Should I upgrade my wire stripper tool ?
- Thread starter Jacobson
- Start date
I'm not a fan of those combination tools. They tend to do none of the functions well.
Any decent American or Taiwanese wire stripper (Klein, Milwaukee, Ideal, Southwire, etc.) will be night and day better. Even the "better" HF brands are decent (Quinn/Icon).
Hit me up via PM I might have something you can have
.
Any decent American or Taiwanese wire stripper (Klein, Milwaukee, Ideal, Southwire, etc.) will be night and day better. Even the "better" HF brands are decent (Quinn/Icon).
Hit me up via PM I might have something you can have
.LopezBart
Well-known member
Klein Tools 11055 works well, is compact and cost $20 from Amazon.
Semi-automatic Irwin is $22
Big step up from $10-$15 basic tool ?
Shiftless
Well-known member
I still use mine but only for the screw cutting feature. That part works great! For sripping wires I use one of the better models.
LopezBart
Well-known member
I've used both the Irwin and the Klein. For me, it depends on the amount of space I have; the little Klein is definitely easier for me in tight quarters repairing trailers, etc, and it takes up less space in my electrical bag. The Irwin is faster when doing a lot of stripping but less forgiving of dirt, etc.
onetonbb74
Well-known member
I have a pair that is made by Ideal that is very similar, hate using those combos...I like the Ideal Reflex T-strippers.
YES! the screw cutters!! It's amazing, the number of people who have no idea the feature is even there!!
richfinn
Well-known member
Yep, you need a Weicon 5 wire stripper and some heat shrink crimpers at the very least.
Shiftless
Well-known member
I’ve had this wire stripper for a long time. It’s the one I use.
I’ve had this wire stripper for a long time. It’s the one I use.
A true master of his skill.
Shiftless
Well-known member
I’m far from a master electrician. But I’m proud of the fact that after all of these years, I haven’t lost these wire strippers.
Meursault74
Well-known member
I use the tool a few times a year
It's something I've had since the 1980s
It never seems to work well, but that very well could be operator error.
Are modern designs easier to use?
Which would you suggest? Budget/value for home DIY
Yes
I still have one like that, but I don't use it anymore for crimping or stripping as it's not very good at it. I still use it to cut screws though.
I have a couple of strippers and a dedicated crimper tool
I also have this one from HF as it can get into tighter locations. It looks like it's on closeout now. 3 bucks, wow.
V-Notch Wire Strippers
Amazing deals on this V-Notch Wire Strippers at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.
www.harborfreight.com
They also have another like this in Pittsburg brand.
Pretty much any other stripper will be better than the one you have,
What's the difference between the two types Butter posted ?
www.harborfreight.com
www.harborfreight.com
5 in. V-Notch Wire Stripper
Amazing deals on this 5In V-Notch Wire Strippers at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.
www.harborfreight.com
7 in. Wire Stripper with Cutter
Amazing deals on this 7In Wire Stripper With Cutter at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.
www.harborfreight.com
manwithtools
ALLIANCE MEMBER
The V-Notch type is junk. The 7" is useable.What's the difference between the two types Butter posted ?
5 in. V-Notch Wire Stripper
Amazing deals on this 5In V-Notch Wire Strippers at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.7 in. Wire Stripper with Cutter
Amazing deals on this 7In Wire Stripper With Cutter at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.
bcradio
Well-known member
Spend a little more and get a DoyleWhat's the difference between the two types Butter posted ?
5 in. V-Notch Wire Stripper
Amazing deals on this 5In V-Notch Wire Strippers at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.7 in. Wire Stripper with Cutter
Amazing deals on this 7In Wire Stripper With Cutter at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.
What's the difference between the two types Butter posted ?
5 in. V-Notch Wire Stripper
Amazing deals on this 5In V-Notch Wire Strippers at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.7 in. Wire Stripper with Cutter
Amazing deals on this 7In Wire Stripper With Cutter at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.
V-notch strippers have their place.
If you strip thousands of wires a day you'll get excellent results because it's highly dependent on skill and the user's feel. I've seen folks strip wire cleaner on those than any pair of Kleins. Not all wire has the same size insulation.
The second pair is okay but I'd get the Doyle version which I use all the time. It's solid.
Professional Wire Stripper and Cutter
Amazing deals on this Professional Wire Stripper & Cutter at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.
www.harborfreight.com
manwithtools
ALLIANCE MEMBER
@BrandonV In our business we have 20 full time technicians building electrcial control panels all day long. All they do is route wires, label them, strip them and terminate them. Thousands of connections a day across those folks. None of them have ever used v notch strippers nor would they recommend them to anyone. No one who strips a lot of wire likes them.
Opinions. Everyone has one. My father started out with a guy who refused to use a meter on electrical panels. His hand was more than sufficient to determine if circuits were live.
A lot of people use the cheapest V strippers infrequently enough to get a bad opinion of them. Very, very, very fine solid core wire (telephone and smaller) they work wonders on. My experience is with 24 gauge and smaller.
Last edited:
Thanks all for the input!
Ok, it sounds like I should upgrade.
V-notch is a pass, as I have no feel or skill
I will get the Doyle for $10
www.harborfreight.com
Ok, it sounds like I should upgrade.
V-notch is a pass, as I have no feel or skill
I will get the Doyle for $10
Professional Wire Stripper and Cutter
Amazing deals on this Professional Wire Stripper & Cutter at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.
www.harborfreight.com
Firebrick43
Well-known member
Best strippers both in speed, consistency, and not leaving knicks on the wire.
