools are the most convenient. They allow you to manually select the wire diameter without fear of damaging the core. It is not difficult to work with such a device, it is enough to fix the wire in the clamp, and make one turn of the rotational movement around the wire with the puller.

Strippers

Strippers have become the most common type of equipment for stripping the insulating sheath of cables among professionals. With their help, it is much easier to strip the insulation, especially from wires that have many cores. The cutting depth is adjustable, which makes it possible to use the stripper for any cable diameter.

There are several types of strippers that differ in their design, but their principle of operation is the same: cutting the insulating sheath and removing it from the cable.

Manual strippers

These stripping tools work simply. The design is similar to pliers, with the difference that the jaws have nests with cutting edges for different sections of the cores. This type of tool is suitable for stripping wire insulation no more than 6 mm 2.

Some models are capable of crimping tips. To remove the insulation, you need to place the wire in the socket, press the handles and perform a circular rotation.

Semi-automatic strippers

This tool is even easier to use. Its device has been improved in comparison with the previous model. No need to rotate the stripper around the cable, just fix the wire in the appropriate socket and press the handles. Many models of semi-automatic strippers are capable of crimping ferrules and cutting cables.

Automatic stripper

Such stripping tools are professional types of strippers. It differs from the previous model in that it independently determines the thickness of the conductor. Therefore, all the work is to install the wire in the right socket and apply force to the handles.

Automatic wire strippers are expensive products, can strip multiple conductors at once, and also strip the wire in the middle. There are also automatic strippers for stripping flat wires, and for many other purposes when doing electrical work.

How to choose stripping tools

For domestic work on connecting electrical wiring, it is advisable to purchase a manual stripper for stripping insulation, which is capable of stripping wires up to 6 mm 2. Manual stripping tools are inexpensive and have enough functionality for home craftsmen.

Professional electricians who are constantly laying lines of wires and connecting them to various devices, it is better to purchase a stripper machine, or at least a semi-automatic model. Their cost is correspondingly higher, but it is greatly simplified electrical installation wiring.

How to use the stripper

Let's consider this question on a Chinese semi-automatic stripper, which has been working properly for several years.

The cutting part is two plates with cutouts for different wire sections.

When placing the conductor in the grip, you should leave part of the wire for stripping behind the knives.

We squeeze the stripper handles, holding the conductor with our hands. In this case, the knives are compressed, cutting the sheath, and the sponges pull the conductor back. As a result, the wire sheath is removed.

A feature of working with a stripper is right choice notch size. If you choose its diameter incorrectly, then the conductive core will be damaged or even break off. You should not capture too much length of the shell, it is better to remove it in several passes. With sufficient skill with the stripper, the insulating sheath is removed in less than a second, and the job goes faster. Therefore, the purchase of such a tool saves working time, finances and the strength of the employee.

Crimping tips with a stripper

If there is no special tool used for crimping wires (crimper), then this work can be done with a stripper. This work is quite simple. First you need to strip the wire from the insulating sheath to the required length. Next, install the ferrule on the wire and place it in the appropriate connector of the stripper. Then you need to squeeze the handles, getting a crimped wire in the tip. Then you should cut off the excess end of the core.

Advantages of strippers
  • In addition to stripping, they can be used instead of press tongs or wire cutters to crimp the wire.
  • These stripping tools can be used to strip very thin wires.
  • It is allowed to use strippers to remove the sheath from conductors with any type of insulation.
  • During operation, they do not damage the conductive core, even made of soft metal.
  • Simple and clear usage.
  • Low cost.
Stripping the insulation with a soldering iron

If there was no special tool or knife at hand, then you can strip the cable or wire with a simple one. To do this, it is heated to operating temperature, then a conductor is leaned against the sting and rotated around its axis, melting the insulation.

Now the insulating sheath can be easily removed, and the core will not be damaged. The disadvantage of this method is the release of harmful and unpleasant smoke by the melting insulation, as well as the impossibility of using a soldering iron to strip the rubber wire, since the rubber will burn.

