To strip or not to strip

i will measure some tonight and let you know... i was stripping romex for 4 hours yesterday. i quit at 1am when the blisters on my hands asked me to.

i have a scale and will give you aprox weights per foot. please PM me to remind me. i am scatterbrained

The one wire that I don't mind stripping is Romex. I use a utility knife for both cutting the main sheathing and then stripping the wire holding the knife at just the right angle. I have about a 3-4 ft board with a eye hook(big enough for the larger sheathing to fit) screwed in one end that the wire goes thru and acts as a guide and to straighten out the wire before it gets to me. It's been awhile since I figured it out but it seems I could make about $20-$25 an hour by stripping Romex instead of turning it in as insulated.

I am paying $1.65 on romex right now. Not bad for 65% recovery

Romex is where it stops for stripping wire for me. Anything smaller is not worth the hassle. I usually chop it up into about 8'' sections, cowhide glove on left hand and serrated pocket knife in right and can strip this stuff all day like that.

To strip or not to strip that is the question.



Its all up to you, your time, your tools, and your willingness to work.


I have a 55 gallon drum full of un-stripped wire sitting in my garage waiting for me to get the time to mutilate it. I often look at the drum and think about how much I could get just taking it in as is, but I guess the green eyed monster in me just wants more so I will wait until I get enough time to start working on it. I'm hoping this winter things calm down a bit so I can clean up and separate all the scrap sitting in my garage.

The thing you have to remember is when you turn it in as ins. your getting paid for the insulation as well as the metal. It's kinda funny my yard pays .65 a lb for mix ins. wire (alum and cu) but only .55 a lb for cleanly striped alum. I always check degaussing cables with a file before I strip em and if they're alum I throw em in the crap wire bucket. If I was to strip em I'd make less than half of what id make by throwing them in with the crap wire.
Also check electric motors if you break them down and the wire is alum you lose money b/c even tho alum price is better than motor price electric motors with alum wire are only about 4% alum by weight.