stranded wire

[Ken Moon]

I usually use a razor knife to strip it. It's tedious but I haven't found anything else that works around here.

Tom,

Buy the IE-180 (p/n 7294K59) from McMaster for 22 ga ($11.15), and/or the IE-177 (p/n 7294K57) for 20 ga ($9.77).

If you buy one or both of these strippers and you aren't amazed by how well they work, I'll buy them back from you, including all your shipping costs.

Not kidding.

You've been real nice and helpful since I joined this forum, and I'd like to see you get the stripper you deserve

[Structo]

Those will work on Teflon wire?

Do they nick the wire at all?

I have tried that type of stripper on Teflon before and didn't have any luck.
Granted, the one I had wasn't a very good one.

Thanks for the tip, I'll see if I need anything else from McMaster and order one.
I use 20ga wire (wish I would have ordered some 22ga......)
The 20 can be a bit big for shoving multiple wires in an eyelet.
On mini switches forget about it.

[Ken Moon]

BTW, for those who like the knife method of wire stripping, here's a tip:

Go buy one of those sets of "as seen on TV" ginsu knife sets - they almost always come with a small paring knife.

I've found that these last virtually forever, and are "just right" as far as sharpness, whereas a razor knife is so sharp it almost always makes a nick.

To strip, set the wire on your workbench, and roll the knife across the wire so it cuts as it rolls. If you want to be super careful, you can work at the edge of your workbench, and bend the wire slightly away from the cut as you go, which will help release the cut portion.

And, as a bonus, you'll get an awesome ginsu knife to cut bowling balls and beer cans with

and no, teeth are not tools

[img:240:163]http://www.moorefamilydentist.com/wp-co ... -tooth.jpg[/img]

[Ken Moon]

Those will work on Teflon wire?

Do they nick the wire at all?

They absolutely work on teflon, and nick the wire less than any other type I've tried, including the big clankers (see comments below). I don't love thermal strippers, because they leave a ragged-looking end on the insulator.

The Imperial brand is much more precise than the others that look identical. And they seem to stay sharp for a long time.

There does seem to be some variation in teflon wire as far as how easy it is to cut without nicking, so you may have to try a few wire sources, but once you get decent strippers you're 3/4 of the way to wiring nirvana

I've thrown a lot of wire away because it just didn't strip easily enough - I buy in bulk off eBay, get some from aircraft supply stores like steinair and aircraftspruce, and swipe some from work (shhhh).

I use 20 ga teflon stranded for everything but power tube heaters, where I use 18 ga (I know, 22 ga is plenty, but I'm anal about over-designing for reliability).

[Structo]

Hehehehe, yeah I've chipped a tooth before stripping wire.
Not that bad though.

I went ahead and ordered the 7294K58 stripper. It handles 16-26 gauge.

[steviea55]

For this amp project I think to stay with 20 Ga. AWG solid copper with PVC jacket for the most part. 18Ga. stranded for heaters and outputs, but, for me the 18 Ga stranded gets difficult to configure for lead dress and socket pins. I like to use tranny clippings for the outputs.

[Structo]

Even 20ga can seem too large when you have to stuff two wires into an tube pin or mini switch.

For mini toggle wiring I use 22ga if I have it.

[Ken Moon]

Wire size has always been a bit of a dilemma for me.

I do always use stranded wire, though - having worked in military avionics all my life, I just don't trust the reliability of solid wire (I know plenty of folks disagree, and that lots of amps with solid wire last a long time, and that no aircraft is going to crash if a wire in a guitar amp breaks, so I don't want to start any arguments).

22 ga is great, as you said, for mini-toggle switches and other components with small solder lugs, but it's not so good for wrapping around a turret (just too skinny to make a nice wrap and stay in place before soldering), or going into the top of a turret (pops out before you can get it soldered).

I like 20 ga best for wrapping around turrets.

18 ga is a bit too fat for that, but works great for putting into the top of a turret. Paul Ruby makes beautiful amps with almost exclusively 18 ga stranded teflon wire.

The Belton micalex tube sockets have nice big soldering holes (as well as being good quality overall), which is helpful when multiple wires go to the same pin.

[ApexJr.]

As a dealer I sell more of the 20 Awg both Solid and stranded as
the to go Gauge for wiring.
Yes I sell 18 Awg and 22Awg also but by far the 20 Awg sells the most.
And for overkill the 18 Awg green for the heaters.

Steve @ Apex Jr

[M Fowler]

Steve, I have some of your wire, very good

I just need to buy a high quality stripper.

Oh and Steve need to figure out my needs and call regarding CC resistors.

Mark

[JamesHealey]

All my front teeth are caps / crowns what ever you call em. Lost my front teeth in a bar fight got hit in the face with a bottle.

[Aurora]

Ideal Industries Stripmaster 45-174 is one of the very best!
It is expensive, though, around 150$.. we use them at work....
http://www.idealindustries.com/prodDeta ... masteround........

This has been discussed earlier , with some very good and cheaper suggestions.... a search might help...

[M Fowler]

I have been looking at all the wire strippers mentioned in this thread as well as others.

I am going to bring in wire samples and try'em out at my local dealer.

[Aurora]

Mark - the Stripmasters are truly the best I've ever tried, -- and I have indeed tried quite few over the years......
the fact that one can get spare parts and blades is really also a really good thing, as they are really quite expensive...
( Even worse at our side of the pond..... 350$ at one of our most used distributors.... )

[Colossal]

Buy the IE-180 (p/n 7294K59) from McMaster for 22 ga ($11.15), and/or the IE-177 (p/n 7294K57) for 20 ga ($9.77).

If you buy one or both of these strippers and you aren't amazed by how well they work, I'll buy them back from you, including all your shipping costs.

+1 to that! I have the IE-178 and it is awesome and strips teflon perfectly. I never use my other (automated) stripper for amp work at all as it is utterly useless for teflon and just mashes the sleeve on any fine gauge wire leaving an ugly "grip mark"