In electrical activities, accuracy and accuracy in the processing of materials are especially important. The quality of the current-carrying element is determined by the reliability of the connections and the absence of defects on the line. As practice shows, a considerable part of the malfunctions in the operation of network communications of this type arise precisely because of errors in installation. The key to quality work is the use suitable tools. For example, in the question of how to strip a wire, you should not resort to improvised means that are not intended for such operations. Cleanly and evenly, without damaging the working elements, special tools will allow you to remove the insulation.

stripping

The traditional device for such tasks is a special kind of pliers that have precision holes with different diameter. Also, the tool provides corrugated sponges and straight blades. It can be said to be a versatile wire stripper as it also allows you to grab and cut cables of various gauges. If it is not functionality that is important, but high speed and ease of use, then you should turn to the family of wire cutters and pliers. Just a few manipulations are required to adjust the device to the size of a particular wire, after which it is just as easy to remove the insulation.

It has already been noted that improvised tools should not be used in such work. First of all, this rule applies to ordinary knives, but this does not mean that, in principle, this category of household utensils cannot be used in electrical work. For example, there is a cable cutter for wires, the characteristics of which are just focused on removing outer coatings. The tool is characterized by a sickle-shaped blade, as well as the use of high-strength tool steels in the base.

Features and benefits of stippers

Separate attention deserves the category of stippers, which are designed for spot removal of insulating layers from cables. different type. The design of the device is represented by two handles and jaws that form wells of various sizes. In the process of work, the master places the wire in one of the free openings, clamps the jaws and pulls the cable away from the capture point. Sharp blades are inserted into the insulating coating, cutting it off from the main part and leaving the metal core bare. In order to increase the functionality of the stripper for stripping wires, it can be equipped with holes not only in the working area of ​​the main jaws, but also on the handles. From an operational point of view, the use of stippers is justified for two reasons. First, it provides high quality cut the insulation without damaging the inside of the cable. Secondly, the user is dealing with ready-made holes, oriented to work with specific wire sizes - this saves him from the troublesome preparation of the tool for working with a certain material format.

What is a crimper for?

The stripping of the cable is carried out as part of the general installation activity, the result of which should be the formed connection. That is, removing the terminal is a preparatory operation before further bringing together either two wires or connecting a cable to the device. To perform this procedure, the bare core must be in the form of a solid rod, in which individual antennae will be included. In such work, a crimper is useful, which will allow you to fit and correctly clamp the electrical sleeve onto the end of the cable. Typically, a wire stripper is supplied in the same kit as a crimper, as they complement each other's function, saving the technician time.

Wire Stripper Manufacturers

Specialized devices for working with wires are widely represented on the market. In particular, under the KNIPEX brand, wire cutters, tongs and repair knives are produced, designed specifically for removing insulating layers. Many manufacturers successfully combine several functions in such devices. Thus, the stripper WS 04B "КВТ", in addition to stripping the wire, also allows you to crimp end sleeves. Models from the manufacturers SHTOK and KRAFTOOL can also handle thick wires by default - in this respect, these products can also be called universal. For the most part, new models are reliable and highly ergonomic, but there are other nuances that should be considered when buying a tool.

How to choose a wire stripper?

Experienced electricians note that it is best not to rely on the advantages of multifunction devices with wide ranges of diameters available for cutting, but to give preference to specific narrow ranges. For example, for basic needs, models that work with cables with a cross section of 0.05 to 10 mm 2 are suitable. If you need a professional device that can work in a wider range, then it makes sense to choose a wire stripping tool among universal models. At the same time, it is worth considering not only the dimensions of the available products, but also the type of material of manufacture - it can be twisted pair, etc.

Conclusion

A feature of electrical work is and high risk electric shock. Of course, it is not present in every workflow, but for those who need a special tool for stripping wires, it is worth considering this aspect. Work in conditions high voltage in the cable should only be performed by devices with a dielectric coating. Typically, 1000 V rated stippers are produced with this sheath. The same safety requirements should apply to pliers, cable cutters, and crimpers. Also, do not forget about the rules for operating electrical tools, which, among other things, are aimed at ensuring a high-quality result in installation.

