Where can i buy replacement blades for these wire strippers

[Psi]

Does anyone know where i can get a replacement blade for these wire strippers.
Lots of companies sell these type of wire strippers, so one must have replacement blades for sale.
But I've not been able to find them so far.

[Gyro]

Your best bet might be to take them off and sharpen them yourself. They're not a complicated profile and probably not particularly hard. A file ought to do it. I don't think they're even sharpened from new, just shaped.

[Psi]

Sadly the problem cant be fixed with sharpening. A large chunk of the blade edge broke off. Nothing left to sharpen

[Monkeh]

Pretty sure it's time for a new pair.

[all_repair]

Do you have a 3D printer?  or send some design from thingiverse off for printing?  There are a few designs that use normal disposable pen-blade as wire stripper.   Also make a good gift. 

[Nusa]

That entire tool is less than $20 new, so that's how much effort it's worth figuring out.

[MarkMLl]

Even if the bottom blade on OP's tool were replaceable, sooner or later the top one would wear as well and that looks like more of a problem.

Assuming that he has no choice but to buy a new one, can anybody recommend a half-decent tool that doesn't break the bank and is suitable for electronics bench use including Kynar?

MarkMLl

[Gyro]

Sadly the problem cant be fixed with sharpening. A large chunk of the blade edge broke off. Nothing left to sharpen

Hmm, it sounds like it was made of mature cheddar in that case! 

They are never particularly sharp anyway. It's more of a tearing action on the insulation, without nicking the conductor (the pressure doesn't ease after it goes through the insulation).

Time for a new pair.

[Psi]

They've pretty much never been used.
I noticed the broken blade surface maybe 2 weeks after purchasing them years ago.
i can't recall why i didn't take them back for a refund at the time.
I think maybe i suspected they would blame the damage on me. But i'm sure they were damaged right out of the box (or maybe the blade edge was so thin it broken on first use)

I do have a much nicer pair of wire strippers that i use every day.
but every time i look at these ones sitting in my tool rack i want to fix them because throwing them out just seems like a waste when they are brand new.

[Nusa]

I'd consider taking that bit off and see about replicating it from a chunk of aluminum (may not be hard enough to last, but worth a shot). Rough shaping with a sanding wheel/belt, drill mounting holes, some file work to shape the grabbing blade. And try it.

Or you can throw it out and be done with it.

[Psi]

I do have a tig welder, i guess i could attempt to add more metal on and then reform the edge.

Actually, looking at the edge under the microscope i'm now wondering if they were abused by someone and then returned to the store where they got put back on the shelf before i bought them.

[Gyro]

Are you sure those are steel? they look like painted alloy .  I just checked mine and they're blackened steel.

[MarkMLl]

It's entirely possible that the edge was knocked off during fettling: that's a casting, look at the blowholes!

Is it magnetic?

MarkMLl

[coppercone2]

careful messing with insulation blades because the manufacturer might have chosen a geometry that works for multiple wire types and if you start resharpening them yourself you might end up making it so that it destroys certain kinds of insulation.

[2N3055]

Buy ones that actually have blades instead of sharp edge on some kind of soft silumin alloy.
Strippers with steel blades that have similar construction to these you have are only few USD more expensive..
For a little bit more you can get Yokari that are pretty good.

I generally don't like this design of strippers. They are good for specific sizes when precise but hit and miss when cheap.

I got bored with cheap ones, so bought Weidmuller and Pressmaster... Expensive but working with them is just beautiful..

[Psi]

It's entirely possible that the edge was knocked off during fettling: that's a casting, look at the blowholes!

Is it magnetic?

MarkMLl

yep, strongly attracted to magnet
Agreed, definitely looks like some sort of casting

[SparkyFX]

Don't underestimate the hardness of copper, these nicks have a wire shape.

[MarkMLl]

Could equally well have been knocked off by bead blasting etc. while getting that fancy finish. As they say in the metalworking trades, "all fettlers are butchers".

MarkMLl

[coppercone2]

Don't underestimate the hardness of copper, these nicks have a wire shape.

yes, it it could be from using the wrong wire size

[cliffyk]

$9.99 at Harbor Freight. I'd wager that if you found just the jaws for sale it would be more than $10...

[totalnoob]

Like previously stated, it could be that the replacement jaws are more than the tool is worth, but I happened to be in the pliers section of Lowe's Last night.  I was looking for something else, when my eye caught something familiar.  Irwin has a wire stripper that is the spitting image of the one you posted, only the handles are blue.  You may be able to get the jaws through Irwin's parts department. 

https://www.irwin.com/tools/pliers-adjustable-wrenches/self-adjusting-wire-stripper

[cliffyk]

i have a pair I have had for so long I forgot i owned them--just dug 'em out.  They are branded Kronus, a tool maker/vendor in Transylvania, though they were made in Taiwan. think I got them from Radio Shack they look identical to that posted by the OP:

[MarkMLl]

I bet that these all come from different factories in the Far East, made from different sets of drawings etc. which might or might not originally have been a copy of something decent.

Curiously, the Harbor Freight photo posted by @cliffyk is the outlier: despite its low cost there are markings on the adjustment screw, a more enclosed mechanism, and- crucially- separate blades which might even be replaceable.

MarkMLl

[Psi]

Irwin has a wire stripper that is the spitting image of the one you posted, only the handles are blue.  You may be able to get the jaws through Irwin's parts department. 

I have emailed them. We will see what they say.

Be pretty funny if they offer to send me some for free when it's not even an irwin product 

[MarkMLl]

For a little bit more you can get Yokari that are pretty good.

I've just bought a pair of those on the strength of that recommendation, and appear to be very good (at least for the price).

I suppose that I should have thought to look at Weidmuller when I was buying tools in a hurry a year ago. I've used their ferrule crimps which had an adjustable stripper built in and found them pretty good, but if anything I'd say that I'm more impressed by the construction of the Jokari: nicely-sharpened V-shaped blades etc.

MarkMLl