GEC 2023 Journeyman Electrician Knife #53E323

[Alex.Y.]

I, also would like to hear from someone who uses the knife for its intended purpose.

That would not be easy, because every professional knows that one should not remove isolation from cable with a regular blade to not to damage the copper core, which would most likely take place otherwise, no matter what anyone says or believes in. The best way is to use a soldering-iron (hope that's the right word) to melt the isolation and then remove it by hand. Or at least a special stripping tool with adjustable blades whch were pre-set the way that they wouldn't cut all the way through the isolation.

 

[Jiki]

That would not be easy, because every professional knows that one should not remove isolation from cable with a regular blade to not to damage the copper core, which would most likely take place otherwise, no matter what anyone says or believes in. The best way is to use a soldering-iron (hope that's the right word) to melt the isolation and then remove it by hand. Or at least a special stripping tool with adjustable blades whch were pre-set the way that they wouldn't cut all the way through the isolation.

Thanks

 

[TheJon]

It certainly is a departure from what we traditionally see in an electrician, I personally like when Bill evolves some of the traditional knives into the next generation of the pattern. Be it the 82 stockman with a rethink of the blade selection or the 35 calf pen combining traditional elements in a new way. In a way it is traditional for cutlers to try new things and make new patterns. The cattlemen became the stockman, the moose opened the door for the muskrat, and so on. It is certainly more interesting than the latest modern flipper getting "new steel" and a new color plastic handle.

I agree that I like when things are changed up, speaking of the 82 stockman I happen to have one with me today. I love a good lampsfoot/sheepsfoot/Wharny so I'm sure these will be great,.

 

[Ellis Wyatt]

That would not be easy, because every professional knows that one should not remove isolation from cable with a regular blade to not to damage the copper core, which would most likely take place otherwise, no matter what anyone says or believes in. The best way is to use a soldering-iron (hope that's the right word) to melt the isolation and then remove it by hand. Or at least a special stripping tool with adjustable blades whch were pre-set the way that they wouldn't cut all the way through the isolation.

Can you please elaborate on this? Are you saying professional electricians don’t use blades to strip the insulation or jacket from copper wires?

 

[Pàdruig]

Having previously worked in the telecom industry for several years and almost apprenticed as an electrician prior to that, I can speak somewhat to the functionality of an "e-blade". I used a fixed hawkbill type blade for stripping heavy mainline coax and for the smaller stuff, I either used specialized strippers or special scissors that provided similar functions. Any wire used for conducting electricity or RF, special care has to be used to not damage the surface of the wire - strippers can be just as damaging as a knife in this regard. That said, I've seen guys in the trade use knives with great skill to strip the insulating elements from wires without a nick to be found.

In RF, it's especially important not to damage the surface of the conductor. The signal travels on the surface of the wire so any nicks, cuts, sharp bends, etc. can create signal issues and impact your cable services. There are similar characteristics in the traditional electrician's blades to the scissors that I made good use of. Skill and attention to detail are important - if you have both, you can be a lot more efficient than a fellow using special wire strippers.

 

[Jiki]

Having previously worked in the telecom industry for several years and almost apprenticed as an electrician prior to that, I can speak somewhat to the functionality of an "e-blade". I used a fixed hawkbill type blade for stripping heavy mainline coax and for the smaller stuff, I either used specialized strippers or special scissors that provided similar functions. Any wire used for conducting electricity or RF, special care has to be used to not damage the surface of the wire - strippers can be just as damaging as a knife in this regard. That said, I've seen guys in the trade use knives with great skill to strip the insulating elements from wires without a nick to be found.

In RF, it's especially important not to damage the surface of the conductor. The signal travels on the surface of the wire so any nicks, cuts, sharp bends, etc. can create signal issues and impact your cable services. There are similar characteristics in the traditional electrician's blades to the scissors that I made good use of. Skill and attention to detail are important - if you have both, you can be a lot more efficient than a fellow using special wire strippers.

So, what type of edge would a tradesman keep on his E-blade? That is the original question.

 

[Pàdruig]

So, what type of edge would a tradesman keep on his E-blade? That is the original question.

You want it rather sharp. Insulating wrappers on electrical wires are generally tough plastic - the idea is to lightly score around it, then cut a strip of it off and then peel the rest away. You want it sharp because you run into the same issues as you would with any dull knife - you have to press harder or work it around too much and that risks damaging the surface of the wire.

