Best Wire Strippers for small AWG Electronic Repair in 2022?

[tooki]

One caveat with the Stripax-style strippers, especially the Knipex model I suggest above: the blades are fairly delicate. DO NOT strip anything but copper wire with them, DO NOT attempt to strip wire larger than the maximum, and DO NOT let kids or careless adults play with them. I’ve seen new blades get ruined in under a week by careless people who play around with tools and clamp down on steel wire or a component or whatever “for fun”.

In the hands of a careful person they’ll last a long time.

Knipex Multistrip 10 looks similar to Stripax on a first glance but is not even close (I own both). Total trash which is often sold for more than Stripax. Complete waste of money. I suspect their newer PreciStrip16 may be OK by its looks and considering it's  adjustable but would not take chances spending money on Knipex stripper.

I double checked at work and the one I had at my bench (“had” because yesterday was my last day there) are the 12 42 195, the MultiStrip 10, and I preferred it over the Stripax. Not that either one worked well on PTFE, irradiated PVC, etc. But for normal PVC, it worked well, and without the risk of damaging wire like a Stripax with the depth set wrong. (When working with trainees, they often forget to adjust a Stripax.)

What are the issues you have with the MultiStrip 10?

[tooki]

Outstanding wire stripper.  Holds sharpness, easily repeatably precise, thoroughly dependable.  No muss, no fuss, just perfecto every time.  Marketed under both Greenlee and Paladin brands.  Easily precisely strips all the way to 30 AWG Kynar wire.  Also available in a big brother size wire stripper (same overall tool size just handles larger 10-24 AWG diameter wires).  Available on Amazon as a 2 tool set for $30.   Hard to imagine a reason to buy any other wire strippers.

https://www.jensentools.com/greenlee-pa1118-stripper-wire-progrip-20-ergonomic-30-20-awg/p/618pl1118

I’d choose the Klein Tools equivalent simply because of the labeling: the Greenlee has AWG on one side, mm diameter (not cross section) on the other (i.e. both for solid wire). I much prefer the Klein Tools, which has AWG for solid wire on one side and AWG for stranded wire on the other. I also prefer the Klein Tools grip (see photo in my post above).

[wraper]

One caveat with the Stripax-style strippers, especially the Knipex model I suggest above: the blades are fairly delicate. DO NOT strip anything but copper wire with them, DO NOT attempt to strip wire larger than the maximum, and DO NOT let kids or careless adults play with them. I’ve seen new blades get ruined in under a week by careless people who play around with tools and clamp down on steel wire or a component or whatever “for fun”.

In the hands of a careful person they’ll last a long time.

Knipex Multistrip 10 looks similar to Stripax on a first glance but is not even close (I own both). Total trash which is often sold for more than Stripax. Complete waste of money. I suspect their newer PreciStrip16 may be OK by its looks and considering it's  adjustable but would not take chances spending money on Knipex stripper.

I double checked at work and the one I had at my bench (“had” because yesterday was my last day there) are the 12 42 195, the MultiStrip 10, and I preferred it over the Stripax. Not that either one worked well on PTFE, irradiated PVC, etc. But for normal PVC, it worked well, and without the risk of damaging wire like a Stripax with the depth set wrong. (When working with trainees, they often forget to adjust a Stripax.)

What are the issues you have with the MultiStrip 10?

Multistrip 10 = Stripax with some depth set and glued permanently and simpler mechanism. "Automatic adjustment" of Knipex = no adjustment at all, you get what you get. It adjusts to wire diameter just as Stripax but not to insulation thickness. If it strips particular wire fine, good for you. If it cuts into insulation too deep or too shallow, tough luck. Rubber insulation or Kynar wire? forget about it. Adjustable wire end stopper is a complete joke on Knipex too. PVC wire you mentioned is basically the only thing on which it works well. But even then, if you take 1.5mm² solid core PVC wire, most likely you will have problems.