Ok, the coating on the magnet wire is good stuff. I have always 'sanded' it off where you need it bare to solder, etc.

Is there a better way?

I'm doing lots of LED systems and other things where the fine, light weight gauges work well. Such a pain to remove the coating on many wires. I also find some motors run the multiple wires up a heat shrink, so when trimming for bullet connectors there are multiple wires to 'strip'.

Any great process welcome. Household or garage chemicals? Got to be a good trick.

Thanks in advance for your input.

Fres

How about a Dremel tool with an abrasive wheel attachment? Just a few touches with the high-speed wheel should do the trick. That should be ideal for doing a lot of wires and would avoid the noxious fumes of chemical methods (aspirin tablet and soldering iron).

Thank you so much whitecrest ,

That is one good reccomendation, but some of the wire I have is so thin, the 'large' abrassive wheels can and do just eat right through the wires and break them off. I found a nail grooming emery stick best so far, but tedious.

Can you also explain Asprin tablet and soldering iron? I'm not against some chemicals, or fumes, just reccomend people take proper safety precautions, always.

Thanks

Fred

I have a propane torch on my bench, the kind that uses a bottle and has a built in quick lighter, and I use that to char the coating and then I sand the residue off with 80 grit or so emery cloth or scrape it off with a razor blade or utility knife.

On the good wire, like the MicroDan, even after it is charred the coating stays in place. So I lay it flat on something and roll it and scrape it with the knife held vertical to the wire.

Once the wire is in place on the motor and cut to length I haven't found a better way than scraping the coating off.

Jack

Well, the Dremel hand-held rotary tool is designed for precision work, and the attachment wheels are quite small. Just brushing the wire ought to work without destroying the wire.

As I understand it, place the wire end on the aspirin tablet and touch with the soldering iron. The chemical reaction, accompanied by the fumes, will clean the wire. Aspirin is a mild acid that does the job. You must use aspirin for it to work.

Jack and whitecrest,

Going to try them all! I'll let everyone know which works best. So greatful for your responses. The asprin trick sounds cool, and never heard of that before!

Thanks again!

Fred

Knife works good for me. you just need to scrape a little off and the heat from the solder iron (along with some flux and solder) will do the rest.

I tried the asprin trick. Works really well, and especially when you have multiple wires in bundle. There is a related mess and a really bad fume issue. Smell lingers for a long time.

I don't recommend it either, although I will use it again sometimes. Wear saftey equipment and ventilate, at your own risk!

Fred

Originally Posted by Freddie B

I tried the asprin trick. Works really well, and especially when tou have multiple wires in bundle. There is a related mess and a really bad fume issue. Smell lingers for a long time...

Thanks for posting that. That's very interesting. I think woodworkers use a vacuum system to capture the dust generated by their saws and other power tools as it's created. Perhaps a similar system could be set up for this too to get the fumes out of the room as soon as it's generated.

Originally Posted by whitecrest

Thanks for posting that. That's very interesting. I think woodworkers use a vacuum system to capture the dust generated by their saws and other power tools as it's created. Perhaps a similar system could be set up for this too to get the fumes out of the room as soon as it's generated.

That and other methods recommended. I did my experiment in a very large space, super high ceilings, and avoided breathing the large white clouds coming off the asprin. But again the smell was so acrid it lingered for 2 hours.

Also leaves a pool of very black gooey blob on the bench. After it cools, scrapes off fairly easy.

And thank you for giving me enough info to give it a try. I'll never forget it. I love experiments!

Fred

I was curious of how the professionals do this, so I did some Google searching and found some interesting stuff.

Does anyone make a Dremel bit that does this?

Carpenter Model 27E Magnet Wire Stripper (0 min 36 sec)

or this

Abisofix Enamel / Magnet Wire Stripper (1 min 30 sec)

And this one is fun because it has a laser!

Laser magnet wire stripping (5 min 8 sec)

And there's also this company that has a bunch of different methods:
http://www.eraser.com/catpdf.cgi/Mag...d&catpdf_id=11
http://www.eraser.com/home.html

On the downer side, I notice that burning off the insulation may create ioscyanates like toluene diisocyanate (TDI.)
http://www.mwswire.com/safetydata/cumagwire.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toluene_diisocyanate

Isocyanates are bad stuff (they talk about exposure in parts per Billion! ) so I guess I won't be doing that anymore and figure out some mechanical method.

groundfx

Thank you for taking so much time to do some real research on the subject. It is very informative, and interesting.

I have been around automobile repairs, industrial machine shops, construction, modeling, and probably 20 other things involving 'creating'. All have hazards no one ever knew about, or let alone talked about, until around 20 years ago......

We would probably light up a metal detector, ruin a x-ray film, and set off a geiger counter. We are all doomed! LOL

PLAY it Safe PEOPLE..... Too late for me.......

Fred