What are the Different Styles of Wire Strippers?

It’s hard to believe, but electricity and wiring isn’t really that old of a technology. The first insulated electrical wire (called an electrical conductor) was invented (or at least patented) in 1892 by Thomas Edison because he knew the idea of having electrical wires just lying about loose would be dangerous. Kind of a no-brainer now, but back then, not so much. This was dangerous not just for the risk of the wiring getting hot, but because electricity often caused the material it was running through to get hot and occasionally start fires. Edison’s intention was also to use the insulation to protect against moisture and even allow for submersion of a wire in water. From this point forward, all electrical wiring and many other types of cables would be encased in an insulated sheath for protection and safety purposes.

The downside of this, of course, is that cable couldn’t be terminated because the entire thing was covered in rubber. Obviously, to terminate the wire, one needed a tool to do this. Early on, to strip wires, knives were probably used, then linesman pliers and finally wire cutters and manual wire strippers. The first “automatic” wire stripper was patented in 1915 by S.G. Wood and has undergone many changes since then. One such innovation came in 1943 and was also invented by Wood, this style continues today and is made by both Klein Tools and Ideal Tools. One squeeze and the wire practically strips itself.

In addition to the compound automatic wire strippers, there are a few other styles of wire stripper that you can get. First are the strippers “Zack of All Trades” says are fine for doing stereo wiring in your car, or AKA, “garbage wire strippers” and he quickly moves onto a basic manual stripper, the Klein Tools 11045 and he wasn’t particularly enamored with it, though it seemed that it did a solid enough job. He compared it to the Klein Tools 11055 which was about double the price, but it was reported to work much better than the others, so if you want a manual wire stripper that’s a good one to go with as it will work for the majority of wiring jobs. It’s also a high quality tool and Zack mentioned that this made all the difference. Wiha also makes a few variations of this cutter as well.

The last style of wire stripper that bears mentioning is the European style and you can get this made by Wiha, Knipex…and so on down the line. This style of wire stripper comes at the wire from the front as opposed to doing it from the side as other styles. This sort of approach may come in handy if you have some wiring that’s hard to access or if you just prefer to use that style with a frontal approach.

While wire strippers haven’t been around for that long in the world of tools, they have become one of the most valuable. Without them, we wouldn’t have the modern world and conveniences that we take for granted. You can choose from a basic, manual style that works like pliers. The European and compound automatic style are also both popular styles that work well in various situations. Whichever style you think works best for you, it’s important to find one that’s a quality tool. The most expensive tool isn’t necessarily the best, but if it’s a decent quality tool it may cost a little more than a basic piece. We try to balance the best quality at the best price and hope you’ll be happy with the best of both worlds. Take a look at the wire strippers we sell and ask us if you have any questions about them!