Wire Strippers – The “Must have” electrical hand tool

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A wire stripper is a simple hand tool with many functions and uses. It looks like a very flat pair of pliers, and has several notches of various sizes cut into the jaws and handle. The grips are almost always made of an insulation material to guard against electrical shock from a live. You should avoid using wire strippers in an electrical application that do not have any insulation. Remember to shut off power to any electrical device you are working on. The jaws have multiple uses depending on what part you are using. For example, wire cutter is at the tip of the tool and further down inside there is a crimper tool for crimping wires. Other notches are crimping different size wires. Use the numbered notch that corresponds to closest to the wire gauge. The series of holes are to cut screws to shorter length. Open the jaws until the holes align , slide the screw inside and squeeze the handle to shear the screw. In order to strip a wire of insulation but not the wire itself, use the series of notches closest to the end of the handle. A little tip that most electricians use is to twist the wire as you pull off the insulation. The twisting action will wind the individual wire strands together and make the wire the easier to work with.