[SWDweller]

Razor knife for the last 40 years its already in the pouch.

 

[Apelectric]

A pocket knife. But if you want to be fancy and try to save .5 of a second, and your linesman is new enough, you can grab just the edge of the insulation at the cut end of the romex, tear that off, then grab the ground and rip it to length.

 

[hbiss]

There has been a discussion about this before. No real answer as to why one manufacturer (can't remember which) is making their jacket tougher. One reason given was that it's because of the available plastic compounds they had available. Another theory is to keep staples from damaging the jacket showing up with AFCI trips. If that's the case will other manufacturers follow? Is it a UL requirement?

At any rate, you have to do whatever works for you to strip it. Some say that the Klein romex stripper works.

-Hal

 

[Dennis Alwon]

If you haven't used a knife on it then you may want to try this. They do both 12/2 and 14/2 and strip the conductors as well

 

[backstay]

I too use a utility knife. I had used the profile cutters that come on some strippers, but they were damaging the conductor’s insulation.

 

[MotoGP1199]

I use the klein curve NM strippers that look similar to the ideals above. No damage to insulation and super fast.

Trick is to sqeeze the NM cable, do a little wiggle, remove the stripper and pull off jacket. No damage, clean cut, super fast.

 

[kb1jb1]

Summer romex and winter romex. Winter romex is softer but when used in the summer it has a gummy jacket. Summer romex has a tougher jacket so when used in the winter it is really tough.

 

[hbiss]

Never heard of seasonal Romex. I don't think it would ever happen that there wouldn't be stock left over for the next season. Just not economical to manufacture. If you have been seeing what you say I think you have been getting nasty Romex too.

-Hal

 

[joe-nwt]

I use one of these for all cable from NM to Teck. Only the last 1/2" or so from the tip is sharp, the rest of the blade is not. I often hold the blade in my hand without getting cut.

Whatever you get use to I guess.

 

[splatz]

I had used the profile cutters that come on some strippers, but they were damaging the conductor’s insulation.

I use the klein curve NM strippers that look similar to the ideals above. No damage to insulation and super fast.
Trick is to sqeeze the NM cable, do a little wiggle, remove the stripper and pull off jacket. No damage, clean cut, super fast.

I have the Kleins too. I squeeze them hard enough to score the jacket then bend it to snap it off. The sheath scrap that comes off is good for labelling wires.

 

[Ostrich Society]

Self-Adjusting Wire Stripper - Tools - IRWIN TOOLS

I don’t use it for stripping the conductors but one squeeze and it pops the jacket. Clean break and no risk of accidentally nicking any wires. I clip then it goes in the box, come makeup, just pull the sheath off. For cold weather it’s a life saver.

 

[canbug]

I've used this for 30 yrs.

Tim.

 

[eddy current]

I use one of these for all cable from NM to Teck. Only the last 1/2" or so from the tip is sharp, the rest of the blade is not. I often hold the blade in my hand without getting cut.

View attachment 172813

Whatever you get use to I guess.

That is what I was first trained on. Used it for house wire and 500kcmil, everything in between.

Later moved to a newer version of the same type of blade but foldable.

 

[kb1jb1]

Never heard of seasonal Romex. I don't think it would ever happen that there wouldn't be stock left over for the next season. Just not economical to manufacture. If you have been seeing what you say I think you have been getting nasty Romex too.

-Hal

Back in the 1970s, there was a wire company near where I am that use to put some kind of softener in the jacket which made it strip easier in the winter. Come summertime if we had any left over, the cable ripper would just bunch up and not skin the jacket. If we used the summer romex in the winter the cable ripper would not dig into the jacket. I am not sure if it was Cerro wire or Colonial.

 

[kb1jb1]

This is what we use to use. What I use now is a pair of diagonal cutting dikes.

 

[ohm it hertz]

Southwire SNM1214HD.


Because Klein hates the little guy.

 

[hbiss]

That is what I was first trained on. Used it for house wire and 500kcmil, everything in between.

Later moved to a newer version of the same type of blade but foldable. View attachment 172815

This is what I use. I put my cable into the box first, staple or otherwise secure it, tighten the clamp if the box has one. Then I grab the cable tail, go in with the knife right up to the clamp and slit the sheath down the middle. I separate the conductors from the sheath then reach in with my d ykes and cut the sheath off. For some reason I like that better than stripping it before putting it into the box.

-Hal

 

[brian john]

View attachment 172816
This is what we use to use. What I use now is a pair of diagonal cutting dikes.

I used this or a utility knife, I was just curious about what others use.
I am 1/2 of the way done with my garage/gym with an upstairs for storage.
I'll finish with my utility knife.

This will most likely be the last structure I wire, with arthritis in my wrist and hands it is taking me twice as long as it should and my wrist is killing me by the end of the day.

I had an opportunity to go to the Bahamas for work but based on the last two days I may pass.

 

[joe-nwt]

I had an opportunity to go to the Bahamas for work but based on the last two days I may pass.

Take me as your apprentice and you can supervise.