DIY Magnet Wire Stripping Tweezers *Video added*

[robrenz]

I needed to strip magnet wires on the voice coil actuators that I am making shown below. There is very little space so the stripper needed to be very compact. I started with a pair of $2.00 flea market tweezers that have a very wide body. The wide body makes the tips more resistnat to lateral misalignment. That is 28 AWG magnet wire .0136" or .345mm diameter


Here is what they look like finished. They have a tapered hole entry that intersects a flat wall forming a scraping edge. as shown in the next 2 pics.




This is a 28 AWG wire .0136" diameter over the .0004" thick insulation that has been stripped. This is 200 deg C rated insulation.




This is the setup in the bridgeport with the tweezers grabbed in the vice.  The toolmakers clamp is to adjust the tweezer gap on the cutters.



First cylindrical cutter to form the square inside wall that forms the scraper face. I fed it down from its uppermost position to make the channel that clears the wire.


Larger cylindrical end cutter to face the end.


Diamond plated tapered mandrel to rough form the conical entry and cutting edge. The cutting edge diameter is large enough to strip about 22 AWG but can strip all the way down to 34AWG. 


The finish of the diamond tool is fairly rough so this is a tapered steel pin with 9 micron diamond paste on it to lap a fine finsh on the cutting edge.


Tapered burr to cut a larger entry angle before the cutting edge.


The cutting edge was sharp enough to actually cut the copper so it had to be lightly dulled so it only cuts the insulation. This is a rubberized abrasive stick in a battery drill and ground to a taper to lightly dull the tweezers.


After all the shaping of the outside of the tips with files and abrasive sponges I carburized and hardened the cutting edge with this hardening compound so the cutting edge would hold up.

[BravoV]

I'm speechless, especially imagining the working size and accuracy needed to accomplish this task, thanks for sharing this. 

[VK5RC]

Lovely work (again)!

[Richard Head]

Wow! Excellent job.
Please show us it in action.

[TSL]

Bloody Brilliant! !!

It looks so good I feel like I want one

cheers

Tim

[kmm]

Really cool, never seen a full size Bridgeport doing such fine work!

Gonna have to get some of those rubberized abrasive sticks, look like a useful thing to have around.

[pickle9000]

Robrenz, did you pick tweezers for a particular reason? The springyness for example.

[Vgkid]

Impressive job.

[robrenz]

Robrenz, did you pick tweezers for a particular reason? The springyness for example.

Tweezers get you 90% of the way there for cheap. The flexibility is a factor to allow some give so you don't have to be super precise in how hard you press. As an example if you did the same thing to a pair of pliers it would be very difficult to apply just the right amount of pressure without cutting the wire off instead of stripping it

[KD0CAC John]

Rob , going to have to fault you a few points .
Since you have been lolly gagging for so long , leaving us with out your youtube videos for too long
Oh , if your going to sell any , I'm up for a pair  ?
My machinist friend , retired from retirement - sold off all his at home gear .
I wish had the space , doggie dew .

[robrenz]

Wow! Excellent job.
Please show us it in action.

Very short video here of stripping the 28 AWG 200 degree C insulation.  It is hard to do under the microscope because when the video camera is in use I only have one eyepiece active and you loose all depth perception. So yeah, it looks like I am drunk

[SeanB]

Wow! Excellent job.
Please show us it in action.

Very short video here of stripping the 28 AWG 200 degree C insulation.  It is hard to do under the microscope because when the video camera is in use I only have one eyepiece active and you loose all depth perception. So yeah, it looks like I am drunk

Please list the video, it is a very good one, and in any case everybody ( aside from those who have no problem with fine motor control) has shaky hands under a microscope.

[calexanian]

Nicely done! You know that they sell tools for that already. But this way is more fun.

[robrenz]

Yes I am aware of them but none of them will fit in to strip the leads shown here where it is cramped for space.

[icon]

Bridgeport - tweezers. Risky combo. I hope you weren't climb-milling  - could have pulled that table right along. I shudder to think of the consequences.

John

[robrenz]

Bridgeport - tweezers. Risky combo. I hope you weren't climb-milling  - could have pulled that table right along. I shudder to think of the consequences.

John

I hope you are kidding, those cutters are only about.060" diameter and the cutting forces are balanced and resisted within the tweezer itself because it is cutting on both sides simultaneously. That table isn't going anywhere.

[joeqsmith]

I needed to strip magnet wires on the voice coil actuators that I am making shown below. There is very little space so the stripper needed to be very compact. I started with a pair of $2.00 flea market tweezers that have a very wide body. The wide body makes the tips more resistnat to lateral misalignment. That is 28 AWG magnet wire .0136" or .345mm diameter

That is slick. 

[quarks]

Just beautiful microscopic precision work.
Thanks for sharing.

[mikerj]

Bridgeport - tweezers. Risky combo. I hope you weren't climb-milling  - could have pulled that table right along. I shudder to think of the consequences.

John

I hope you are kidding, those cutters are only about.060" diameter and the cutting forces are balanced and resisted within the tweezer itself because it is cutting on both sides simultaneously. That table isn't going anywhere.

It must have been a joke, but he ought to have made that more clear.

[robrenz]

Thanks everyone for the kind words, I am glad you still find these type of posts interesting.

[icon]

[
I hope you are kidding, ...

Of course I'm bloomin' kidding! I'm parodying the kind of portentous bollocks that gets spouted on web forums. I thought it was hyperbolic enough not to need winking smilies to sign it - it's a Bridgeport and a pair of tweezers, for heaven's sake!

Now if it was my Downham Engineering mini-mill/jig borer, that would be different. That only weighs a thousand pounds, so you'd want to proceed cautiously[1].

John

[1] For the avoidance of doubt, and to alleviate any potential stress that might caused by a literal interpretation of this statement, readers are advised that it is intended to be taken in a jocular, whimsical sense.

[robrenz]

You got me good, well done