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Wire strippers for large size (electrical) wire ?

Milacron

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Most wire strippers only go up to about 8 gauge. What do professionals use to quickly strip the ends of wires beyond 8 gauge...like 4 or even 00 sizes ? I suspect once you get into the big stuff, you can no longer use something that just grips and strips, but rather have to rotate something around it like a tubing cutter ?

I don't want to get out on the cheap, I want something that does it quick and easy...would spend 100 bucks if I have to. So, what's the best ?
 
Don, try these incredibly long links...from TPC Wire and Cable. Actually 2 tools, one which rotates about the end to slice the insulation, the other is an axial slicer, if you had to skin the cable back several feet, as if it was hardwired into a large electrical control panel and the termination point was several feet away from where the cable (outer jacket) enters.

Shortened link for Matt



Another one

[ 01-27-2006, 04:29 PM: Message edited by: D. Thomas ]
 
And you expect me to believe that ?
 
I bought some fancy (well, $40) German jobs from McMaster to do the #6 wire when I was installing the Phase Perfect. Very neat, but the maker failed to consider that such wire might have insulation - which just fouled the unsharpened portions of this stripper. So I used my old USN electricians pocket knife after sharpening it up. :D

John
 
There might be something out there now, but, when I worked in the steel mills (electrician) we just used a electrician's knife. There was nothing quick and easy.

You develop a knack for stripping wires after a while.

Hold the knife at a sharp angle to the wire and just slice the insulation away as you pull the knife.

Try to avoid the pipe cutter thing with any wire knife combination. Anytime you nick the copper wire you risk the chance of a failure of the wire.

Dave J
 
I use my cord strippers made by ideal ind. in
Sycamore Il. They have a small blade that cuts radially when you spin around the wire or cord and then turns as you pull the tool off the end to cut axially
. The blade can be adjusted for different thickness coverings. The insulation opens up and pulls off.
Greenlee makes a very similar thing. about 30 dollars.
 
don,i tend to agree with dave j.technically speaking,IMHO,when working with the big stuff it is better to slice the end of the wire first lengthwise being careful not to nick the wire and then "peel" back the insulation. at this point i usually just use a razor to cut off the insulation in a manner so that i dont have to get anywhere near the strands with the blade(to avoid nicking them-they could break over time)sometimes you have to trim the strands b/c they may be too long. doing this quickly is not hard. next to this,you could use a small butane torch (or propane- the kind that have self-ignition)and burn off the insulation carefully. the best wire trimmer IMHO is the one used by nasa for the space shuttle.it uses a laser to cut off the insulation without damaging the wire. :D
 
DS, there is insulation, and there is insulation. You guys are probably thinking of the soft rubber type. Of late I'm encountering a very hard thick plastic type that is a major PITA to cut with a knife, and very difficult to "peel" As such I'm in no mood for "you don't need no stinkin'_____________" responses and want to go with a specialized tool.
 
Don, I've used the knife on 4/0 wire with that nasty tough stuff. It works, its just a pain.

That's the way it is supposed to be..... wear resistant and tough.

Sharp knife..... & care.

If you are cheap, a piece of stock with a wire-sized hole in it, and a slot milled in the end can hold a chunk of blade and cut the insulation around.

But you still have to get the sliced-free piece off. Not easy if over a few inches. That's why the length-wise slice.

The right tools are not unlike the strippers for TV cable, but bigger and more rugged.
 
don, i only suggested what i know and i am not even aware of wire strippers that will strip that large of wire with that kind of insulation.(i suppose that it is thhn or thwn service entrance, or wire with that kind of insulation that an atomic bomb cannot remove effectively)it is tough stuff to strip by any means.
 
I'm not too helpful here.

I was taught to skive the THHN insulation off larger wire (#4 up to 1000 MCM) using an imperfectly sharp knife. The cone angle of the skiving is about 60 degree and this angle prevens circumferential nicking while providing a modicum of strain relief for the conductor's transistion from the body of the wire to the lug or terminal. The insulation comes off in about 6 to 8 strips.

The wire may be marred but if the right degree of sharpness is present in the stripping knife the copper will not be significantly scraped. The industrial electricians that taught me favored a cheaply built rigger's knife with a built-in fid and the blade they used was the large thick strudy one. A good electrician could strip a 250 MBC wire back 1 1/2" in a crowded J box in 6 quick motions taking maybe 10 seconds.

This is a skill based solution and Don's looking for a gadget that's more predictable.
 
Back in the day of TTY terminals I used to splice this huge (4" dia) multi-hundred pair mil surplus stuff that was covered with a plastic that was so damn hard you couldn't work the stuff unless if was summer time. A sharp knife was about the best tool around.

Talk about suck, having to peel back that heavy black stuff and try not to nick or cut one of 250+ 24ga solid conductors? Not to mention that this stuff was filled with this clear goop and each pair was shielded and each four pair was wrapped and shielded. All the time doing this down in a muddy hole in Mississippi in the summer. Thank God for TCP/IP.
 
tmt, the Greenlee one looks like the Cat's Meow, but the price is $155 at www.twacomm.com which may be a little rich even for my gadget inclined blood ! Will the Scottsman blood win out over the Gadget blood ? Stay tuned folks ! The solution to such dilemmas is often...eBay !

 
I've made many THHN and USE connections in #6, #4, #2 and 4/0, always using a plain utility knife. I make both an axial and circumferential cut about 3/4 of the way through the insulation, no deeper. Then a short full depth cut right at the wire end, to get a "peel" started. Peel it back with pliers, and it snaps off clean at the circumferential cut. It'd be nice to have a tool like that Greenlee to cut consistently to 90% depth without having to give it a bit of thought, but I never found it to be particularly a pain to just do it with the knife.

As a teenager, "a friend" wired a 4BR house for a family member, it passed inspection and was fine for 30 years until it burnt to the ground due to an electrical fire - apparently due to a wire nick. I'm pretty conservative when it comes to electrical work. Do whatever you need to do it right.
 








 
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