One of these days, I will learn my lesson...
I bought the Stripmaster wire strippers that Grainger recommended above. But I was too cheap to buy the Stripmaster Lite version, and I thought the Stripmasters would be more versatile (the Stripmasters will strip 16-22AWG, while the Lite version will strip 20-30AWG, although I think this varies depending on what cutting plate you install). Well, being cheap never pays. I should have bought the Lite version. While the Stripmasters are excellent, and I have zero complaints about the quality of the stripping, the Stripmaster has two annoying features:
1. They are too big. I've got VERY large hands, so the problem isn't my ability to hold them. It is that the head is physically quite large, and it is hard to strip short wires in tight spaces. I assume the Stripmaster Lite is considerably better in this respect.
2. You need to fully squeeze the handles together each time you strip a wire. You can't just stop squeezing when you reach the point where the insultation has been properyl stripped off the wire. Otherwise the part of the strippers that clamps the unstripped side of the wire won't release, and as you let go, the cutting plate on the stripped side of the strippers will wind up bending/crushing/deforming the newly stripped lead. This isn't a big deal (you get used to having to depress the handle fully each time), but it is annoying.
My last comment is less a complaint than an observation. I've owned 3 kinds of wire strippers.
(A) The automatic wire strippers that use a set of blades to grab onto the insulation and then pull on it, to create a break in the insulation. They look like
these. These are very fast to use, since they automatically adjust to a number of wire gauges. You don't have to insert the wire into the right hole of anything like that. You just slap it in and squeeze.
The problem with these is:
- The location of the cut in the insulation (and the length of the resulting exposed lead) is almost impossible to predict, resulting in uneven and unpredictable results. This is annoying when you want to minimize the amount of wire that is exposed.
- The automatic size adjustment doesn't work particularly well on small-gauge wire, and can wind up cutting standed wire or nicking solid core wire.
(B) The manual wire strippers that have a set of holes in them. You have to put the wire in the right hole, then close the handle and pull on the wire in order to strip off the insulation. They look like
this. These make perfect cuts in the insulation, without nicking stranded or solid core wire, since the holes are quite precise. They are also cheap and physically small. On the down side:
- They are slow to use because you have to make sure you put the wire in the right hole, and checking each time wastes time,
- They don't automatically strip the insulation, and
- You have almost yank on the wire each time. If you have soldered one end of a short wire, stripping the other end can stress the solder joint on the first end.
The third version (the Stripmaster) is basically a compromise between the first two. It includes the precision of the 2nd style, with the automation and low physical stress (no "yanking") of the first version. But they are still slower to use than the first version, because you still need to make sure the wire is in the correct sized "slot". Still, I found it faster/easier to get the wire in the correct Stripmaster slot, than in the holes for style #2.
Best regards,
Adam
