On Sat, 21 Apr 2007 11:05:19 +0200, Peter Harrison
<
peter.harrison@...> wrote:
> Hi
> When I need to use a bit or wirewrap wire to patch a board, I find it
> really hard to strip the ends without nicking the wire. Once nicked, it
> is only a matter of time before the wire fails at that point.
> Not only that, the insulation is tough and stripping back just 1mm from
> a 1inch length is a bit taxing.
> Anyone got any good tips or tool suggestions for this job? Or perhaps
> you use a different/better kind of wire for the task.
> Pete
Which isolation does your wire have?
There is usually a stripping tool on a manual wirewrapping tool, which
should do the job. But they seemed way too much work to me and i always
used the electrical tool so i have no experience how well/bad it works.
There is however something simple i made for a similar application.
Commercial strippers often don't work very well for thin wires. So i
started with a pair of miniature side-cutting pliers, and ground the flat
side down so that they resemble electronics cutters like these:
<
http://www.minute-man.com/acatalog/ECLIPSE200-002.jpg> (you can skip the
step alltogether, either buy electronics cutters to start with or the
miniature side cutting pliers will probably still work even with the wider
cutting edge. My tools shop does not carry electronics cutters and the
small side cutting pliers are cheaper).
Now comes the important part: grind a notch in each side of the mouth with
a proxxon (or dremel if you must) cutoff wheel. The notch must be small,
just the diameter of the wire, and of course in the same place on both
sides. If you grind the notch at an angle, so that a sharp blade results
all-round, you will get the best result.
I made this custom/homemade wire stripper for a very special wire, it is
triple isolated with a laquer layer over the wire then a layer of either
silk or a synthetic fiber spun around it and then another layer of laquer.
I have a great bunch of 2 meter pieces of that wire in many colors and
color combinations. Somehow i got it into my head that i must use this
wire for solderless breadboard links. You guess it: about a zillion ends
to strip. We could discuss the sanity of using such a tricky wire for
breadboard use, but i'd rather not.
Anyway, as you can guess, nicking the wire is not an option for
breadboards. None of the strippers in my sizeable collection could deal
with it, either it would leave the innermost laquer layer, or it would
nick it, or it would badly fray the silk. The modified side cutting pliers
with a notch of just the right size do a great job.
There is one special reason why i like the wire. If you put too much
current across it (as in a short) the outer layer of isolation will
blister/bubble up. This will show the path a short took without any real
damage.
ST