Good wire strippers? Thermal?

I am about to start building several 32 channel snakes and figured I should upgrade from my trusty old radio shack stripper. As handy as I got with it I would still nick a strnd here and there.
Anyway, if someone has any recommendations it would help alot.



Thanks,
T.J.

funny I acutally like my radio hack stripper I have gotten so used to it I would hate to use anything else. At work We have klein tools and they work well but I usually go for my radio hack's. I have never used a thermal stripper but I have been told that is all they are allowed to use in the military. One of the guys I worked with was ex U.S. Air Force and they are not allowed to use traditional strippers because can't have frays or nicks Especially when dealing with nukes. In a pinch you could use a lighter and it works just as good as a thermal plus @ an average of .99 pretty cheap.

I knew a stripper in Alaska who wore thermals. :razz:

I knew a stripper in Alaska who wore thermals.

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:thumb:

For general duties, including stripping shielded pair cable, I've had good luck with this inexpensive stripper/crimper:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00004SBDH/002-0007206-8832814?v=glance

There's an expensive but very good self-adjusting stripper that used to be sold by Eraser Corp. (www.eraser.com) called the DE0010 for 8-24 AWG wire, or DE0011 for 16-28 AWG wire, but it's no longer available. I used to have one, but it was stolen along with my car a few weeks ago

I haven't used the thermal strippers because I use mostly teflon insulated wire, so it would have to be really hot.

I got 3 of these on ebay for like $30:
http://www.hmcelectronics.com/cgi-bin/scripts/product/4440-0003

This is the best version of the stripmaster. The blades stay sharp and always strip cleanly.

Oh and get a solderpot. I put together a patchbay faster then I ever had before when I used my solder pot to tin 3 leads at a time.

Oh and get a solderpot.

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any recomendations?

I used to make multicores (snakes to the americans out there) for a company. I always found that a simple pair of wire strppers were the easiest & best oones to use. Just make sure they are sharp.

[quote author="CJ"]I knew a stripper in Alaska who wore thermals. :razz:[/quote]

You must not've paid the full rate.......




or was that extra?

I have a single edge razor blade with several turns of board tape around it at about 3/32" from the edge (exposing that much of the blade) for cutting the jacket off of a snake. Very handy.

Sharply bend the snake and (carefully) strike it with the blade where you want to cut the jacket. Rotate, and repeat.

I dig the Paladin Stripax.

Thanks for all the ideas. I will probably try a few of these out.
Still a little curious if there are any thermal strippers worth buying though.
Thanks again,
T.J.

[quote author="pucho812"]

Oh and get a solderpot.

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any recomendations?[/quote]

I bought something old and crusty looking, but as long as it gets hot, it will be fine. I think I paid $20 on ebay.
It looks a bit like the top one here:
http://www.action-electronics.com/amerbty.htm

I have a small cup of flux that I dip the leads into, then dip them into the solder pot. Just remember to plug the thing in like 30-45 minutes before you need it. They are a bit slow.