Where can i buy replacement blades for these wire strippers - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 08, 2020, 09:11:46 am
content: Does anyone know where i can get a replacement blade for these wire strippers.Lots of companies sell these type of wire strippers, so one must have replacement blades for sale.But I've not been able to find them so far.

author: Gyro
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 08, 2020, 07:23:05 pm
content: Your best bet might be to take them off and sharpen them yourself. They're not a complicated profile and probably not particularly hard. A file ought to do it. I don't think they're even sharpened from new, just shaped.

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 09, 2020, 03:50:02 am
content: Sadly the problem cant be fixed with sharpening. A large chunk of the blade edge broke off. Nothing left to sharpen

author: Monkeh
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 09, 2020, 03:51:30 am
content: Pretty sure it's time for a new pair.

author: all_repair
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 09, 2020, 04:13:15 am
content: Do you have a 3D printer? or send some design from thingiverse off for printing? There are a few designs that use normal disposable pen-blade as wire stripper. Also make a good gift.

author: Nusa
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 09, 2020, 04:47:35 am
content: That entire tool is less than $20 new, so that's how much effort it's worth figuring out.

author: MarkMLl
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 09, 2020, 09:19:42 am
content: Even if the bottom blade on OP's tool were replaceable, sooner or later the top one would wear as well and that looks like more of a problem.Assuming that he has no choice but to buy a new one, can anybody recommend a half-decent tool that doesn't break the bank and is suitable for electronics bench use including Kynar?MarkMLl

author: Gyro
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 09, 2020, 08:19:31 pm
content: Quote from: Psi on July 09, 2020, 03:50:02 amHmm, it sounds like it was made of mature cheddar in that case!They are never particularly sharp anyway. It's more of a tearing action on the insulation, without nicking the conductor (the pressure doesn't ease after it goes through the insulation).Time for a new pair.

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 10, 2020, 08:06:06 am
content: They've pretty much never been used.I noticed the broken blade surface maybe 2 weeks after purchasing them years ago.i can't recall why i didn't take them back for a refund at the time.I think maybe i suspected they would blame the damage on me. But i'm sure they were damaged right out of the box (or maybe the blade edge was so thin it broken on first use)I do have a much nicer pair of wire strippers that i use every day.but every time i look at these ones sitting in my tool rack i want to fix them because throwing them out just seems like a waste when they are brand new.

author: Nusa
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 11, 2020, 12:04:19 am
content: I'd consider taking that bit off and see about replicating it from a chunk of aluminum (may not be hard enough to last, but worth a shot). Rough shaping with a sanding wheel/belt, drill mounting holes, some file work to shape the grabbing blade. And try it.Or you can throw it out and be done with it.

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 12, 2020, 11:51:58 am
content: I do have a tig welder, i guess i could attempt to add more metal on and then reform the edge.Actually, looking at the edge under the microscope i'm now wondering if they were abused by someone and then returned to the store where they got put back on the shelf before i bought them.

author: Gyro
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 12, 2020, 01:13:57 pm
content: Are you sure those are steel? they look like painted alloy. I just checked mine and they're blackened steel.

author: MarkMLl
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 12, 2020, 01:18:01 pm
content: It's entirely possible that the edge was knocked off during fettling: that's a casting, look at the blowholes!Is it magnetic?MarkMLl

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 12, 2020, 10:21:07 pm
content: careful messing with insulation blades because the manufacturer might have chosen a geometry that works for multiple wire types and if you start resharpening them yourself you might end up making it so that it destroys certain kinds of insulation.

author: 2N3055
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 13, 2020, 06:51:35 am
content: Buy ones that actually have blades instead of sharp edge on some kind of soft silumin alloy.Strippers with steel blades that have similar construction to these you have are only few USD more expensive..For a little bit more you can get Yokari that are pretty good.I generally don't like this design of strippers. They are good for specific sizes when precise but hit and miss when cheap.I got bored with cheap ones, so bought Weidmuller and Pressmaster... Expensive but working with them is just beautiful..