After choosing the wire section, drawing up an electrical wiring diagram and purchasing installation products, you can proceed with the installation of electrical wiring in the house. The reliability of electrical wiring depends not only on the reliability of the connections of wires with installation products. Equally important is the correct removal of insulation from the ends of the wires.

How to properly remove insulation from wires
universal tool

Usually, plastic insulation is removed mechanically (with a knife or side cutters) or by melting. Enamel insulation is removed mechanically (scraped off with a knife or sandpaper) or chemically.

How to properly remove the insulation from the wire with a knife

It is wrong when, to remove the insulation, it is cut in a circle with a knife blade oriented perpendicular to the wire, while still applying considerable force.

As a result, the copper core is notched, and the wire in this place can easily break. This is especially true when stripping thin wires with a diameter of 0.6-0.8 mm. After such stripping, they break off after a few minor bends.

It is necessary that the blade is almost in the same plane with the axis of the wire. The insulation is cut along the conductor, the remaining on the wire is taken to the side and also cut off.

How to properly remove the insulation from the wire using side cutters

The second mistake is often made when stripping insulation with side cutters. Usually they take the tool in hand, as it should, without paying attention to the orientation of the cutting edges.

If the sharpening side is directed towards the movement of the side cutters, then a significant clamping force must be applied. The wire can easily break off along with the insulation.

And it is necessary that the sides of sharpening the cutting edges of the side cutters look in the direction opposite to the movement of the tool, as shown in the photo. As a result, the cutting edges, even with a slight touch on the insulation, cut into it, and the insulation with a tube without notching the wire is easily removed.

Removing plastic insulation by melting

The insulation of modern wires for electrical wiring is usually made of PVC or polyethylene, the melting point of which lies in the range of 105-140 ° C. Therefore, using a soldering iron or other heating device, you can easily and safely remove the insulation from the wire. To do this, it is enough to hold the end of the soldering iron tip, pressing along the circumference of the insulation in the right place. The insulation will warm up, melt and be easily removed by hand.

As you can see, the insulation was removed perfectly, without harming the copper conductor.

If you need to strip a lot of wires from plastic insulation, then it is advisable to use a special device. Wood burning is very suitable for these purposes. Previously, such were produced under the name "Pattern".

An indispensable method of removing insulation by melting in cases of working with old electrical wiring. Over time, the plastic ages and becomes very hard, like bone. A piece of wire only 3 cm long protrudes in the junction box in the wall. You can’t get close to the insulation with a knife or wire cutters. In this situation, only reflow will help solve the problem. You can soften the insulation by heating it with a match or a gas lighter, then remove it.

With a conductor diameter of more than 0.2 mm, the most convenient is the mechanical method of stripping the insulation using sandpaper or scraping the enamel with a knife.

In order to remove it with sandpaper, you need to bend a small sheet of fine sandpaper in half, bring the end of the wire in between the bent halves of the sheet and drag the wire through without squeezing your fingers. And so repeat this operation by turning the wire until all the enamel is removed.

To remove the enamel with a knife, you need to put the end of the wire on any hard surface and turning the wire in a circle, scrape off the enamel until the end of the wire is completely clear of varnish.

In the case of removing insulation from a wire with a diameter of less than 0.2 mm, it is difficult to remove the enamel mechanically without damaging or breaking the conductor.

But it is easy to remove the enamel in a thermochemical way, using a soldering iron and a piece of vinyl chloride insulation. To do this, you need to stretch the end of the wire between the tip of the soldering iron, pressed against the vinyl chloride. The chlorine released from heating will clean the wire from the enamel.

This method is indispensable for removing enamel from a wire of the licendrat type, which is widely used in radio communications for winding high-frequency inductors. The licendrate consists of many thin enameled wires and twisted into one conductor.

