# Wire Strippers.



## Tin Falcon (Apr 14, 2012)

Irwin / Hanson / Vise Grip (VIS2078300)







Have you ever made a spontaneous purchase that you have been thinking about for months? Oxy moron right ?
I spotted the above tool around Christmas time last year.I was not sure it it was to gadgety. It looked well madeand only a couple bucks more than a good quality regular ones.
 I found myself making a quick convenience stop at Lowes on the way to a job yesterday am and since the restrooms in Lowe's are right in front next to the tools,and no lines at that hour. I said why not pick up the strippers? 
They seem well made. I expect that from the Hansen/ Vise Grip/ Irwin family of tools.
Made in Taiwan se la vi! They seem to work well and fast. There is an adjustable stop for strip lengths and a grip adjuster. 
These could be handy for someone that does more than occasional wire work like building a cnc machine .
I do a fair amount of electronics work for my job. So hope these will be a help.
Have not tryed them on solid wire yet. 
Yes they have cutters and crimpers built in as well.
hope this help someone with with projects to do 
Tin


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## lazylathe (Apr 14, 2012)

Strippers right next to the loo's??? :big: :big:

I have seen them around as well Tin and thought about them.
Since i already have two regular ones, a small pair and a larger pair it is kind of hard to justify.

Let us know how they work out for you!
They may turn out to be the tool you have been missing!

Andrew


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## Tin Falcon (Apr 14, 2012)

more field testing to do but they work and are lightning fast no fiddly alignment no thinking about wire gage and using the right notch. just stick the wire into the jaws up to the stop and squeeze handle . Faster than I can say it it is done . you do have to clear out the little stripped off piece before doing the next one but it falls right out. 
I agree $20 is a lot for light occasional use. Maybe I am a bit of a toolaholic. I like quality tools.
wire strippers in my experience is one area that the cheap stuff just is not worth the time wasted making them almost work right.
tin


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## cheepo45 (Apr 14, 2012)

I have one of these strippers also. It's the best wire stripper I have ever used. I have been doing wiring and electronics etc. since I was about 10 years old. I like good tools!
                         Cheepo45


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## Tin Falcon (Apr 14, 2012)

Out of curiosity looked for on line reviews of this tool. not much that pops up. 
nextag showed 17 out of 20 gave it a 5 star rating. Looks like a keeper. 
cheepo thanks for the input. It means a lot a fellow tool aficianoto gives a thumbs up.

The one down side of these is there is no machine screw cutters built in . a much needed tool for model makig so will be hanging on the the old wire strippers as well. 


LazyLathe
The levers and levels are near the Lowe's Loos LOL
Tin


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## Lew Hartswick (Apr 14, 2012)

Looks like the same mechanism as some we used in the 50's. I never liked the 
"end on" direction necessary. I had a way to hold the type that had a series of
notches for wire size and worked at right angles that worked for me. It's been too
long to remember names of them. You realize its been about 60 years since I was
a technician doing that sort of stuff. For line voltage wire stripping a pair of 
dikes and a light touch is all that is necessary.  
  ...Lew...


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## b.lindsey (Apr 14, 2012)

Tin, i don't know about these specifically, but the Irwin Tool Group has been an active and steady industrial supporter and sponsor for many senior design projects here at the university. They have several facilities in the Charlotte area for quality control testing and new product design and innovation. In working with several of these projects from the student end and having had contact with some oftheir product development people, thay are a first class outfit and even though many items are now manufactured in the far east, their attention to detail, quality, and superior design is most impressive. Even more impressive to me is their desire to help train tomorrows engineers by allowing them to work on real world issues even in the arena of small hand tools such as these. I have no affiliation other than through the univeristy with them, but you can't go wrong with the blue and yellow handles !!

