I've used this type of stripper in the distance past. I like how it strips in one squeeze. Does the brand and price look right to your experienced eyes? If not, any recommendation? I'd like to stay below $50.
I have one of these, I've had it for a few years at least (can't remember how I got it, wasn't from amazon) and it is fantastic, still works as well as it ever has, and works well on multiple wires (a 4 wire ribbon cable usually strips perfectly fine) as well as quite large wires though sometimes you need to strip twice, it almost always gives a nice clean edge. Wire cutter isn't half bad either but I rarely use it.
Sometimes the insulation gets stuck but you just need to turn it over and use it a couple times empty and it falls out, I'm sure it's the same with all of them.
I have this exact model. I highly recommend it. You set depth and tension and once it works, it always works and makes the same strip every time. The price on this website below is ridiculous. I got mine at Fry's for like $18. But I link this page because it has a good image of the stripper, unlike Fry's website.
Great! Thanks for the tips. So automatic means you adjust the right tension for a particular gauge so there's no need to align wire to a particular cutting groove?
liudr:
Great! Thanks for the tips. So automatic means you adjust the right tension for a particular gauge so there's no need to align wire to a particular cutting groove?
In the case of my stripper, yes, you set that on one of the tiny machined knobs. The other knob lets the stop slide in and out so you can adjust the depth of the strip to some degree (you can push the wire past it if you need a really long stripped area). There are no cutting grooves. When you squeeze the tool, it clamps down into the insulation to a depth set by the first knob and then mechanically breaks the insulation by pulling it apart. The cutting mechanism is not even that sharp, but it works great.
Just as an update, I found this wire stripper capable of stripping 3 wires together, side by side, a big time saver. If I try 4, then trying to line them all up becomes problematic. But I'll take 3 gladly
Radio has a similar-looking one at the same price I paid for on ebay:
I've used this type of stripper in the distance past. I like how it strips in one squeeze. Does the brand and price look right to your experienced eyes? If not, any recommendation? I'd like to stay below $50.
Thanks.
If your budget allows, get a thermal wire stripper. These melt the insulation and prevent nicking conductors (which prevents wire breakage and lost strands).
Mil-spec wiring requires thermal strippers. Years ago I got certified under MIL-833-B to do some wiring on an Air Force project and that was my first introduction to thermal strippers. I've used them ever since.
I would never use a mechanical stripper for my projects. When I'm doing a job not at home (i.e. where I don't have access to my thermal stripper), I use a soldering iron to melt a ring around the insulation and pull it off by hand. It's a bit slower than a wire ripper, but it does a nice job. (btw I meant to write "ripper' instead of "stripper").
You can get cheap-o thermal strippers on EBay for $50 or less (but of course ya gets what ya pays for).
Depends on how much you plan to do and how good of a job you want it to turn out.
I have this problem that if I solder a wire lead to a pcb hole, if I heat up the lead too much and give too much push on the wire, the insulation melts and goes inside the pcb hole, making bad connections. I tell myself not to push the wire too much. So with a thermal stripper, will melted plastic ever get in the way of soldering at all? Will they not coat the wire with a thin layer of plastic (possibly not helping with soldering) or do you usually melt far from the end of the wire and strip off a longer piece of insulation?
i got one as people rant and rave about it, but its rubbish - seems to pull the wire rather than cut+strip it. ok-ish for 0.1mm wire but completely useless for mains wire.
Harbor freight has one for very cheap. I personally didn't buy this part from them although I have used these types of wire strippers in the past and they are nice. My experience my harbor freight is some tools are great, others suck so you have to rely on the reviews and the reviews seemed decent for this part.
i got one as people rant and rave about it, but its rubbish - seems to pull the wire rather than cut+strip it. ok-ish for 0.1mm wire but completely useless for mains wire.
That is similar to the one I recommended. It's great for 18-28 gauge wire, exactly what I use in my projects. I've never had trouble with it, they are great reliable strippers. Then again, I can see it having trouble on heaver wire than that and maybe lighter wire as well.
i got one as people rant and rave about it, but its rubbish - seems to pull the wire rather than cut+strip it. ok-ish for 0.1mm wire but completely useless for mains wire.
That is similar to the one I recommended. It's great for 18-28 gauge wire, exactly what I use in my projects. I've never had trouble with it, they are great reliable strippers. Then again, I can see it having trouble on heaver wire than that and maybe lighter wire as well.
its always possible with ebay that mine is a clone or something although it wasn't cheap it doesn't seem to have any build quality - the red handle covers come off and the guide rail kind of thing at the top behind where the wire is stripped comes out of alignment sometimes.
its ok for 24awg wire but not great, as i recall it works better with the really thin stranded wire like you get on speakers and inside usb cables.
seems its the same as the harbour freight, fry's, amazon and radioshack ones above too!