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 13, 2020, 12:30:52 pm
content: Quote from: MarkMLl on July 12, 2020, 01:18:01 pmyep, strongly attracted to magnetAgreed, definitely looks like some sort of casting

author: SparkyFX
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 13, 2020, 02:56:14 pm
content: Don't underestimate the hardness of copper, these nicks have a wire shape.

author: MarkMLl
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 13, 2020, 05:23:23 pm
content: Could equally well have been knocked off by bead blasting etc. while getting that fancy finish. As they say in the metalworking trades, "all fettlers are butchers".MarkMLl

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 14, 2020, 02:03:06 am
content: Quote from: SparkyFX on July 13, 2020, 02:56:14 pmyes, it it could be from using the wrong wire size

author: cliffyk
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 14, 2020, 03:10:31 am
content: $9.99 at Harbor Freight. I'd wager that if you found just the jaws for sale it would be more than $10...

author: totalnoob
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 14, 2020, 11:15:50 am
content: Like previously stated, it could be that the replacement jaws are more than the tool is worth, but I happened to be in the pliers section of Lowe's Last night. I was looking for something else, when my eye caught something familiar. Irwin has a wire stripper that is the spitting image of the one you posted, only the handles are blue. You may be able to get the jaws through Irwin's parts department.https://www.irwin.com/tools/pliers-adjustable-wrenches/self-adjusting-wire-stripper

author: cliffyk
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 14, 2020, 02:04:21 pm
content: i have a pair I have had for so long I forgot i owned them--just dug 'em out. They are branded Kronus, a tool maker/vendor in Transylvania, though they were made in Taiwan. think I got them from Radio Shack they look identical to that posted by the OP:

author: MarkMLl
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 14, 2020, 02:29:14 pm
content: I bet that these all come from different factories in the Far East, made from different sets of drawings etc. which might or might not originally have been a copy of something decent.Curiously, the Harbor Freight photo posted by @cliffyk is the outlier: despite its low cost there are markings on the adjustment screw, a more enclosed mechanism, and- crucially- separate blades which might even be replaceable.MarkMLl

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 15, 2020, 09:31:13 am
content: Quote from: totalnoob on July 14, 2020, 11:15:50 amI have emailed them. We will see what they say.Be pretty funny if they offer to send me some for free when it's not even an irwin product

author: MarkMLl
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 22, 2020, 04:52:18 pm
content: Quote from: 2N3055 on July 13, 2020, 06:51:35 amI've just bought a pair of those on the strength of that recommendation, and appear to be very good (at least for the price).I suppose that I should have thought to look at Weidmuller when I was buying tools in a hurry a year ago. I've used their ferrule crimps which had an adjustable stripper built in and found them pretty good, but if anything I'd say that I'm more impressed by the construction of the Jokari: nicely-sharpened V-shaped blades etc.MarkMLl

author: totalnoob
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 26, 2020, 11:56:25 pm
content: Any update? Did Irwin respond?

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 27, 2020, 09:59:30 am
content: Quote from: totalnoob on July 26, 2020, 11:56:25 pmNope.I kinda expected they wouldn't sell the part so wouldn't bother to reply.

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 27, 2020, 10:06:37 am
content: I just sent an email to fullertool.com, they also sell a version of it.https://www.fullertool.com/product/automatic-wire-stripping-tool/Lets see if they respond.

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 27, 2020, 10:19:48 am
content: Quote from: MarkMLl on July 14, 2020, 02:29:14 pmI'm pretty sure they come from the same factory or at least most of them. It's OEM is a Taiwanese company I no longer remember a name of. They were re-branded by a crapload of western companies.Edit: I think it is KYPTOOL.

author: Andrew LB
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: August 01, 2020, 05:17:15 pm
content: I've been using that pair of Irwin (vise grip) strippers for over a decade and they're rock solid. No dings in the jaws either.I did notice though in the OP's photos that the adjustment screw is cranked down to max. If it was set that far down, it would explain why the jaws got chipped.