Thought those fancy wire strippers were overpriced junk until I borrowed a pair

I was always team side-cutters and a steady hand, figured $80 for a pair of Knipex was just paying for the name. Then my buddy let me borrow his for a 200-panel job at the new data center off I-35. I finished stripping wire in half the time with zero nicks and honestly felt like an idiot for fighting my old method for 4 years. Anybody else stubbornly stick with the cheap tools way longer than they should have?

3 comments

3 Comments

grace_bailey15d ago

Did you ever try to fix a cut wire after you nicked it? That little bit of copper breaking off drives me crazy. I was the same way with my $15 wire cutters from the hardware store. Switched to a decent pair of strippers about a year ago and I still get mad at myself for waiting so long. The clean strips alone are worth the money.

mila_flores815d ago

Not fixing the nicked wire just feels wrong. It's like leaving a job half done and it nags at you every time you see it. Getting good strippers is one of those things you kick yourself for not doing sooner.

ray_hernandez3d ago

Is it really that serious though? I mean yeah, nicked wires are annoying but I've been using the same $6 pair of wire strippers from the hardware store for like eight years now and I'm still here. Most of the time the copper breaking off is just cosmetic and doesn't hurt anything unless you're doing some super sensitive work. I get the appeal of paying up for the good stuff but people act like nicking a wire is the end of the world when it's usually just a minor thing.