One thing I see consistently over and over is nicked wire strands or completely missing strands. When you are dealing with 22-26GA wire you simply can not afford to lose any strands while stripping the wire. You also can't afford to damage them.


For this article I treated myself to a new Paladin small GA wire stripper. My old one was so rusty and crappy looking I just could not bring myself to using it in pictures.


This is the Paladin GripP 20 / model # PA1118 and strips wire from 20GA to 30GA. It is available for about $15.00 from Amazon and other retailers. I bought mine locally at HR Distributors in Portland, ME. There are many brands of 20-30GA strippers out there so just find one you like. If working with small wires a properly sized strip tool is a critical item to have.


One feature I really like about the Paladin P-20 tool is that it locks closed. For those of us who reach into a tool bag on a daily basis this is a great feature to avoid cut fingers.