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I need some ideas on how to strip this wire/cable. It does not fit in my wire stripper and the outer insulations is very hard plastic. Pieces range anywhere from about 8 inches long to well over 5 feet long. The cable is about the diameter of a 50 cent piece.
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A nice fresh razor blade and some patience:)
Just box it up & send it to me! :))
SRSLY, though, the way I would do that is to put it in my vise & Dremel down one side.
If that took too long, maybe try a wide blade wood chisel down one side, making cuts as far apart as you can get away with, then a BFH to finish splitting it.
Actually, now that I think about it, I might start with the chisel option. Maybe try putting a coupla pieces in the deepfreeze to see if that helps with removal by making the plastic more brittle/easier to split?
Vise and grinder.
The trick is get the insulation hot.
You can leave it outside in the sun.
You can put it on the oven.
The idea is the get it soft,once it soft, just use a sharp knife ,it come clean when you pull the insulation .
I saw it,on one of the scrapping videos on YouTube.
In that video they use one electric heater.
I f i ever find this video i will post a link here.
I hope it helps.
what is that wire from?
Ginofrater has a good idea. I have used a band saw,just cut the plastic
Im not exactly sure what its from. Was given to my by my grandpa that had it laying around on the farm for many many years.
I use micks advice. But I use a metal wheel in my grinder for cutting plastic. Doesn't gum up on the blade
In the past I have used a table saw with a thin carbide tipped blade and set the height of the blade to just cut through the insulation. A piece of 2 x 8 notched out the size of the wire clamped to the table keeps the wire in place and fingers away from blade. Beware to feed slowly so wire doesn't catch. works very well.
A cut-off wheel on a grinder works for small quantities also.
Put it out in sun for about an hour and then run a razor knife down one side
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqhgexyZBAYQuote:
Originally Posted by ginofrater
Thought this was more interesting, lol.
MEAD MINI DOZER TEST DRIVE - YouTube
Gravitar
Thanks for the video i did not have the time to look for it yesterday.
The video shows that it easy to strip those large cables. Do not cut towards yourself like he does beacuse eventually you will be cut.
Yeah was thinking he was gonna stab himself or cut a finger off. Looked pretty dangerous and wreckless how he was cutting
I agree with other posters with warming up the jacket of the cable in the sun. Makes the nylon softer. The tool I use, though, I have not seen mentioned in this forum--a "spokeshave". Its a wood cutting tool with handles on both sides of the blade, and you cut by pulling it towards yourself. Sorry, I didn't look for a photo before I posted this but you should be able to find a picture on google images. They are available from some of the specialty woodworking vendors, and probably can be spotted in pawn shops occasionally.
I went from a sharp razor knife to a spokeshave because it was easier to control the cut and worked quite quickly. Of course, you had to hold the wire in a vise. I pre-cut all my wire into 18" lengths and could pretty much do the whole length in one setting of the vise. I used this on wire 1/4" in diameter and up.
Hope this helps.
Jon.
In case any one else is looking for one, here's what you call them.
Drawknife - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...messerTop.jpeg
Cut towards your chum, not towards your thumb. You can always get another chum, but you can't get another thumb.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jonniebrass
So I put a few of the smaller pieces out in the sun for about an hour. It worked great, the utility knife cut right through the casing. Thanks for the advice everyone.
i use a draw know or a new blade from a carpet knife, clamp it between two things and cut it. or i lay it out on my trailer and cut it and peel it....i don't have a wire striper yet..if my 2x4 and dry wall screws don't work i just cut it and peel it.... but the warmer the plastic is the easier it is. i knew a guy that had a huge corn pot and would boil the wire before cutting it
Im new here and dont know if your doing it as a hobby or work. If you have a lot of it and can keep busy getting more scrap and flipping loads each day, Id contact a solid buyer of wire and settle on a good deal. Sell it and move right on to scrapping and making money on more or other stuff. I just dont know your situation. If its a few hundred pounds an dhave the time upgrade upgrade upgrade. You got good answers.
If its a lot more contact a wire buyer. They buy off basis (lme) percentage and a chop fee. You usually can make close to the clean price and just be done with it.
I may be wrong. I have made many mistakes. You got great advice in the thread. That tractor vid was funny.
Aaron.
I'm a electrical apprentice and the way we stripp wire if its thick wire is a fresh razor blade and if the the plastic coating is hard let it get warm the razor should slide like butter and don't hold the blade on to steep of a angle or it will keep getting caught on the copper
have you tried a carpet/linoleum knife?
Personalty quickest way is gas and a match, but that is environmentally unfriendly... Although quite interesting my yard will buy burnt wire as #!. He explained that the smelters just burn it and the fire makes it clean ready to pour into the pot.. They use HEPA filters on the stacks to catch the fumes.
One way of doing it, is get a cast saw. Like the ones they use for cutting casts off of broken bones. My buddy used one for years.
Im not sure if I can explain my stripper and I have yet to figure out how to post pics. So here goes. I took plumbing flairing tool. Square bar with various size holes for different sizes of tubing. I removed everything from the tool so it's just the block. There are two bolts at each end that allow you to separate the 2 halves of the block. What I do is pic a hole about the size of my wire then place a box knife razor blade in it and adjust the blade so that it will cut through the shielding. Now I place the tool in my bench vice then from the back side press your wire in till it clears the blade. Now just pull the wire through. It's stupid simple and works great for all the wires I strip. Only thing that takes a little extra time is I presort my wire into similar gauges so that im not adjusting the blade more than I need to. Man I wish I could figure out how to post pics.
A electric planer works well if you have one. Though its just a different version of the spokeshave and the table saw idea.
Both of which I had not thought of, and the spokeshaves a really good idea if you ever need to strip the outer coating off 'in the field'.
The table saw idea would be really really quick too. I'm thinking about it more and relise a 'skillsaw' could do the same job if set up right.
It could also cut the thicker solid insulation off certain cables.
Impressed, I have learnt at least two things today. That means I will have a good sleep tonight.
Blue, this is compliments of Google; Close?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yp8EhuXFN0w
id like to have that wire for sure never have i seen that most i come upon is romex.
lol brown paper bag? yeah like thats gona hold lots of copper without breaking lol. walking to scrap yard then it rains and then your copper is all over the ground hahah. if i had to use a bag i would use a reusable toute for copper at least when its wet no mess=)