Bill


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## Troutsqueezer (Apr 14, 2012)

When you've been stripping wires for 45 years, any old pair of diagonals will do. ;D


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## Tin Falcon (Apr 14, 2012)

trout :well whatever works for you . 
I thing we sometime all turn to the old whats'andy tool. I personalty have never become comfortable with the dikes for strippers. 
Bill good to hear the irwin/vg/hanson group is investing in the future. 
I know many of the old american names are produced off shore but still superior quality to the proverbial cheap no thought in making them sum flung dung brands
.Lew I had/have and old Harbor freight wire stripper with the notches for various wire sizes and the gripper . The so called automatic ones . never really liked it . seems like the wire was never in the propper notch ether did not take the insulation off or took half the strand with it. could have been a cheap non working version of a good tool. 
Tin


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## lordedmond (Apr 16, 2012)

Troutsqueezer  said:
			
		

> When you've been stripping wires for 45 years, any old pair of diagonals will do. ;D




Got to second that


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## John S (Apr 16, 2012)

Used a pair whilst on a job a while ago belonging to the customer.
Wire stripping part was Ok but didn't like the crimping part, It's not very flexible to feed the wire and crimp in between the handles and there was a lack of leverage.
On the yellow crimps it was hard work to get a good crimp.

On panel work a combined tool isn't always the best, I tend to use one tool and strip all the cables then go back with another tool and crimp. Most times one tool can't do everything anyway especially if you have blue / red crimps and bootlace crimps.

John S.


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## Ken I (Apr 16, 2012)

I have got to get me one of those - probably because I'm a masochist - I have a vast collection of strippers purchased over the years including some beutifully made German units - but to date the "El Cheepo" Stanley (scissors / notch type) works the best.

I'm a sucker for a better mousetrap.

Ken Irwin (not related - but I do like having my name on my tools)


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## doubletop (Apr 16, 2012)

lordedmond  said:
			
		

> > When you've been stripping wires for 45 years, any old pair of diagonals will do.
> 
> 
> 
> Got to second that



Teeth have also been known as an alternative ;D

However; Hellermann wire strippers were the bees knees when working on aircraft wiring and you have no latitude for mistakes. Asking the Sqn Eng to arrange for the wing to come off and the engine out of a Harrier so you could rerun a cable you'd made too short was never going to happen.

Pete


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## bearcar1 (Apr 16, 2012)

doubletop  said:
			
		

> ............ Asking the Sqn Eng to arrange for the wing to come off and the engine out of a Harrier so you could rerun a cable you'd made too short was never going to happen.
> 
> Pete



Ya' know, some folk just don't have a sense of humor anymore.  ;D

BC1
Jim


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## geoff p (Apr 16, 2012)

May I chip-in with the positive comments?

I've used this type for several years. My Swedish neighbour loaned me his, boasting it can strip from 4-mm^2 mains down to ribbon-cable. Then I got a pair of my own and they are in frequent use, especially for ribbon-cable with wire down to a bore's hair.

Keep them lightly oiled, else the action gets a bit temperamental.

And forget the crimping - it's cr#p.

Geoff


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## Ken I (Apr 17, 2012)

doubletop  said:
			
		

> Teeth have also been known as an alternative



Not reccomended - I used to do that quite frequently until some silly sod plugged in the machine I was working on.

You know how you use the tip of your tongue as a "depth gauge" - try that onto 240V - probably the worst shock I ever received.

Ken


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## fcheslop (Apr 17, 2012)

Boy i bet that hurtz oh well i better go ohm :big:
kind regards


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## AlanHaisley (Apr 20, 2012)

Tin Falcon  said:
			
		

> more field testing to do but they work and are lightning fast no fiddly alignment no thinking about wire gage and using the right notch. just stick the wire into the jaws up to the stop and squeeze handle . Faster than I can say it it is done . you do have to clear out the little stripped off piece before doing the next one but it falls right out.
> I agree $20 is a lot for light occasional use. Maybe I am a bit of a toolaholic. I like quality tools.
> wire strippers in my experience is one area that the cheap stuff just is not worth the time wasted making them almost work right.
> tin



Tin,
It's not clear from the picture - is the stop adjustable so that you can set the length of insulation to be removed easily?
Alan


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## Tin Falcon (Apr 20, 2012)

yes the stop is easily adgusted. there are measurement marks to go by. 
Tin


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## Swifty (Apr 21, 2012)

Checked these wires strippers out at the local Bunnings store (major hardware chain in Australia) they were A$34.95 which is equal to US$36. Nearly twice the price they are for sale in the US, similar with a lot of tools and machines from China. I suppose that the US can import in bigger amounts and therefor have cheaper prices.

