Just realized I've been stripping 12 gauge wire wrong for years

I was helping a new guy on a job in Boise and he asked why I always cut the insulation with my knife first. I told him that's how you get a clean strip. He just pulled out his strippers, made one squeeze, and had a perfect strip in half a second. My whole method added like 30 seconds per connection. How many hours have I wasted? What's the dumbest habit you had to unlearn?

3 comments

3 Comments

mason3611mo ago

I used to twist wire nuts by hand until I saw a guy use a drill with a nut setter. My wrist would ache after a day of trimming out a house. Now I zip them on in a second and my hand doesn't feel like it's going to fall off.

noahs8221d ago

Oh you mean the drill thing isn't the obvious way to do it? lol My uncle used to twist those things by hand for like 40 years and his hands look like claws now. I tried showing him a nut setter once and he yelled at me saying I was making him soft. Whatever dude, my wrist doesn't scream at me at night so I'll take the trade off. Honestly I don't get the whole tough guy act about tools. If it saves your joints and takes half the time who cares if it looks lazy. Then again I've met electricians who refuse to use self tappers so maybe some people just enjoy suffering lmao.

jesse_barnes371mo ago

Right? Game changer for sure. My old foreman thought it was cheating until his arthritis got bad.