NEIKO 01924A 3-in-1 Automatic Wire Stripper, Cutter, and Crimping Tool, Auto Self-Adjusting Pliers that Cut up to 10 AWG

Before getting this tool, I have been stripping wires with a utility knife. It usually works, though sometimes it cuts too deep and cuts through inner wires of multi-wire cables like CAT5, or stranded wire and some strands get cut off. It's time consuming to strip wire this way. I finally broke down and got one of these. Wow! It makes stripping wires fast, easy, accurate, and repeatable. I tried it on solid and stranded wire from #14 house wire to the stranded wires inside CAT5 - all fast and flawless. An adjustable strip gauge is perfect for when having a repeatable strip for a critical length. The crimper and cutter are just more gravy. Basically, it seems to do everything it's supposed to do, and does it well. So what about the things it does NOT supposed to do? I tried it on the PVC casing of 3-wire #14 house wire. It doesn't fit into the jaws, so obviously that does not work. But it does strip the wires inside. I tried some very thin stranded hookup wire with a tough, slippery outside, and it could not get a purchase on that. These are the only things I have found so far that it could not do, and after all, it is not advertised to do these things. I tried it with the casing of CAT5. Flawless, and no damage to the wires inside; strips the stranded wire inside just fine too. Old 4-wire telephone cable: perfect, and it can strip the small gauge solid wire inside. I tried a thin shielded cable (just a bit more than an eighth of an inch thick) and it was able to take off the outside jacket. That speaker wire with the clear casing? Works as expected, but it can also strip both conductors at once (suggest that you split them first, which is easier than after stripping). It can strip both conductors at once for medium-gauge AC appliance wire. I'll update this report with results of trying CATV cable, other large-gauge shielded cable, and anything else I can find around. I'm very happy with this purchase, and only wish I had bought one years ago.

This Neiko works by pulling the insulation off, stretching it until it snaps so the cut insulation ends are a bit jagged, and is most noticeable as insulation get thicker but importantly, its very unlikely to cut any of the wires while stripping. I found that thicker insulation requires just a touch longer length to strip as the insulation stretches a bit more before it snaps off; also the adjustable wire grip compensates for wire thickness to allow more grip or as the jaw wear with age. Before this was invented, best strippers had a fixed set of sharp AWG sized openings. You needed several strippers for different AWG wires. Those strippers worked well and fast, one squeeze they nicked the insulation just so deep and the other end pulled the ends off the insulation out. Another popular stripper has a profile of a T.Rex: you fed wire into the mouth; its front teeth gripped one end and pulled it off, and could take a wider set of AWG wires than the bladed version. The bladed version got dull with age, and if you chose the wrong slot, it could cut off a few strands of wire. The T Rex stripper does not strip a wide range of AWG like this Neiko can strip so you tend to need at least two or three T Rex types. Pros Heavy duty steel construction Works as described, strips insulation by pulling it apart until it snaps off so unlikely will cut wires Made in Taiwan, the quality of finish, construction is high Can strip multiple wired cables like Romex! Extremely wide range of stripping, I've tried it from 26 -12 AWG flawlessly, its rated for 30-8 AWG Adjustable wire grip for slippery wires or jaw wear with age Cons Larger and heavier than most strippers Notes: There are many "copies" of this stripper design. All legitimate ones are from the OEM Taiwanese company KYP Tools and who invented the design in 1984. If you have a KYP, Neiko, and Irwin version side by side, they are identical except for the overmolded handles, color, lack of brand name on the OEM while the KYP has its logo in on the back of the head. KYP has at least 3 patented versions of this stripper as well as variations within each version. The Neiko model is KY665. FWIW I could not find the patent number for its claimed US patents. There are "non-KYP copies" that look similar but not identical, likely because KYP claims its patented in China. The true models are all KYP made. The enclosed photos compare a non-KYP version, Irwin, and KYP versions. You can notice similarities and differences.

I've used this many times now for various automotive wiring projects and it really does a great job. I've never used one of these style strippers/crimpers/cutters before, so it did take some getting used to. But now that I've gotten to know it, it has really reduced the time I spend on these projects. It's kind of big and bulky if you're not used to it, and is hard to get into any kind of tight space, but if you're doing the job right, pre-attaching the connectors, and using the ideal lengths of wire then it's a breeze to use. It did come with little, stick-on dots to color code what size crimper you need for various connectors, but those little dots came off with about an hour of use. A simple, one sheet instruction manual would have been nice too, but the mechanically inclined should have no problem figuring out how it works. I haven't used any of the larger sized crimpers yet so can't comment on them, but the smaller, one-size crimper, the strippers, and the cutters have all worked perfectly for me now that I've gotten used to it. Seems built to last and I expect to get a ton of use out of these things.

