Wire strippers are a must-have tool for any professional electrician, plumber, or anyone who needs to strip wire. They are the best way of stripping wires without damaging them. This post will introduce 8 of the best wire strippers on the market.
3 Best Wire Strippers Comparison
Top 8 Best Wire Strippers Reviewed
Klein Tools 11063W Wire Stripper and Cutter is an essential tool for any electrician. The wire stripper cuts and strips 8-20 gauge solid wire and 10-22 gauge stranded wires with ease. It has a compound action stripping: grip and strip via single-action squeezing motion. Precision machined stripping holes easily remove insulation without damaging the wire. Removes up to 1″ in the length of the insulation layer (jacket layer) in a single step, while retaining cable geometry.
The Versatile Wire Stripper Tool is a compact handheld pocket-size wire stripper. The adjustable blade depth allows for easy stripping of 24 AWG (3/64″) and up, either solid or stranded.
This machine may not be able to strip wires thicker than 10 AWG, especially with tougher insulation.
Precision ground stripping holes cut 10-18 AWG solid wire and 12-20 AWG stranded wire cleanly. The strong gripping serrated nose easily bends, shapes, and pulls wires up to 6-32 gauge. Holes for looping or bending are provided on the stripper’s face. Shear-type blades make clean cuts with no burrs.
Wire stripping tool is automatic strip cable wires with a diameter from 0.25mm²-6mm²(14-24AWG). It is especially great for stripping speaker wire. The wire stripper can be used to cut the insulation of the copper or aluminum wires with a thickness of 0.2-0.4mm or thinner than that.
The WEICON Duo-Crimp is a semi-automatic stripping tool for the precise and safe stripping of up to 6.0 mm² conductors. The integrated side cutter can be used for cutting off the stripped conductor ends or to remove insulation from wires in order to allow crimping. A high-quality, ergonomically shaped glass fiber reinforced polyamide ensures optimum working comfort.
The Mulwark 8 wire stripper crimper tool kit is designed for stripping and cutting wires, e.g. speaker wire, Romex cable, ignition wires, etc. It comes with a heavy-duty screw/bolt cutter that quickly shears popular 6-32, 8-32, 10-32, 4-40, and 10–24 gauge copper screws. And as a metric bolt thread cutter, it cuts bolts for 10 22 and leaves perfect lead thread.
Wire Stripper and Cutter: 8-20 AWG solid and 10-22 AWG stranded wire with ease. Compound action stripping: grip and strip via single-action squeezing motion. Precision machined stripping holes easily remove insulation without damaging the wire. Removes up to 1-Inch (25 mm) in the length of the insulation layer (jacket layer) in a single step.
The Happybuy Automatic Wire Stripper is made of solid aluminum alloy, which can withstand rigorous environments and easily endure years of heavy use. Equipped with high hardness blades to ensure its operational stability; The adjustable blades and rollers fit all wire sizes from 1.5mm (0.05”) up to 25mm (0.98”). With a 180W powerful motor, this wire stripper features a motorized design that saves you time, effort, and money while delivering high stripping efficiency.
Buying Guide For The Best Wire Strippers
1. Solid vs. Adjustable
One type does not work for everything! You can choose from solid or adjustable models. With solid models, you will only strip the number of gauges listed on the package which is usually #20 to #16. Solid wire strippers are good for smaller wires, but if you have anything bigger than that, this is not the tool for you. Adjustable models allow you to choose the size of wire they will strip by turning a dial on the jaws. With these kinds of models, there are two types: one where the jaw moves together so you can only strip one gauge at a time or ones with multiple configurable sizes per blade. The latter is more expensive and usually used by professionals who work with many different gauges of wire on a regular basis. Adjustable models are better because they can handle any gauge wire.
2. Types of Wire Stripper Jaws
There are three types of jaws available on wire strippers. There are blades that may be sharp or blunt, there are holes for looping the wire through without removing insulation, and there are notch jaws that actually cut the insulation.
Blades: Blunt blades work best on service cables with a rubber casing because you don’t want to damage it when removing the sheathing. These work well on solid wires, but keep in mind that they will not strip stranded wire very well at all since their teeth aren’t strong enough to bite in and cut the wire’s copper strands inside.
Hole Jaws: If you’re using a solid wire stripper, holes with a set screw help by securing your wire in place while you remove the sheathing. Here is an example of what they look like.
Notch Jaws: These are probably the best option for stranded wire. They remove insulation without damaging either the copper strands or rubber sheathing making it good for both solid and stranded wires. Once you’ve cut through the insulation, you’ll still have to strip each strand individually though since these jaws don’t move to make a new cut. An example can be found here.
3. Cut vs. Strip
Granted they do the same thing, but there’s a difference between “strip” and “cut” as stated by Klein Tools: stripping removes insulation from the wire while cutting cuts it off completely! So which one should you choose? Well, if you need it to stay in place then go with the cut. If you need to be able to reuse wire, go with the strip.
4. Additional Features
Most models come with additional features like an adjustable stripper notch that can be used for cutting through items like the speaker or alarm cable; a crimping blade (or set of these) for RJ-11, RJ-12, and/or RJ-45 connectors; and insulation piercing notches at the tip so you don’t have to remove the insulation before attaching the housing or other components. Everything all depends on what you do most! For example, if you usually work with telephone wires then having an insulation pierce notch is probably important since it’ll save time not stripping first. But if all your projects are electronic then you won’t use that feature very often.
5. Needs to be cleaned and properly stored for next time
After you’re done with your work, the wire stripper needs to be cleaned and properly stored for next time. The gauges on jaw faces can be cleaned up using a file while the blades should be oiled from time to time. Keep it in a safe place where children or pets can’t get their hands on it! They are not toys!! In conclusion: Solid models only strip solid wires while adjustable models have multiple jaws so you can strip several different types of wire holes will secure your wire(s) while being stripped and notch jaws will cut through insulation without damaging copper giving you a cleaner finish without having to remove extra insulation first.
3 Benefits Of Wire Strippers
1. Easy Removal of Insulation
One of the most important benefits that everyone needs in their home or workplace is easy to access to electricity, but that comes with some risk. Electricity will always be dangerous if not handled properly and when wires are exposed, there is even more potential for danger. When working with exposed wires, it’s important to remove insulation from them before trying anything else. In doing so, you’ll avoid contact with the wire and you’ll also make it much easier to manipulate.
2. Wire Identification
There are many different kinds of wires out there, each with special functions in your home or business. It can be very difficult to tell one kind of wire from another just by looking at them, but certain tools like wire strippers will give you the edge that you need to easily identify different types of wiring. It’s important to always know what type of wire is installed where so that you do not overload any circuits or create fire hazards.
3. Precision Stripping
Finally, precision stripping will allow for more efficient connections when dealing with electrical wiring projects around the house or workplace. This benefit comes about because these tools can strip insulation consistently across the wire, allowing for a stronger connection when two or more wires are joined together. This benefit will allow you to complete projects faster with better results in the end.
Conclusion
There are a few things to consider when buying wire strippers. You’ll need an assortment of different sizes, and you also want one that’s durable enough to stand up to the tough jobs while still being easy on your hands. After reviewing all eight options we’ve outlined in this post, which ones did you like most? Tell us below!