With success, the enamel is removed with the help of aspirin, put the wire on the tablet and press it with a soldering iron, and then pull the wire. In this case, the wire is also immediately tinned.

Removal of PTFE insulation

Fluoroplast is a chemically produced polymer that is resistant to organic solvents and is not wetted by water. Characterized by high electrical strength, stable up to an exposure temperature of 300°C. An ideal insulating material, but expensive. Therefore, it is used only in technically justified cases. In everyday life, fluoroplastic wire is used by radio amateurs, since it does not melt when soldering with a soldering iron, takes up little space and has an aesthetic appearance.

Fluoroplastic insulation is a thin narrow tape tightly wound on a twisted stranded thin copper wire. It is possible to release such a wire from insulation only physically.

It is best to use a knife for this purpose. Having pressed the wire to the platform, the fluoroplast is scraped off with a knife to the required length.

After the wire is exposed, it is bent to the side and the remaining unnecessary fluoroplastic is cut off. As a result, a conductor neatly stripped of PTFE insulation is obtained, ready for soldering.

Insulation made of rubber, fabric and others insulating materials removed by one of the above described mechanical methods. The main rule is to prevent notches on the wire strands.

Wire stripping tool
Automatic stripper model WS-04

Manual cutting of wires takes a lot of time, requires sufficient experience and accuracy, especially when removing insulation from stranded wires of small cross section. To partially automate the stripping operation, there is a special hand tool called a stripper.


Among my set of tools there is a stripper model WS-04 of the German manufacturer KBT. I bought a stripper a long time ago, and I am very pleased with the purchase. I strongly recommend that professional electricians purchase a snipper, you will not regret it.

Main technical characteristics and principle of operation
stripper model WS-04

The stripper allows you to bite and strip insulation from wires with a diameter of 0.5 to 2.7 mm (section 0.2–6.0 mm 2) without adjustment. When setting with a micrometer screw, it is possible to strip wires with a diameter of 0.25 to 0.5 mm. Also, with the help of a stripper, you can crimp on wires simple connectors without insulation, insulated and double crimped automotive connectors with a diameter of 0.8 to 2.7 mm.


The stripper is a tongs, with cams installed at the ends of the levers. One of the pair of cams is fixed permanently, and the second, upper one, is movable. The left pair is used to clamp the wire, and the right pair is for cutting the insulation and removing it. At the first moment of convergence of the stripper handles, the left movable cam clamps the wire, and the right movable cam cuts into the insulation with a sharp edge at the end. As the levers continue to be brought together, the insulation is pulled off the wire. The entire removal process takes less than a second.


For crimping wires in round terminals on inner sides handles have combs of a given profile. It is enough to insert the connector into a place suitable for its size and bring the handles together. The wire will be securely clamped in the ferrule.

Examples of working with stripper WS-04

It is difficult to describe the work with the stripper in words, it is much more clear to demonstrate its capabilities using examples of stripping insulation from wires of various types.

For example, there is a piece of double installation wire for laying residential wiring, and you need to shorten it, and then remove the insulation to a given length.


To do this, it is enough to lead the wire between the cutting knives located on the inner sides of the handle and bring them together. Interestingly, the cut is obtained without deformation of the ends of the wires. If you cut with wire cutters, then the ends are usually flattened, sharpening a little.


Next, the end of the wire is wound between the movable and fixed jaws and the insulation is removed by squeezing the handles. No notches of wire cores are observed, which guarantees the reliability of the further connection. The blue movable limiter allows you to precisely set the length of the stripped insulation.


The insulation is also easily removed from the stranded wire, which is often used to supply voltage in low-voltage circuits. For example, wires going to products from adapters and power supplies.


With the help of a stripper, you can easily remove the insulation from two strands of double-insulated cord wire, however, in two steps. For the first reception, the first layer of insulation is removed - a vinyl chloride tube.


For the second step, the insulation is removed simultaneously from two cores of wires. The time for removing insulation from such a wire is no more than 5 seconds.