UPDATE(12/17/15): I still have this and I still use it when needed. UPDATE(03/08/15): Great tool. UPDATE(02/10/14): After using this auto-magical tool a bit, I love it even more, though the single point crimper takes a bit of squeezing effort. For "once-in-a-while" crimping it's ok, however, a ratcheting crimper would be much better. I may get a multi-point ratcheting crimper for easy crimping especially in cramped spaces. You might think to yourself: "Self, I won't use this tool very much. I'll just continue using my normal stripping knife." Then immediately qualify that thought by thinking, "And a box of band-aids and tube of antibiotic ointment are certainly much cheaper than buying this wire stripper." LOL. REVIEW 12-05-13: Adjust the red plastic wire-stop piece for the length of insulation to remove, insert wire(s), squeeze and your done. The wire is stripped. You're done. Done! I've tried different gauge wire (10AWG - 22AWG) and the stripper worked 99% of the time in one squeeze. The tool works well for multi-strand wires too (outside insulation then the individual strands). Once in a while the insulation that is removed gets stuck in the tool but that's really not a big deal to clear it. The single point crimper works well enough when you need it. And the wire cutter comes in handy now and then; the stripping action activates first before the wire is cut so you need to keep squeezing to overcome that action before you get a cut wire. It's neat that you can strip a middle section of wire (rotate the red wire stop piece out of the way and move the tool to the middle of the wire). The tool seems sturdy and has some weight to it. If you strip enough wires to warrant getting a wire stripping tool, do yourself a favor and go for an automatic tool such as this one. No more cringing when it's time to strip wires. ;-)

I haven't bought a new wire stripper in a decade and I am glad it is this one. It's pretty amazing but you might need to fiddle with its tension settings a bit. I bought it for USB wires and other finer type. Bought it through this seller because the fellow who does the youtube vids had some great information up about arduinos. It helps him out. He shows this unit doing multiple conductors at one time. It does that & that is why I am giving it 5 stars. Amazing! ( I hope it can keep that up. ) it seems sturdily made, better than most things these days and has multipivot point articulations which could easily suffer if they quality were not top notch. I would NOT throw this tool around in your toolbox as it could suffer and not work 100% next time you want it to function like before. The odd/neat thing is that this pulls the insulation about 1/2 inch over which for me takes a bit getting used to. But I saw a guy use this to his advantage doing it regularly along a length of wire and then soldering to that open space(a strip of LEDS in this case). Seems to be an advantage if you know how to use it this way.

For the price this tool is indispensable! You'll wonder why you haven't bought or heard of one sooner. Stripping wire is done in literally 1 second and 1 motion. I bought this one after looking at a few others since it had a larger operating range (10-22 AWG) and it seems to handle all sizes very well thus far. There are a lot of negative claims on here - some say it's large...and yes..it's a bit large, but it's not like you're carrying around a pipe wrench. Some also say it's "Garbage" and give it one star reviews. I've yet to have a problem, and they've yet to explain why so let's just say maybe they got a bad one. The one thing that might be a problem in the long run is the mechanics behind the single action that clamps down on the one wire then sets the blades then pulls the end then unlocks and throws the insulation is a bit complex and might break over time or even not function out of the box (assuming this is what happened to the one star reviewers) but overall for the price its a great tool that you have to try to believe.

Update: 11/18/22. After only a couple of dozen uses, it is now failing to strip wires at all. I’ve been working with 12–2 and 14–2 wiring, hooking up outlets in my garage. If I can get this to strip a single wire once every six or seven tries, I’m considering it lucky. I’ve reached out to the manufacturer/seller with no response back at all. I was attracted by the bargain price – I guess you get what you pay for. I’ll be reaching out to Amazon to see if there’s anyway that I can return this, but I believe it’s going to be past the time anyone can do anything. This device failed to last two months with very light use. Very disappointed in the product, and the manufacturers idea of customer service. Original Review: The only negative I give this tool is that it does not strip 12/2 & 14/2 really well on the first try. Usually takes a second effort. I have seen other brands with no such issue; thus the 4 rather than 5 stars.

For most purposes this has become my go-to tool for wire stripping. I've used it on gauges from large to tiny and it has worked as advertised more often than it hasn't. It does fail on certain wire and insulation types (generally, wires with stretchy insulation) but the more i use it the more i recognize what type of wires i shouldn't bother trying. When it works it is a joy and when it doesn't, well, it's not really any more frustrating than accidentally cutting off the 3/4" that i meant to strip. I mean it's only fair when critiquing this tool that i remember how often i screw up with traditional methods. It does its job just as shown in the illustration, i.e., by pulling the insulation apart. So one of its more gratifying uses is for splicing into a circuit without breaking the conductor, e.g. as you might want to do for testing purposes, or hooking up auto accessories or trailer wiring. It works better than i expected in tight quarters, because all that needs done is to get the head of it around the wire and then squeeze. That's way better than pulling at the wire and banging my hand on the nearest sharp pointy thing. All that said, i can relate to the criticisms in the more unhappy reviews. There's a lot going on here for a simple job; the wire needs gripped just so, the pinchers need to meet just so, and it has to do apply pressure just so for the size and material. It all has to happen precisely and in precise sequence or it doesn't happen right, and i can see how it easily wouldn't. I don't trust it to keep working as well as it has been. Bottom line is, i bought this tool because it is different and because stripping wire is one of my least favorite activities so i thought i'd try something new. I had the $17 to play with, i only expected $17 worth of durability and reliability, and i am not attached to the outcome if it should end up in the trash. I'd only endorse this tool for those of similar circumstances and disposition.

Does exactly what it's supposed to do and does it well. Well made. Great Product.

good product

Sharp and quality product... Thank you seller

Al poco tiempo de uso ya no abre sola, no la remiendo para terminales con forro, corta el forro de la terminal, ESTABA OCUPANDO MAL LAS PINZAS, SON MUY BUENAS, AHORA QUE LLEVO TIEMPO OCUPANDOLAS SIGUE FUNCIONANADO MUY BIEN

I bought this tool for working with small hookup wire for electronics projects and for stripping Romex electrical wiring. It's worked great and has produced clean strips with no cut wires. The tool is very simple to use. Just set the depth, put your wire in the cutter, and strip. It could not be easier. It's easily on par with a good set of manual wire strippers but without some of the hassle with getting consistent depths.