Suggestion for wire stripper for small gauges

[Analog Kid]

I'm looking for suggestions for wire strippers suitable for use on smaller-gauge wire (< 24 ga). I prefer "automatic" strippers that grip the wire and eject the insulation.

Here are my current go-to strippers: they're cheap Chinese ones, I think I paid about $5 for them at a funky tool store, that actually work very well. "Diamond Brand, Made in China". After I bought them I had to do a lot of filing and bending to get them to perform well. After this "tune-up" they work as well as my American-made ones by GB that have superior fit and finish but don't really work any better; got to give credit to Chinese cottage industry.



These work fine down to about 24 AWG (size of CAT5 conductors), but below that they're pretty useless. So I need something made specifically for smaller gauges. Inexpen$ive would be nice, though not necessary. Chinese stuff is OK.

[dobsonr741]

Look at Hakko CHP CSP-30-1, if you mean smaller is thinner.

[Analog Kid]

Nice, good price, but not automatic.

[bdunham7]

I have these:

https://www.specialized.net/teledyne-tw-1-stripall-standard-thermal-wire-stripper.html

Unlike all mechanical strippers, they don't leave nicks in the conductor that can result in breakage during handling.  You can shop around on eBay and such for a reasonable price, $500 is a bit rich.

There are also these:

https://jonard.com/adjustable-wire-strippers-adjustable-wire-stripper?v=511

I haven't tried them yet, but they look simple and handy. 

[Analog Kid]

1. $512.28; what, are you nuts?
2. Have to buy through a distributor.

Next!

[Poroit]

What is your budget?

Do you want cheap & cheerful or good quality?

Weidmuller is good stuff if you can afford it.

https://www.weidmuller.com.au/en/products/workplace_accessories/tools/stripping.jsp

[Analog Kid]

Well obviously I want both cheap and good.
If I have to pay a little extra for "good" I'm willing to do that.
Certainly not about to shell out >$500 for a pair of goddamn wire strippers ...

[jonpaul]

US and German made strippers easily avail to #30 ga.

We use lots of Telecom IW and frame connect, 28 ga solid CU PVC


Also #30, 28 ga Kynar WW

j

[tooki]

Assuming we are talking about “normal” insulation that strips easily (PVC, mPPE, polyolefin, Kynar, etc) then I recommend the Knipex Multistrip 10. On said normal insulation, it works great all the way down to 0.03mm² (32AWG).

If you’re using challenging insulation (Teflon, Kapton, etc) then the Ideal Stripmaster has versions with special grips (look like grinding stone) that grip the wire without damaging the insulation. At least that’s what they claim; I haven’t used them.

Thermal is great, but not automatic.

Of course you can also spend $$$$$ on automatic stripping machines with rotary blades. Awesome but crazy expensive.

[thephil]

I have the Knipex Multistrip 10 and like it a lot.

I also have a few cheap Chinese clones – they are ok for larger diameters but will rip out strands in small diameter stranded wire...

[shabaz]

https://jonard.com/adjustable-wire-strippers-adjustable-wire-stripper?v=511

I haven't tried them yet, but they look simple and handy.

They are not bad, but the stripping blade is quite thin, and can get damaged. Mine didn't last more than a couple of years, I probably used the wrong wire, or had not set the wire gauge correctly, and possibly scraped the blade when pulling the wire. The user has to pull on the wire (in contrast to the tool mentioned below), so that's a bit out of control when using the tool.

The Stripmaster Lite model 45-672 costs about $100 and is suitable for wires down to 30 AWG, i.e. is great with thin Kynar wire for instance (which is what I mainly use it for), up to normal 24 AWG wire. I've used mine for more than 10 years, still on the original blades. There can be a faint tool impression on the insulator (as @tooki mentions) and there are other tools that will not exhibit that. The impact depends on the use-case. For prototyping, it's not been an issue for me. I have a pair of Knipex 12 12 02 wire strippers that leave no impression on the insulator (the Knipex tool uses four blades, and pushes apart at the insulation cut position) but the Stripmaster Lite is a slightly easier-to-use tool and just feels more convenient; the Knipex tool is a bit more "specialist").