Works on everything from 10 gauge if you squeeze the handle partially and then rotate 90 degrees down to super fine 30 gauge on tiny encoder leads.
dnschmidt
Well-known member
These people never learn Richfinn. Why waste your time giving them the correct answer which they will never listen to anyway?
Good thing wire strippers aren't a subjective thing... As long as the insulation is removed and the conductor isn't compromised and the user is happy it doesn't matter.
Yep, I too used to think those v-notch strippers were junk. Then a couple of friends who run a lot of comm wires told me they use those all day, every day. I seriously thought they were just messing with me, but no, it's their tool of choice for the very small wires they use a lot of. Apparently there's nothing faster and cleaner once you get used to them.
But for ham-fisted me, mostly dealing with larger wires, like 18 ga and up? I still don't use mine!
Madjik Man
Well-known member
- Joined
- Dec 3, 2015
- Messages
- 1,527
I use the tool a few times a year
It's something I've had since the 1980s
It never seems to work well, but that very well could be operator error.
Are modern designs easier to use?
Which would you suggest? Budget/value for home DIY
I too used one exactly like this for 30 years. Just embraced the ****.
Then I bought one of these Klein self adjusting ones years ago before installing a fuse/relay box with switchbacks in the truck cab.
Have never touched the old school ones since.
All depends on what you're working on really...
For one project we were using automatic strippers and then they found one nicked wire. That nicked wire became a million dollar issue.
We bought laser strippers after that.
Buckaroo5
Well-known member
I got a Klein 11063w as I was doing a kitchen remodel with a fair amount of electrical and figured I could justify a nice tool. It works well and makes stripping wires a pleasure. Like almost everytime I upgrade my tools, I wondered why I waited so long to get one,
Meursault74
Well-known member
regarding the V-notch strippers. There's two kinds that I've used. Ones as pictured above where it has a settings for each common gauge wire, and one like this where it's infinitely adjustable like this Stanley.
www.zoro.com
Stanley Wire Stipper/Cutter, 5" 84-213 | Zoro
Order Stanley Wire Stipper/Cutter, 5", 84-213 at Zoro.com. Great prices & free shipping on orders over $50 when you sign in or sign up for an account.
www.zoro.com
I have the same one, used it to wire my house. I still use it but these days occasionally, once every couple of months. If I was in production work I'd get something better, similar to the $22 Irwin that was mentioned. I did see a review where the only drawback to the Irwin was stripping romex conductors that have a plastic-type coating on the insulation, like NM. The Irwins will grab the plastic coating but might not grab the actual insulation on the conductor. Might take multiple strips to get it to grab and strip the coating before it can grab the insulation under the plastic coating.I use the tool a few times a year
It's something I've had since the 1980s
It never seems to work well, but that very well could be operator error.
Are modern designs easier to use?
Which would you suggest? Budget/value for home DIY
The Klein Katapult has the same issue with NM conductors but it doesn't seem to be as bad. When looking at the two, it looks like the teeth on the Klein are more aggressive so they'll get a better bite.
Last edited:
richfinn
Well-known member
They aren't, you are 100% correct, my opinion is basically meaningless in the grand scheme of things despite me trying out almost every wire stripper on Earth as a jobbing auto electrician and coming to the conclusion "you know this cheap $25 German one is the best quality I've ever used and never ever fails performance wise, I'll spread the word on GJ and hopefully save my "tool buddies" some cash and frustration"
Last edited:
richfinn
Well-known member
If you get through to one guy it's worth the pain and effort, you can save him $$$$ looking for that unicorn
They aren't, you are 100% correct, my opinion is basically meaningless in the grand scheme of things despite me trying out almost every wire stripper on Earth as a jobbing auto electrician and coming to the conclusion "you know this cheap $25 German one is the best quality I've ever used and never ever fails performance wise, I'll spread the word on GJ and hopefully save my "tool buddies" some cash and frustration"
I agree. All I was getting at was it depends on your use case. Insulation quality, thickness, etc. in the automotive space is different than the telecom space which is different than the home electrical or commercial electrical space.
I guarantee I have some wire those automatics would struggle with.
richfinn
Well-known member
I'm pretty sure you do, however for a general purpose wire stripper these are the absolute bomb/and almost disposable cheap. But please watch the video.
They perform better than both the expensive Knipex versions (and all the rebrands) and are made in a first world economy, which will tick a lot of boxes for GJ guys
I would never recommend junk to my fellow tool enthusiasts, I've been in the game myself for nearly 40 years
I'm pretty sure you do, however for a general purpose wire stripper these are the absolute bomb/and almost disposable cheap. But please watch the video.
They perform better than both the expensive Knipex versions (and all the rebrands) and are made in a first world economy, which will tick a lot of boxes for GJ guys
I would never recommend junk to my fellow tool enthusiasts, I've been in the game myself for nearly 40 years
Fair point. I will check them out.
Sorry I have to shut off the engineering switch sometimes.
Are the Knipex rebrands or a clone of them?
richfinn
Well-known member
I honestly don't know if Jokari/Knipex/Paladin are all exactly the same tools or not to be honest, all I can say is Weicon are now a GJ trusted brand in my opinion, a bit cheap/ugly looking but they do work really good on relatively small wires in my experience.
I had never even heard of this brand until another British Auto Electrician scoffed at my fancy collection of strippers and said "WTF are you wasting money on that sh*t for" (In a humourous Northern English accent)
So I gave them a go as they were cheap, I was suitably educated (by a cantankerous old tw@t)
