How did I live without .....

[brett]

this wire stripper

For 30 years I've used one of those cheapies where you choose the hole and pull sideways.
This works 100000% better.
$12.50 at DSE if you've got an ABN (Australian Business Number), $18 retail.

Anybody else got a "How did I live without..."?

[Legendin]

I know Those things are mighty handy! I can't come up with any examples of "How did I live without..." myself, though...

[woolley]

i got a plastic 'T-Rex' cutter/stripper from K&D for seriously... AU$1.00. it was great for a year, then one day i tried 240V mains cable and the bottom jaw broke. plastic...  i just saw those dse jobs the other day and i don't think i'll be living without them for too much longer (they're metal right?). a question though, my plastic t-rex couldn't strip smallbear's pre-bonded hookup wire. it couldn't get the teeth down. it's pretty thin stuff. any idea if these could do it?

[rbdl]

I've got an old one like that from dse and half the time it cuts the whole wire. Bloody annoying. I did buy a drill press the other day though, and I'm not sure how I managed to live without that.

[christobean]

yea i was lucky enough to discover one of those after my third wire on my first project (one of the many reasons its nice that my dad was into electronics when he was my age)

however, my MAJOR "how did i live without this" is my discovery of  soft, bendable wire when i was taking apart a VCR. I had been using wire from the radio shack which had really thick plastic and was a pain to try to bend or work to fit into an enclosure.

[Toney]

 Har heh heh.

Yep, those things are the business.

Can it do fine wire OK? Mine (earlier model) craps out with the thinnest Guage they sell at DSE .
Cant remember what the number is offhand, but their range includes the brilliant- bit too small for VERO followed by -bit too big.

Nifty little unit though......speaking of Nifty....what ever became of Niftydog?... just realized I havent seen him for ages.

[Toney]

Speaking of wire.... got myself one of Zvex's pedals the other week.

Damn...that is the lovely soft yet strong wire that people mention.

Till now I have been using the abovementioned DSE stuff which is relatively crap-ola in comparison. Nice shiny high copper content looking strands, but that sheath is some kind of hyper melty plastic which withdraws in fear and anticipation as soon as my iron goes anywhere near it. If you need to reflow a joint on a pot, you may well and up with drippy plastic or a twisted mess. Hyper non quality.

Any Aussies have a source of good quality wire???

[R.G.]

Someday, find yourself a thermal wire stripper.

You will remember it as better than your first significant other.

[vortex]

Unibit!!!

[melvin]

This is what I use for stripping wire.

http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=TH1827&CATID=&keywords=wire+stripper&SPECIAL=&form=KEYWORD&ProdCodeOnly=&Keyword1=&Keyword2=&pageNumber=&priceMin=&priceMax=&SUBCATID=

If you are planning on buying some strippers, shell out the extra few dollars for these, they are worth it.

[rbdl]

I've was using the DSE hook up wire but it's pretty crap. So I got some of the pre-bond 24 guage wire from small bear with my last order and I love it. It's pvc insulated so it doesn't melt as easily, and it's a lot stiffer. It's stranded but I guess it's in between the DSE crap and solid core. As long as you cut the right lengths it's very easy to work with. I haven't found anything similar at DSE or Jaycar.

[SolderBoy]

I've used one of those pull sideways ones for years, but I never use the adjustable stop - I just have it on the smallest setting and do it by feel - works for me!

I've started using an engraving tool and these funny little drill bits for PCB holes - that's my contribution to the "how did I live without it" thing...  Boy its so fast....  Problem is I have no idea where to find replacements for these stubby little drill bits... 

I think I'll take some photos and start another topic...


SB.

[moody07747]

the one in your pic i have tried and hate it beyond all hate   lol

pick this sucker up from the shack

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062787&cp=&origkw=stripper&kw=stripper&parentPage=search




the one in your pic has trouble with smaller wires and anything above 16g so i could not use it at work.
this one has that little gold knob and although there's no book with this tool i have figured out that thats the adjustment so you grab the insulation without breaking the wire...you will figure it out with some use.

[moody07747]

This is what I use for stripping wire.

http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=TH1827&CATID=&keywords=wire+stripper&SPECIAL=&form=KEYWORD&ProdCodeOnly=&Keyword1=&Keyword2=&pageNumber=&priceMin=&priceMax=&SUBCATID=

If you are planning on buying some strippers, shell out the extra few dollars for these, they are worth it.

ah, another fan   lol

[markm]

The internet and this forum! 

[Torchy]

[zpyder]

MY VOLUME PEDAL!!!!!!!

Actually it was the first 'effect' I ever owned... that's things got MILES on it

zpyder

[joelap]

FLUX!  I recently started using flux and oh my lord... it makes soldering THAT much easier (and THAT much mroe fun too when you cant get a solder joint to adhere to a trace or pot).  Seriously... Flux is my best friend!

Unfortunately my wire stripper only strips up to 22AWG wire, and I've got a crapload of 24awg... so I'm using a swiss army knife to strip wires now.  Definately need to get ymself a better one, thats for sure.

[Dave_B]

Regarding this one:

The thing I noticed is that, while they look identical, the Jaycar version can strip 24awg (my preference) and the RS version stops at 22awg.  Is that just a mistake on the RS website? 

There's a model on Amazon that looks similar and goes to 24awg, but it's about $8US more:

[goodrevdoc]

A lead bender.... Sounds silly i know, but its the best 3$ i ever spent at mouser. Considering all the different layout styles people have, this thing is now crucial on my bench.