How to strip pieces of insulation in a wire?

Question

I would like to strip some insulation from a wire (like shown in the image below, the green area should be only the metal inside, no insulation). I was wondering how I could possibly do this. Cutting at both edges (of the green highlighted part) is no problem, however, how do I remove a the insulation that is now stuck in between the insulation. I was thinking about burning at the green highlighted parts, but would that be hurting my health if it heats up later on when the wire is being used?

I could not find anything on the internet (some people mentioning "multicore", but that leads me to other results), nor anything on this forum. I do not have extensive knowledge, I just do this as a hobby so please go easy.

I would like to connect some items in serie, so I therefore thought: Why not cut in between the wire and solder those to the pins. If this is wrong, please tell me.

EDIT: As suggested, slicing the wire in the direction of the wire and then peeling it of seems to work. This is how it should look like:

Answer 1

First make the circular cuts around the wire to define the bits you want to remove.

Then take one of the bits to remove and bend it in half loosely at that point, angle it away from you, and use a sharp craft knife to carve it away like you're sharpening a pencil.

Answer 2

One other method I use is to gently pre-loosen the insulation (bend the wire or tap it on the round corner of a 2x4 with another round corner of a 2 by 4 along it's length. If the insulation is stuck on 14 guage and above you will hear and audible clicking as it releases. Then rather than making 2 cuts and slicing off the tube of insulation between them from the side, you can make a single cut and slide the insulation of the entire wire down by pulling the wire through your strippers (taking care not to score it. If necessary cut with one size die and then use a slightly larger size to pull. Just keep moving down the remaining insulation and repeating. This works well down to probably 18 or 20 guage for most wire and often with smaller wires if they have cheap insulation. The smaller the wire is, the more likely I am to score the insulation with razor or strippers and pull it down with my fingernail to avoid scratching copper.

Answer 3

Always did this by careful use of a sharp knife - take care or you cut more than just nails...

Did this so often on car wiring : 14/010 etc...

The best way I found was to place the wire on a wooden block then with the knife blade at the point of cut gently roll the wire : light pressure goes through the insulation and you get a nice even cut - with less risk to fingers...

Then for the middle waste bit - it is possible to angle the blade to cut a helix and the waste comes off easy - no flexing... takes practice though... :) Having had to repair burnt wiring looms in cars had plenty of practice...

Answer 4

It would work for serie too, as it only is 1 wire for the + –.

No it won't.

^{simulate this circuit – Schematic created using CircuitLab}

Figure 1. Your "serie" connection is a series of devices short-circuited by the wire. There will be no voltage across the devices. In this example the LEDs will not light.

I would only like to make a + rail, the - of each individual led should of course be connected to a pin on for example an Arduino.

That will be a "parallel" connection.

^{simulate this circuit}

Figure 2. Using the wire as a busbar.

When I have done as you want I strip each section and move it along as required to open each section.

Answer 5

If the current you are drawing is not that high (~100mA or less), you could use "magnet wire" - this is basically copper wire coated in a thin insulating layer of polyurethane.

The beauty of this sort of insulation is that you can strip it at any point by simply heating to 390*C with a soldering iron.

You can also get thicker wire with the same insulation (used to make inductors and motor windings) for higher currents.

Answer 6

IF I understood the problem correctly, you could use a wire stripper like this one

As you can see in the image it's pretty simple to remove the insulation from any point, middle or edge. It is also a necessary tool if you want to dive in electrical circuits and electronics.

Answer 7

If you're not going to be flexing the wire after installation, you might find it easier to simply finesse the whole situation. Get a piece of bare wire (if necessary by stripping the insulation from regular wire - use an Xacto knife to make a long slit), then get some heat-shrink tubing. Cut to length, slip on and adjust your exposed areas, then heat up. The whole process will be much less finicky.