Looking for easy methods to strip the ends of wires for breadboarding or
just general use. Typically I have been just using wirecutters and pulling
but there has to be a better way. Most likely in the 20-24 gauge range. Are
the specific wire strippers worth the money? suggestions on a good brand?
I have 2 kinds of strippers that I use regularly: 1) The simple
(cheap) kind has notched jaws with a rotary wheel that adjusts the
spacing for different gages. Used like you use your wirecutters,
but pre-adjusted so you don't have to worry about how hard you
grip it.
2) The fancier, pricier kind for one-hand operation has a pair of
stripper jaws with several marked notches for different gages,
plus a pair of gripper jaws that come down first to clamp the
wire. You just insert the wire between the open gripper jaws
so it passes under the proper notch in the stripper jaws and
protrudes by the amount you want to remove, then grip the
handle and it does the whole job.
In practice, the fancy one is faster, but not by a lot. And
it only handles a few wire gages without swapping jaw sets.
Its big advantage comes on those occasions where you
can't get your hands in to grab both ends of the wire as
the cheap strippers require.
As for breadboard wire, I've always used cut-offs from
multi-conductor telephone cable, like they use in PBX
installations or on the actual lines on the poles. This
is just the right size for breadboards and there are
lots of colors and color-combos (red with black stripe,
white with green stripe, etc). The best part is you get
a lifetime supply for free when the installers leave a
few feet of cable cutoffs behind.
Best regards.
Bob Masta
dqatechATdaqartaDOTcom
D A Q A R T A
Data AcQuisition And Real-Time Analysis
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