Good way to strip very fine stainless-steel PFA-insulated wire

Thread Starter

blah2222

Joined May 3, 2010
582
Hello,

I use a fine stainless-steel (PFA-insulated) wire for electrodes and one of the fun parts is stripping the insulation off of the ends.

What I have been doing is clamping the wire about 3-5mm from the end with very sharp surgical scissors and dragging them to the end of the wire to peel the insulation. I'll admit, I usually cut right through the wire or it doesn't dig into the insulation enough. After a few tries, it works, but it's a real pain! I have also used a lighter to burn the insulation off, but it seems to ruin the bare contact.

Wire specs:
  • bare diameter: 0.003 in / 76.2 µm
  • coated diameter: 0.0055 in / 139.7 µm
  • nominal AWG (bare): 41
  • nominal AWG (coated): 36

Wondering if there is a better method or a fine enough tool to do the job better than I have been doing.

Also... out of curiosity, when a wire stripper states its smallest diameter gauge, say 36 AWG, does that refer to the insulation AWG or the bare wire AWG?


Thanks!

**
A pair of fine forceps seems to work well...
 
Last edited:

DNA Robotics

Joined Jun 13, 2014
647
This is interesting.

Benefits & Advantages of Laser Stripping
No conductor damage
Lasers doesn’t damage conductors

Reduces quality assurance requirements and enables designers to specify tighter tolerances and user lighter weight wires

Strip of all insulation types
Cost saving as ease of set-up one piece of equipment wide variety of wire and insulation types and can process a range of wire types

http://www.lorom.com/capability/cable-assembly/stripping-insulation-dielectrics-insulation/
 

shortbus

Joined Sep 30, 2009
10,045
Don't know how much of this you need to do but Eraser makes a good enamel wire stripper tool..
https://www.eraser.com/products/wir...ct/wheel-strippers/rt2s-magnet-wire-stripper/

And a wire stripper size is based off the wire (metallic conductor) awg and not related to the type of insulation
One of the things they made where I worked was car air conditioner clutch coils. That is how they stripped the wires from the magnet wire there.

But don't think it would work on thicker teflon insulation.
 

Thread Starter

blah2222

Joined May 3, 2010
582
Thanks all!

I also contacted the company and they mentioned scraping with a scalpel or using the aforementioned Eraser tool would work well. They had said that using a flame (as I have experienced) is great for removing the insulation but also torches the wire.

Cheers!
 

EM Fields

Joined Jun 8, 2016
583
Hello,

I use a fine stainless-steel (PFA-insulated) wire for electrodes and one of the fun parts is stripping the insulation off of the ends.

What I have been doing is clamping the wire about 3-5mm from the end with very sharp surgical scissors and dragging them to the end of the wire to peel the insulation. I'll admit, I usually cut right through the wire or it doesn't dig into the insulation enough. After a few tries, it works, but it's a real pain! I have also used a lighter to burn the insulation off, but it seems to ruin the bare contact.

Wire specs:

  • bare diameter: 0.003 in / 76.2 µm
  • coated diameter: 0.0055 in / 139.7 µm
  • nominal AWG (bare): 41
  • nominal AWG (coated): 36

Wondering if there is a better method or a fine enough tool to do the job better than I have been doing.

Also... out of curiosity, when a wire stripper states its smallest diameter gauge, say 36 AWG, does that refer to the insulation AWG or the bare wire AWG?

Thanks!
http://www.all-spec.com/Catalog/Hand-Power-Tools/Tweezers-Pick-Up-Tools/Tweezers/15A-ST-PE-41-18168

Pricey, but if you need it...
 
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