The stripper perfectly helps to prepare before pressing into the RJ-11 connector and the telephone wire connecting the landline phone to the communication line. In the case of connection using a screw connection, one more movement can also remove the insulation from the wire cores.


Stripping shielded wires is quite complicated operation especially if the wire is thin. With the help of a stripper, the insulation is first removed from the shielding braid.


The braid is then untwisted with a needle or sharp awl to expose the center wire. It remains to make one more movement, and the wire is freed from insulation. Removing the insulation from a shielded wire manually, using an ordinary knife, without damaging the wires, is laborious and time consuming.


I tried to remove the insulation from a thin stranded wire covered with fluoroplastic insulation. To my surprise, the stripper easily coped with this task.


To test the capabilities of the stripper, I stripped the insulation from copper and aluminum wires, solid and stranded, with insulation from different dielectrics, and the result was always pleasing. The stripper did the job flawlessly.

It happened with a stripper to crimp and insulated automotive terminals for double crimping. Compressed quite normally without much difficulty.

Feedback on the work of the stripper model WS-04

If you have to strip wires once a month, or even less often, then replenishing your arsenal of tools with a stripper that costs about $ 20 is probably not advisable. But if you have to remove the insulation from the wires more often, then I think it is necessary to have a stripper at hand.

I bring to your attention a short video demonstrating the operation of the WS-04 stripper.

The practice of working with the WS-04 stripper confirmed its compliance with the declared by the manufacturer technical specifications, so if there is a need, you can safely purchase a stripper of this model, you will not regret it.

Conductor end preparation
for connection to electrical appliances

After the wires are released from the insulation, it is necessary to prepare their ends for connection to electrical appliances, since in the vast majority of cases a mechanical method of fastening with screws, clamping in terminal blocks, crimping and twisting is used. To plugs, sockets, cartridges, automatic circuit breakers and other similar devices, the connection is usually made with screws.

To connect conductors to electrical appliances where currents of less than 1 A flow, it is quite enough to insert a straight piece of a 5-10 mm long wire freed from insulation under the screw head and clamp it. In this way, I have conductors fixed in all switches, since there are LED bulbs, and the strength of the current flowing through the contacts of the switches does not exceed 0.25 A.

The main thing is to prevent the conductor from slipping out from under the screw head. As you can see in the photo above, the contact in the switch (enlarged for clarity), to which the wire is attached, is bent in a corner. When screwing the screw, the wire rests against this corner, which prevents it from slipping. If the limiter is not provided, then it is imperative to twist the end of the wire into a ring. For connections where large currents flow, a connection without twisting the end of the conductor into a ring will be extremely unreliable.

The easiest way is to twist a ring of wire with the help of round-nose pliers. Of course, you can form a ring by wrapping the wire around, for example, the tip of a screwdriver or a drill of a suitable diameter. For ease of forming a ring of the required diameter, marks of 3 mm, 3.5 mm, 4 mm and 4.5 mm should be applied to the jaws of the round-nose pliers. If you need to make a ring for the M3 screw from a single-core wire, then I form rings on the 3.5 mm mark so that the screw can easily enter. In the case of a stranded conductor and with subsequent tinning - 4 mm.

It is not necessary to tin the wires, but it is desirable, especially if the product will be used in conditions of high humidity, for example, in a bathroom or shower room, damp basements, in winter in an unheated country house.

These are the rings that turned out, one for the M3 screw, and the other for the M4. Rings of stranded wire are formed in a slightly different way. First, the conductor wraps around the cone of the round-nose pliers, and then around itself at the exit from the insulation.


It is desirable to pierce the formed rings and flatten them a little with light blows of a small hammer. Then the contact area will increase and the reliability of the future connection will be much higher.


When installing a stranded wire, you can make rings that are not closed. To do this, after removing the insulation, tin the wire with a soldering iron, and then form rings using the technology of forming a single-core wire.

Strictly observing the simple technology described above for preparing wires for connection, you will never have to repair electrical wiring.

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