In the arsenal of tools of every self-respecting electrician and just a good owner, there must be knives for removing insulation. These are either purchased specific devices, or homemade homemade products, the main thing is that they perform their function with high quality. In addition, the point is not even the knife manufacturer, but the master himself - an experienced professional will be able to cope with wire stripping with any tool efficiently and quickly.
Content
- Varieties of devices
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Special knife with a heel
- Tool overview
- DIY making
- Using strippers
- Removing internal insulation
Varieties of devices
There are a huge number of different tools with their own specifics. The same goes for stripping knives. All devices of this kind can be divided into two broad categories:
- For stripping external insulation.
- For stripping the inner insulation layer.
These varieties are fundamentally different from each other, although you can, of course, use an ordinary kitchen knife, if the work is carried out in extreme conditions with a lack of necessary tools.
Special knife with a heel
To remove external insulation, a tool with a special heel is most often used. This is a specific knife that cannot be used for any other work. That is why its purchase will be beneficial primarily to a professional electrician.who regularly encounters similar procedures. For amateur home craftsmen, the purchased tool has a rather high price, and the frequency of its use on the farm does not justify the waste on its purchase at all. For this reason, sometimes a cable cutter is made by hand from scrap materials.
Tool overview
The appearance of the store bought heel device promises a high level of usability. The knife is equipped with a rubberized handle that allows you to hold it firmly in your hand. In addition, there are special notches on the rubber coating, thanks to which it does not slip and fits well in the palm of your hand. The ergonomic shape of many models also has a beneficial effect.
The blade of such knives is made of high-quality steel, and it is also double-edged, which makes it easier to dissolve the insulation in both directions - from oneself to oneself. At its end, a small plate, called a heel, is welded, which allows you to safely strip the cable without damaging the inner winding. Its size varies depending on the thickness of the wire - a knife with a wide heel will only fit a thick stranded cable, but with a small tool, you can remove the insulating layer from any wire. Therefore, the second option is, of course, more universal.
The only drawback of such wire stripping knives is their price. For household electrical work, which does not happen so often, such devices will be unreasonably expensive, because their average price ranges from 1000-1500 rubles. But for electricians, the acquisition will pay for itself in the shortest possible time, allowing you to quickly and professionally remove the insulation from the flat cable.
It should be noted that a knife with a heel is intended exclusively for stripping flat cables. Of course, it can be adapted for any type of cross-section, however, when cutting a round cable, there is a great risk of damaging the internal conductive conductors.
Knives are also available without a heel. They look just like ordinary ones, or they have a small hook. This is also relatively convenient, and the price for such models is much lower, but their use increases the risk of damage to other layers of insulation.
DIY making
To do without large expenses, you can make a cable stripping knife yourself from the available tools. Each craftsman uses his own materials, which can be found in the garage or closet. However, an approximate set of everything needed will look like this:
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Blades from a clerical knife. - A comfortable handle, for example, from a chisel, or just a wooden block that fits well in the hand. You can use a metal profile into which a beam of a slightly smaller section is inserted.
- Drill or mini drill.
- Cutting diamond mini disc for drill.
- Solder and soldering iron.
First of all, at the tip of the clerical blade, a drill with a diamond microdisk is used to grind a kind of leg for the future heel, in which a hole is cut to the size of this very leg.
The blade is sharpened from the other edge, then the heel is put on and carefully soldered with a soldering iron. After soldering, it will be necessary to well round and grind its surface so that during operation it cannot damage the inner layers of insulation, as well as to improve sliding in the thickness of the wire.
After making the blank, proceed to the handle. A thin flat hole is sawn into a wooden lath, into which the blade itself is inserted. Next, the bar is pushed into the aluminum profile and fixed with a screw for secure attachment. At this stage, the work on the independent manufacture of an electrician's tool can be considered complete.
If a chisel or a cutter is taken as a source, then the number of work steps is significantly reduced - they come with a ready-made comfortable handle, so all that remains is to process the cutting part and solder heel.
Using strippers
For cables of round cross-section of various diameters, specialized tools are used - strippers. They resemble pliers with different sized holes. The wire is put into the most suitable one and the handles are pressed. The outer insulation is notched and pulls off easily from the inner cores.
The use of strippers greatly reduces the likelihood of breaking the integrity of the inner insulating layer, but only if the hole diameter is correctly selected. If you choose more than the thickness of the cable, then you will not be able to remove the insulation, and a much smaller one will cut through several layers of the winding.
Removing internal insulation
After stripping from the outer layer, it is usually necessary to remove part of the inner layer, for example, for soldering to the board or screwing to the terminals. This procedure is a little more complicated, as under the inner cable winding most often a stranded wire is hidden, consisting of thin copper wires twisted together. When removing the insulation from it, you can cut some of these veins, which will negatively affect the quality characteristics of the entire cable.
The easiest way is to use so-called pullers or pliers designed specifically for these needs. However, you can also use a stripper. In addition, experienced electricians can strip the wire with any knife at hand without damaging the wires.
Thus, it is possible to remove the insulation from the cable using both special tools (purchased or homemade) and improvised means. But it is important to remember that special knives guarantee quality., however, if work on cutting wires is rarely carried out, then there is no point in buying expensive devices. In this case, you can build analogs yourself or use an ordinary knife.
