Homemade industrial wire stripper

Jan 16, 2013 27 Replies

I would like to make a wire stripper. And by this, I do not mean those "look, mommy, I made a wire stripper from a knife blade and toy car wheels".



I mean a powered industrial machine that is



a) Safe in use b) Can strip significant amount of wire per hour c) Strips cables up to 1 inch thick.



I can find a gear motor and other equipment without problems, I just wanted to see if anyone was aware of similar projects that worked out well.



i

A colleague of mime had a home made unit built on a gearhead motor. It had a spring loaded pipe cutter wheel. I used it for several thousand feet of cable. For light duty it was satisfactory. The drive wheel needed improvement. I saw a commercially made unit that had four pipe cutter wheels at 90 degs. The key seems to be the drive wheel.

CP

Be aware that body shops are supplying law enforcement (and probably Feds) with lists of people who bring stripped copper into the scrap metal yard in many communities these years. That may bring more local governmental scrutiny than you want, Ig, despite the fact that your shop is working entirely legally.

Why reinvent the wheel?

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The one they use at Metro Metals in Portland has a blade that orbits around the wire, stripping the insulation away in long spiral sections that look similar to drill shavings.

I have no problem with that, all I buy is legit.

i

If you were in China you'd just subcontract the job to a village full of people who would pile it on bonfires and burn the insulation off.

Can't do that here, those pesky environmentalists.....

not any more - they have discovered the value in the insulation - the current approach in china is to pulverize the cables, use a water sluice to separate the copper from the insulation and sell the two separately. the insulation becomes your flip flops or bedroom slippers

Some good looking machines there and make far more sense than building one.

Gunner

The methodology of the left has always been:

  1. Lie
  2. Repeat the lie as many times as possible
  3. Have as many people repeat the lie as often as possible
  4. Eventually, the uninformed believe the lie
  5. The lie will then be made into some form oflaw
  6. Then everyone must conform to the lie

Ignoramus31473 fired this volley in news:PtKdneFd07NkkWvNnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@giganews.com:

I haven't built one, but if you'll look up "Artos", you'll find examples of industrial automated strippers.

NONE of them are "safe in use", unless they have an interlocked cover over the work zone.

LLoyd

Some machines use 8" knot-type wire wheels counter rotating with one shaft is spring loaded so the brush faces touch under adjustable pressure. In addition to removing the insulation they drive the wire to be striped. Tubes guides the wire into and out of the brushes. The wire to be striped has an adjustable brake. Wire FLIES through these machines!

We all know as soon as you need something, you'll find it for the price of scrap, then come back with a 'minor gloat'...

Dave

No? You've obviously never dealt with a governmental agency before.

He's a full card carrying member of the cult of Wieber so that's exactly what we can expect.

====

Copper prices have been on the decline for going on 2 years now and so I'm in no hurry.

Especially considering that the SEC just very recently approved JP Morgan's request allowing for ETF's to be backed by actual physical copper, which, due to the probability of hoarding, may well substantially reduce the amount of copper available for bonafide manufacturing purposes, despite Wall St claims to the contrary.

Having been a friend of Ma Bell...contractor...I had one. Didnt work worth a s*it.

I probably still have it somewhere out in the bins

Gunner

The methodology of the left has always been:

  1. Lie
  2. Repeat the lie as many times as possible
  3. Have as many people repeat the lie as often as possible
  4. Eventually, the uninformed believe the lie
  5. The lie will then be made into some form oflaw
  6. Then everyone must conform to the lie

Sometimes 'nothing' is better than 'better than nothing'. ;-)

"Michael A. Terrell" on Sun, 20 Jan 2013

00:14:08 -0500 typed in rec.crafts.metalworking the following:

"The new improved version of the 2005 edition was such that I found nothing better. And nothing is what I used for the last few years." Or, "Why I no longer use Quicken for my bookkeeping."

-- pyotr filipivich "With Age comes Wisdom. Although more often, Age travels alone."

Ive seen guys split the wire and dip it in a small vial of acid of some sort, which breaks down the insulation rather quickly.

I cannot remember what it was though. Or it was some sort of solvent.

I do recall they pulled off the now soft as jello insul with pliers

Gunner

The methodology of the left has always been:

  1. Lie
  2. Repeat the lie as many times as possible
  3. Have as many people repeat the lie as often as possible
  4. Eventually, the uninformed believe the lie
  5. The lie will then be made into some form oflaw
  6. Then everyone must conform to the lie

Which is why installer prefer jelled direct bury cable these days. :)

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