Wire stripping machine problems

Hi folks, this is my first post here so I will start with a brief intro.
I'm Nick, I am from Leicestershire in the UK and I have been working for myself since getting laid off due to covid.
I have a van and I focus primarily on house moves but I also remove waste and collect scrap.
I have been saving up electric cables and motors from the appliances I scrap in order to harvest the copper.
I have bought myself a multi blade hand driven stripper to start processing the household wires but I have been having a problem with it.
The wires keep slipping to the side of the blade. Why is this? I have searched the Internet and have not been able to find any helpful information.
Any help would be much appreciated
Thanks

What kind of stripper is it? Maybe someone else here has the same kind and can help you.

This may/may not be relevant. I have a motorized stripper so that is probably something different.

1: The wire will slip off to one side if the cutter is down too far. You want to score the insulation and not the copper wire inside.

2: The machine works well on solid core wire. It doesn't work very well if stripping finely stranded wire. Finely stranded wire slips off to one side.

3: You have to do fine adjustments for each kind of wire you are stripping. The diameter of 14 ga.,12 ga., 10 ga., and cable is different. A machine set up for 12 ga. wouldn't strip the other sizes very well.

It's like anything else .... there's a certain learning curve. It's hard to get it set precisely right at first but it gets easier with practice.

Things that will cause the wire to swerve off the blade:
1. Too much pressure
2. Too little pressure
3. Wire kinked
4. Pieces too heavy (long) causing the wire to rotate post-blade
5. Blade dull
6. Wire not centered

Thanks for the replies.
I can't post pictures or links yet but the stripper is the blue vevor 11 hole portable manual stripping machine

Originally Posted by NickJarvis

electric cables and motors from the appliances

I think that mabey its the wire thats the problem..... Is it power/extension cords and wires from like washers and dryers? if so that may be why. I would think its to thin of copper for the stripper. I dont know, im just guessing cause most wire strippers are for #1 wire, ya know the thicker wire with higher copper recovery.

Originally Posted by greytruck

I think that mabey its the wire thats the problem..... Is it power/extension cords and wires from like washers and dryers? if so that may be why. I would think its to thin of copper for the stripper. I dont know, im just guessing cause most wire strippers are for #1 wire, ya know the thicker wire with higher copper recovery.

Nice catch. Appliance cords are all but unstrippable. Heaven knows i tried ... but there is too much finely stranded wire in there. That ... and the copper recovery was dismal for all the work it took. It's best to sell those ones at the scrap yard as #2 grade insulated copper wire. Most any wire that plugs into a wall outlet is a good bit more trouble than it is worth to strip.

That's a good job for the chopping machine at the yard.

Originally Posted by mikeinreco

This topic comes up like once a month....would be nice to consolidate all these

Mike create a support ticket and I'm sure they will get right on it. hehe

Another problem is the cutting blades need to be centered over the rollers...I have a blue dog stripper and a couple of smaller off shore units and I periodically have to align the rollers and cutting wheels

Originally Posted by NickJarvis

Hi folks, this is my first post here so I will start with a brief intro.
I'm Nick, I am from Leicestershire in the UK and I have been working for myself since getting laid off due to covid.
I have a van, and I focus primarily on house moves but also remove waste and collect scrap, often sourcing supplies and tools from lowes.ca to help with my work.
I have been saving up electric cables and motors from the appliances I scrap in order to harvest the copper.
I have bought myself a multi blade hand driven stripper to start processing the household wires but I have been having a problem with it.
The wires keep slipping to the side of the blade. Why is this? I have searched the Internet and have not been able to find any helpful information.
Any help would be much appreciated
Thanks

I need to replace my wire strippers, as they were never great and now won’t work at all. Ideally, I’d like something capable of handling wire as small as 26 AWG. My budget is $20–$30, though I’m open to spending more if there’s a compelling reason. I’m new to N-scale model work but have years of woodworking experience, so I understand the value of investing in quality tools to avoid repeated replacements. Suggestions for durable, versatile strippers would be greatly appreciated!