Tips for Removing Wire Insulation w/o Hurting Hands or Buying Expensive Equipment

I thought it would be good to have a thread to share tips on removing wire insulation for those of us who don't have fancy tools or the money to buy them.

I did buy the Model WSA wire stripper (a manual device) as made by TNT Tooling for about $50 on eBay. I saw a number of videos on Youtube about it and it looked great at first. It may work well for others, but it absolutely kills my hands to use this tool. The videos made it look so easy to use, but I beg to differ. Admittedly, that may be because I have arthritis or some other affliction with my hands, but they hurt for roughly 2 1/2 to 4 weeks EVERY TIME I use the TNT device.

Keep in mind that I was wearing gloves to use the TNT device. The device was secured to a Black & Decker workmate so I could use both hands. Also, I used pliers to pull the wire through the device. What was I missing?

There must be a better way! I don't want to give up scrapping. Without being able to get some bare bright on a regular basis, my proceeds plummet.

So here is the mini breakthrough I had last night while stripping Romex wire.

Take a flat head screwdriver to the outside (usually yellow) layer of the insulation and push down on the screwdriver, pulling it along the last 1" or so of the outer insulation.

With this head start (the loose 1" of yellow insulation), pull back on the loose yellow insulation to strip it completely. Sometimes this works beautifully and sometimes it doesn't.

When something is more difficult, there are other things you can try.

If the method above doesn't work, try pulling on one of the inner wires (assuming it is hard wire) instead of the outer layer of insulation. Often times this will cut the outer insulation and you will be fine. I personally didn't want to pull on the bare bright wire because it might hurt my hands, so I tried one of the others.

if something still is giving you fits, try a small pair of scissors (like the kind you might use to trim eyebrows or facial hair). That should help. Wash them with soap and water when you are done. After all, I don't want my facial hair to have dirt from a dumpster on it!

I did this to get at the bare bright inner wire that is just covered with paper on the outside. The other 2-3 wires I left alone, as they are too hard to strip (unless someone has a brilliant idea). Is there something really cheap (maybe $10-20) at Home Depot or Harbor Freight that would help?

By the way, I stripped the wire last night without using the TNT device and my hands feel JUST GREAT today!! So there is something about that TNT device or the way I was using it that caused issues.

Now if I could just find some more Romex, which I don't see all that often...

Does anyone have any other tips for stripping wire? I'd rather avoid the use of knives if possible- I'm trying to keep this as safe as can be. I'd love something that works well, especially for hard wire such as THHN wire.

Also, if anyone knows of any youtube videos on this, please add links that are available.

Thanks in advance.

Allow me to add a couple things my wife showed me. We have our TNT Tooling stripper (Model WSA) attached to a Black & Decker Workmate. She said to run the wire through the stripper twice. Also to wear shoes and step on the Workmate with one foot with the other one on the ground a couple feet behind. You know what? This seemed to help!

I'm sure there is room for improvement and I like the idea above about removing 3" from the end and stepping on the yellow Romex for leverage before removing.

And to think I had several 5 gallon buckets of wire like THHN that I wanted to strip and almost gave up and turned it in without stripping!

Any other ideas? Please add them to this thread. Thanks in advance. This has been a helpful bit of information for me.

From my experience, stripping solid THHN using a wire stripper dosnt work to great. I Just use a razor blade and a old cutting board and pull the wire past the razor. Positioning the razor like it was a scraper ( using the side of the blade, not the point). Dont have to worry about digging into the copper like braided wire, Nor have to deal with that clear plastic layer that gas and oil resistant wire has on it and run threw the stripper twice. Cuts it straight down to the bone.

I usually dont strip wires anymore unless its #1 wire, 75% recovery rate or higher thats not all bent and twisted.

2x4 cut to whatever size you need.

Drill holes of various size if you need.

Add sharp nail/screw/razor.

Thread wire thru hole.

Pull.

Repeat til done.

If made right it'll work, If not..it won't.

YMMV

Sirscrapalot - Anyone can make it rain with cash and get everyone to love them. The real trick is making it hail with coins an getting out of the strip club alive.

about arthritis or carpeltunnel i think i have one of those and im only 29 lol i bet its from using a box cutter to strip wires not sure on that one. nothing really to add just thought id add that in.

Originally Posted by SKWrapper

Using my stripper at first hurt my hands too so bad that when I would use it in the evening, in the morning it was difficult to make a fist. I am only 47 but I have arthritis, so this was an issue for me. Do you have vice grips? I googled WSA wire stripper and got many results of different kinds of wire stripper so I don't know what that one is. If it's like mine I can hopefully give some helpful advise since I use it even without gloves depending on the wire I strip and virtually no pain later on..

My hands went like your from stripping off plastic coated Copper wire. I couldn't clench a fist & my fingers felt like sausages.

Then, he day I found a big fat Bumble Bee stuck inside the house. Flying into a window & such. So I guided with my hands onto my chest, I was wearing a woolen jersey. And walked outside to let it go, while telling it what I'm doing to help it out.
Just as I get outside, It stung me !
Now I have done this plenty of times & never got stung once.

But it was a light sting, I could feel the vibration the bees use, but once it saw sunlight, it released & flew off.

Then, a couple of days later my fingers start to free up, and about a week, they were back to better than normal.

' The Jungle is neutral'.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freddie_Spencer_Chapman

Your wire stripper needs to be secured to something that will not move. If you're having to hold the Black & Decker Workmate down with your feet, you're just creating extra work for yourself. You need a good workbench with a good vise.