Stripping Large Conductors

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... those utility knives are not acceptable by osha standards and I do not allow my guys to use them for splicing cable. that is what klien makes their purdy knife for
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I'm not sure about osha but I have been employed locally with firms that will not allow that tool per the employee hand book! I just take the knife sharper in ... I don't care for them myself...
 
I've never spent all day stipping large conductors so I like a utility knife. They are like every thing else in this field. You have to be carefull!:smile:
 
tyha said:
those utility knives are not acceptable by osha standards and I do not allow my guys to use them for splicing cable. that is what klien makes their purdy knife for
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If someone told me I could not use a utility knife for electrical work I would have no choice but to laugh at you. And I would laugh even harder if I was told I could only use one those Klein knives that belong in the bottom of a landfill.
 
I have tried them all, prefer a speciality stripping tool like the utility 4 way, used a few other incarnations of the same tool Greeenlee had. But generally keep a utility knife handy for most jobs nowadays.

But the number one tool when there are multiple terminations I use the old pass the buck. "Hey Mikey step up to the plate and hit this one for me"
 
For skinning just regular 600 volt insulation, a razor knife works best for me.

For some tough high-voltage insulation use some nylon pull-string. It cuts through the insulation and you don't have to worry about nicking the wire.
 
i used a utility knife for years until I got this knife:

44001-BLK_ICON.JPG


To me, this knife works so much better than a utility knife, especially on hard insulation.

If you're interested, its a klein 4401BLK. Its a good all-purpose knife.


For sharpening, I use a Tony's Sharpener:

index005004.jpg



You may recognize this sharpener from my "Battery Surprise" post from a couple of months ago regarding the exploding battery.
 
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steved said:
Nowadays, I use a utility knife when I have to strip a large wire. Back when I worked for a cable assembly manufacturer, we used a Simplex wire stripper when there were a lot of big wires to strip, or a Hot Knife for just a few wires.
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Looks like you need to be certified as a third class steam engineer to use the Simplex. And that Hot Knife strips all the way up to 24 AWG.

Think I'll stick with my plain old utility knife, with those dilithium crystal blades. You can still get the blades at Harbor Freight.

Best Wishes Everyone
 
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