Paul.


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## Maryak (Apr 21, 2012)

Swifty  said:
			
		

> I suppose that the US can import in bigger amounts and therefor have cheaper prices.
> 
> Paul.



IMHO it's more a case of less price gouging by both their retailers and wholesalers.

e.g. An Oz national tool supplier, set of ER 16 collets with 3MT arbor, $280.

Same set from CTC tools in Hong Kong delivered to my door, $57.

I am pretty confident the above major national machinery company can buy at a better price than I can.

You will note how many of our major retailers are complaining about the great unwashed buying from the internet. It's not hard to figure out why.

Best Regards
Bob


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## Ken I (Apr 22, 2012)

These are the strippers I refered to earlier.







Cheap but effective - this is what I carry in my professional toolkit in spite of my collection of much fancier devices.

Ken


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## doubletop (Apr 25, 2012)

Maryak  said:
			
		

> IMHO it's more a case of less price gouging by both their retailers and wholesalers.
> 
> e.g. An Oz national tool supplier, set of ER 16 collets with 3MT arbor, $280.
> 
> ...



No doubt the same supplier we have in NZ. Their catalogue is good for window shopping then its a case of find the best price elsewhere. At one point I was looking for a rotary table and the best price I could get was from the UK with 60 quid shipping to NZ. Crazy when it was made in Taiwan, then I found the Vertex site.......

Pete


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## moconnor (Apr 25, 2012)

Hello Pete,

Were you able to buy directly from the Vertex website without too much trouble? I have been trying to find a Vertex BS-0 dividing head with the Myford spindle nose here in North America without much luck. Everything sold here is 1-1/2"-8 TPI in that model. I know I can purchase from the UK, but shipping is almost as much as the dividing head. Would like to compare what the total cost of each option would be. Thanks.

Kind regards,
Mike

PS Just checked the Vertex site and there is a (5) unit minimum/ per order for the D/H I am looking for. I thought that I had looked here before and ruled it out as an option.


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## doubletop (Apr 25, 2012)

Mike

I found the site was pretty hopless but found the "Inquiry" page (their spelling) and asked if I could buy direct. Nothing happend for a few weeks then I got an email from an agent and I was away. They gave me a price and I ordered my rotary table, but they didn't have stock so it arrived direct from Taiwan in about 5 days. They also sent me a large catalogue, which is far easier to read than the website.

Pete


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## Tin Falcon (Apr 25, 2012)

Well anther thread de-railed.
Tin


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## moconnor (Apr 25, 2012)

Tin Falcon  said:
			
		

> Well anther thread de-railed.
> Tin



Hello Tin Falcon,

If I did something wrong, I apologize. I was just responding to a post in this thread with a relevant question on the previous post. Is that inappropriate? Do you always have to stay with the original topic? I am new to this. This is the only place I have felt comfortable to participate. I guess that I really don't understand the protocol of this forum thing.

Again, so sorry if I did something wrong.

Kind regards,
Mike

Hello Pete,

Thank you very much for taking the time to respond with that very detailed reply. I appreciate it.

Regards,
Mike


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## Ken I (Apr 26, 2012)

Mike,
    You didn't do anything wrong - it's easy to see how this thread went sideways.

However if someone opened the the thread "wire strippers" and found a discussion on where to buy a Vertex RT - they would be understandably confused.

That kind of divergence should indicate a need to start a new thread.

I suspect Tin was merely giving you a hint - as an administrator he could have cut and pasted them to a new thread.

Regards,
      Ken


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