Wire Stripper Anyone Make One ???

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umahunter

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Wondering if any has ever made a stripper to strip scrap copper wire. I do a bit of electrical work and save all the wire I replace. I was thinking of a stripper with maybe a bar with different sized holes you clamp in the vise with maybe a bracket that holds a razor blade over the hole to split the casing then I got to thinking maybe someone else has done one I'm open to any pics tips or suggestions :) :)
 
Go to the nearest recycling center and ask the crack heads who strip wire from new and old buildings and street lights for the copper how they do it. They are the pros... ;-(
 
umahunter said:
Wondering if any has ever made a stripper to strip scrap copper wire. I do a bit of electrical work and save all the wire I replace. I was thinking of a stripper with maybe a bar with different sized holes you clamp in the vise with maybe a bracket that holds a razor blade over the hole to split the casing then I got to thinking maybe someone else has done one I'm open to any pics tips or suggestions :) :)
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Yes I built one for a laborer on a construction job site, He asked me if ther was a better way to strip all the scrap wire as he could get 3x the money per pound. I took a small block of hardwood, drilled hole through it slightly larger than #12 awg, put a slit in it with an oscillating saw and screwed a utility knife blade in the slit so that the point just poked into the hole. the whole thing was secured to a bench, the wire was pulled through, It worked very well.
 
Bob Korves said:
Go to the nearest recycling center and ask the crack heads who strip wire from new and old buildings and street lights for the copper how they do it. They are the pros... ;-(
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Junkies often burn the insulation off of wire, of course this creates lots of toxic smoke. One of the more reputable scrapyards near me, won't take burned wire, however there are likely others that will.
 
I have a ton of scrap wire from my mother's remodeling project I posted about elsewhere, from appliances and computer power supplies and such that I've scrapped, and more. I've already stripped 90% or more of the solid wire, which doesn't need much more than a vegetable peeler, but the stranded stuff is a pain. The 2x4, utility blade in a slit and a screw approach is great if you're dealing with one size of wire, but I'm dealing with everything from 8 ga to about 18 or 22. And I don't have anywhere near enough to justify buying a Stripmeister or any other serious machine, or building one. My needs are just right for the manually operated variety.

I have considered buying one of these but it's so hard to pay for something like this when I would have fun making one. I even have a box of dull/broken drill bits that would work great as the cutters. Anyone have one, or have some other way of determining ideal through hole sizes? On the bigger gauges its pretty easy to guess, but on the smaller ones, based on my unsuccessful experiments in a couple blocks of scrap aluminum it's difficult to get the size just right so you can pass the wire through, but still ensure that the blade passes through the insulation instead of the entire insulated wire just running past the blade.

Actual plans would be even better, but I realize that's a long shot.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/400886717517

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I would imagine it's going to vary. I know insulation values do, according to what the wire is for, so the type and thickness won't be consistent. It's probably a guessing game until you pull a bit through the stripper.
 
While I have not actually built a wire stripper, I've imagined using a good quality tubing cutter for a slitting wheel that will adjust to different sizes of wire. Adding to this would be a nip wheel assembly to pull the wire through the machine. The slitting wheel would be easily replaced. The nip wheels could be powered or hand cranked.
 
Here is one that I thought of, Wheel on shaft at the bottom to grip the wire, a roller set at 45 degrees on each side of an adjustable top piece to push down on the wire and center it, with a round rolling cutter blade in the center that is also adjustable . This way you can adjust for the thickness of wire and insulation, and adjust the blade for depth of cut on the insulation. If you wanted to go farther you could put a second set of rollers that pressed the insulation after cutting so that you could have the wire go one way and the insulation pressed/pealed off the other.
 
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