Southwire Strip-All Cable Stripper Plus Utility Knife

Southwire has no User’s Guide for the Strip-All. Despite this, the tool is relatively intuitive to use. However, you will be scratching your head on some of the tool’s finer adjustments and usage. It did seem to work ok for me although I would suggest some improvements for Strip-All “Next Generation.” For instance, please include a user’s guide. This would shorten the tool’s somewhat steep learning curve. Next, make it so a user can apply more leverage on the handle to cut larger diameter cable insulation. Finally, be specific about where the “Spare Blade” is located as I never found mine lol. All in all, the tool does work but don’t expect digital accuracy or efficiency. Best use might be to get the blade depth set for a specific cable size and get those cuts done then move on to the next batch of cuts. I’ll be using this a lot in the future if it holds up… if not, it comes with a lifetime guarantee!

SUMMARY: A GREAT ADDITION TO MY ELECTRICIAN’S BAGBACKGROUND: As an avid DIYer and maker with a workshop I often work electrical issues ranging from outlet boxes to power cords. Stripping cable insulation has always been a less-favorite task involving a razor knife and the constant concern of cutting through insulation. The Southwire stripper has greatly reduced that stress.FIT AND FINISH: I own a couple of Southwire electrical meters. The Strip-All is not at the same level of quality or finish. Most of the labeling is decals and the rivet joints are not well pressed. However, the tools is completely usable and given the nature of the work it does it should last for a while. FEATURES: From the Home Depot page, with my comments as appropriate.The Seatek SA-200SK is perfect for stripping flat cable. It is a very helpful tool that makes stripping cable fast. It can straight cut jacketed cables up to 5/8 in. and ring cut cables up to 1/2 in. Great for electricians.”¢ Extremely accurateo It’s a cable stripper, not a micrometer. But it split insulation on several types of cable quickly and easily.”¢ Handy, built-in wire stripper on all modelso The wire stripper is ok. It is manually controlled and works more from brute force than finesse. It stripped solid core easily. But I don’t know if I’d strip fine multi-strand wire with it. “¢ Calibrated micrometer dial for precise depth of cut adjustmento There are markings on the cable stripping “dial”, which is a plastic cap on a machine screw. I am not sure what the calibrations are. I eyeballed it to set the depth and would probably learn the right setting for a particular type of cable after a few uses. The cutter on the cable stripper is a knife blade type and if the insulation doesn’t split open on the first pull it was easy to turn the dial a little and pull or twist the cutter again to get the insulation to open up.”¢ Equipped with an extra-sharp, surgical type blade cartridge which easily slices through cable jackets”¢ Perfect for your cable cutting needso It certainly worked for the cable and wire I normally keep in the shop.”¢ Jaw capacity 0.625 in.o More than adequate for most of my needs. o They do make a larger version.”¢ 2 year warrantyo This is a tool where you might need the warranty. I could see the press rivets breaking free with sufficient use.OPERATION: You can strip cable two ways, lay the cable in the tool and pull down the direction of the wires, or put the cable through a hole in the side then press the handle and twist the wire to cut around the circumference. Either way the depth adjustment is easy to set and the tool is easy to pull or twist. You can also use the wire stripper for single wires. Push the wire through the opening and squeeze the handle until the jaws (not the knife blade) pinch through the insulation. I found twisting the handle while I squeezed produced a better-quality cut. Because there is no depth stop for the wire stripper I would not use it to strip fine stranded wire.I grabbed a handful of different wires from the box to try it out. I split and/or stripped insulation on 16/3 SJT, 14/2 WG NM-B, AND 10/2 WG NM-B. Once the depth of cut was set it was quick to split and strip any of them. The SJT stripped through the circumference cutter was a really nice clean cut.SUMMARY: Not the highest quality tool. But a definite improvement in my workflow. Ten times faster than my manual stripping methods.PROS: Easy to use.CONS: Lower quality construction.

Interesting little tool. Does what it says!! The first time I used the tool while slicing off the outer sheath of my 14/2 romex, it worked perfectly. There is a little adjustment for depth but I cant quite figure out how that would work. I simply adjusted it so the blade peeks out a little and it worked and it worked well without touching the inner wires. That’s the point and it worked. There is a little knife which came out no problem and there is also a wire stripper but that seems to be imprecise because you have to be careful to not press too hard or you might damage the wire. All in all though its a nice tool and worked great.

Love this tool!

This cable stripper is well-equipped, and makes stripping cable pretty easy. It has a sharp blade for cutting through the outer layer of the cable, and cuts through the insulation layer easily as well. The size and shape of the tool is perfect, allowing it to fit smoothly and easily into a pocket, or in a toolbox. It also has a utility knife on the side, which is a very convenient feature.

This is billed as a do-all stripper, but I didn’t find that it met those expectations. The cable slitter (to remove the jacket from Romex, for example) works great. The fine adjustment on the slitting depth is nice to have, but I’ll bet that it doesn’t get used much. After that, things go downhill. The knife took over 10 lbs pressure to bring it to its extended position – far more than I could exert with my fingernail, even pushing really hard. I actually had to push it against my workbench to get it fully extended. It is very sharp, but is a very small blade. The wire stripper took multiple tries to strip the insulation from my test Romex cable. There is no adjustable stop for the stripper, so if you press too hard (which you’ll almost have to do to get it to cut), then you’ll end up nicking the wire, leaving the wire vulnerable to breaking at the nick. I can’t imagine trying to use this inside an outlet box to strip the wires prior to connecting. The spare slitting blade is a nice touch, but my cheap stripper tool has worked fine for years without needing sharpening, so I can’t see where it is worth including in this product. All in all, you’ll get more bang for your buck with a regular cable slitting tool, a good stripper (with different sized openings for the various wire sizes), and a decent knife to cut the insulation once it’s slitted.