There are also "tricks" possible with the Stripmaster Lite, to strip pieces of wire as short as an inch in overall length (the trick is to hold the wire with tweezers, in-between the gap between the blades and the insulation grip area).

[tooki]

https://jonard.com/adjustable-wire-strippers-adjustable-wire-stripper?v=511

I haven't tried them yet, but they look simple and handy.

I have a few of the original German-made versions of these. (The Jonard are made in China.) I really like them for certain things. In particular, the stepless length stop is fantastic for preparing wires for contacts that need a very short, very precise strip length. (The Multistrip 10 has a minimum strip length of 3mm, in 1mm steps. For a recent project where I needed exactly 2.7mm, I added a few layers of tape onto the depth stop to bulk it up. Worth the effort for 100+ contacts, but not for one or two.)

Something to remember about these is that the metric wire sizes are diameters of solid wire, not square mm cross sectional area, never mind cross section of stranded wire.

They work very well on Teflon. Decent but not perfect on Kapton.



It is unclear whether the German-made ones (sold by CK) are still being made; they’re back-ordered everywhere and have been for ages. The actual manufacturer appears to be a small family company. (In addition to CK, they used to be sold under many names, including Siemens.)

[wraper]

I have the Knipex Multistrip 10 and like it a lot.

I also have a few cheap Chinese clones – they are ok for larger diameters but will rip out strands in small diameter stranded wire...

Not for small gauges, it's bad enough it does not have adjustable insulation stripping depth, but for small gauges it makes it basically unusable. Absolutely not worth it for the money it costs. Weidmuller Stripax is much better universal stripper, especially if you need smaller gauges. Multistrip feels like cheap Chinese shit in comparison, although price is almost the same.

[Analog Kid]

OK, let me step in here a moment:

0. I'm a hobbyist, not into production. So not day-in, day-out usage here.
1. Max. price: ~$20 USD.
2. I want an automatic stripper.
3. If you're going to post something, please post links to actual tools w/prices, OK? I want to buy something, not have a theoretical discussion here. (If others want that that's fine, but not what I'm after.)

[thm_w]

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/best-wire-strippers-for-small-awg-electronic-repair-in-2022/

[Analog Kid]

Thanks. That's a hell of a thread (3 pages) to wade through.
It's looking like automatic strippers for small gauges are 1) not common and 2) kinda expen$ive.
I'll keep looking.

[tooki]

I have the Knipex Multistrip 10 and like it a lot.

I also have a few cheap Chinese clones – they are ok for larger diameters but will rip out strands in small diameter stranded wire...

Not for small gauges, it's bad enough it does not have adjustable insulation stripping depth, but for small gauges it makes it basically unusable. Absolutely not worth it for the money it costs. Weidmuller Stripax is much better universal stripper, especially if you need smaller gauges. Multistrip feels like cheap Chinese shit in comparison, although price is almost the same.

I could not disagree more.

It doesn’t have adjustable depth, but it nonetheless does better than Stripax on most wires. It is not “unusable” on smaller gauges, it works exceptionally well.

I have the Multistrip 10, Precistrip 16, and Stripax at work. The Multistrip is hands-down the one I reach for first. The Precistrip I use for slightly more challenging stuff which has unusually thick or thin insulation. I rarely use the Stripax.

The Multistrip doesn’t need adjustment to work perfectly for the vast majority of wires, and it needs significantly less hand force to operate than the others.

[tooki]

OK, let me step in here a moment:

0. I'm a hobbyist, not into production. So not day-in, day-out usage here.
1. Max. price: ~$20 USD.
2. I want an automatic stripper.

Then you are by definition looking at junk quality.

[Analog Kid]

Great. Another snob post.

You know what they say: one man's junk ...

[ZGoode]

While it might have come off as rude to you, I'm willing to bet Tooki did not mean to be.  He is kinda right though.  You're looking for something pretty specific on practically 0 budget.  When it comes to tools, particularly oddball specialty stuff, of which I would say this might fall into, it can get a little expensive.  If you are looking for something halfway decent and cheapish the Jonards might be a decent bet (Digikey or Tequipment should carry them).  Although for the really tiny stuff, I agree with what the other people are saying.  Thermal strippers are great.  I mainly use them for coax/multilayered, but they are really the best option for stripping cleaning and without damage.

[wraper]

I have the Knipex Multistrip 10 and like it a lot.

I also have a few cheap Chinese clones – they are ok for larger diameters but will rip out strands in small diameter stranded wire...

Not for small gauges, it's bad enough it does not have adjustable insulation stripping depth, but for small gauges it makes it basically unusable. Absolutely not worth it for the money it costs. Weidmuller Stripax is much better universal stripper, especially if you need smaller gauges. Multistrip feels like cheap Chinese shit in comparison, although price is almost the same.

I could not disagree more.

It doesn’t have adjustable depth, but it nonetheless does better than Stripax on most wires. It is not “unusable” on smaller gauges, it works exceptionally well.

I have the Multistrip 10, Precistrip 10, and Stripax at work. The Multistrip is hands-down the one I reach for first. The Precistrip I use for slightly more challenging stuff which has unusually thick or thin insulation. I rarely use the Stripax.

If it strips small gauges with thin insulation, you'd probably got good specimen with perfectly adjusted (wire holding) jaws for your job. Mine were not even adjusted to be straight from factory, so blade depth depended on side you put the wire to. After long experimenting with adjusting jaws I came to conclusion that it either won't strip tougher insulation or will cut into copper on small gauge wires with thin insulation. No universal way to adjust them to fit all the wires. Stripax on other hand is way more reliable tool that can be adjusted to particular insulation stripping depth. I have both strippers at home BTW, bought them brand new.
As it's a work tool, that Stripax may have dull blades that need replacement.

The Multistrip doesn’t need adjustment to work perfectly for the vast majority of wires, and it needs significantly less hand force to operate than the others.

It's basically the same as placing stripax adjustment to middle position and gluing it in place. There is zero automatic adjustment in this too. And their marketing selling point of it not needing adjustment is nothing but scam.

[Analog Kid]

OK, I've decided that I'm too lazy to go through the dozen or more suggestions in that other thread someone posted here. Life's too short.

So it'd be really nice if folks could post some links to actual, purchasable wire strippers (preferably automatic) capable of handling 30 AWG and, hopefully, not too expensive (OK, let's say < $30 or so). And of course based on your experience with those strippers, not a supposition based on what you saw or read.

If it turns out that nothing like what I want is available in that price range, then so be it and I'll look for another solution (like non-automatic strippers).

I hope that's not asking too much.

[nctnico]

Good tools are expensive but are a joy to use. Cry once and smile forever.

I have a Jonard tools ST-550 which works well for thin wires. But it needs manual adjustment and isn't automatic. The ST-550 goes down to 28AWG, the ST-450 down to 36 AWG.

The Knipex multistrip 10 looks like a nice tool to me though.

[Analog Kid]

Like this from Amazon? ~$50. A little outside my budget, but under consideration.

Except that I seem to remember someone writing, either here or in that other thread, that these didn't work all that well. Have you personally used these?

[Analog Kid]

Amazon has these Knipex "12 62 180 7,09" Insulation Strippers" (not sure what all that means). For right about $40.

• Has anyone here used these? How well do they work?
• Aaargh, I can't tell what size wires these handle: the description says "For single, multiple and fine stranded cables of 0.2 up to 6 mm² with standard insulation". WTF does that mean? why can't they just use wire gauge sizes, for chrissakes? What's the equivalent of 0.2mm?
• Are these automatic? Hard to tell how they work from the pictures.