I'll use this cheap knife with not-so-sharp blades to illustrate.

First, I'll use the sheepfoot to cut through the outer jacket on this Romex.

Make a small slit, enough to get the paper wrapper out - sometimes you can use the paper to split the outer jacket the rest of the way down but it usually doesn't work out like that. The ground works fine for that purpose.

Then bundle the sheath and paper up and cut the excess off.

Isolate the wires and select one to strip. Use the e-blade, the tip isn't sharpened - which is nice, you often don't have the luxury of space so you won't jab into or cut anything you don't want to.

Lightly score a ring around the jacket and then, at an angle, cut a strip up towards the end. Scoring with a dull blade isn't particularly effective. A sharp blade and experience will allow one to score just right and then pull the jacket right off.

Peel back the jacket and cut the excess off.

Examine the wire for any dings or nicks. If it looks clean, you are good to go, move onto next wire. If it looks like the wire below, start again. This shows what scoring too deeply will look like, as well as what a poor cutting angle will achieve.

 

[Jiki]

You want it rather sharp. Insulating wrappers on electrical wires are generally tough plastic - the idea is to lightly score around it, then cut a strip of it off and then peel the rest away. You want it sharp because you run into the same issues as you would with any dull knife - you have to press harder or work it around too much and that risks damaging the surface of the wire.

I'll use this cheap knife with not-so-sharp blades to illustrate.

First, I'll use the sheepfoot to cut through the outer jacket on this Romex.

Make a small slit, enough to get the paper wrapper out - sometimes you can use the paper to split the outer jacket the rest of the way down but it usually doesn't work out like that. The ground works fine for that purpose.

Then bundle the sheath and paper up and cut the excess off.

Isolate the wires and select one to strip. Use the e-blade, the tip isn't sharpened - which is nice, you often don't have the luxury of space so you won't jab into or cut anything you don't want to.

Lightly score a ring around the jacket and then, at an angle, cut a strip up towards the end. Scoring with a dull blade isn't particularly effective. A sharp blade and experience will allow one to score just right and then pull the jacket right off.

Peel back the jacket and cut the excess off.

Examine the wire for any dings or nicks. If it looks clean, you are good to go, move onto next wire. If it looks like the wire below, start again. This shows what scoring too deeply will look like, as well as what a poor cutting angle will achieve.

Thank you for taking the time to show this.

 

[Wharn]

Thanks for the thorough explanation, Dylan. Always nice to learn something here.

 

[Alex.Y.]

Can you please elaborate on this? Are you saying professional electricians don’t use blades to strip the insulation or jacket from copper wires?

Well, I definitely can't make it any better than Pàdruig did.

Skill and attention to detail are important - if you have both, you can be a lot more efficient than a fellow using special wire strippers.

True! Thank you for your thorough explanation! I am in telecom too, and have an experience with electric cables as well (hey, aren't they all electric, except for fiber optics? Just a thought). I'd say strippers are usually much more faster when pre-set correctly, the one that looks like clothes pin, you know those. That is, however, when you often strip similar type cables. If they vary, then do your tools, and there is when a skilled knife user can compete, I guess.

 

[Pàdruig]

One thing I failed to note: The "choil" looking space on the screwdriver is actually supposed to be sharpened and is what serves as your wire stripper. That space is unsharpened on my cheap Barlow and therefore quite useless. Also, the notch on top of the blade, to my understanding, is simply to provide access to the nail nick of the main cutting blade.

 

[Pàdruig]

Well, I definitely can't make it any better than Pàdruig did.

True! Thank you for your thorough explanation! I am in telecom too, and have an experience with electric cables as well (hey, aren't they all electric, except for fiber optics? Just a thought). I'd say strippers are usually much more faster when pre-set correctly, the one that looks like clothes pin, you know those. That is, however, when you often strip similar type cables. If they vary, then do your tools, and there is when a skilled knife user can compete, I guess.

I know just the strippers you speak of. I would agree, when those are tuned right, they can't be beat when it comes to stripping coaxial cable.

 

[Jiki]

One thing I failed to note: The "choil" looking space on the screwdriver is actually supposed to be sharpened and is what serves as your wire stripper. That space is unsharpened on my cheap Barlow and therefore quite useless. Also, the notch on top of the blade, to my understanding, is simply to provide access to the nail nick of the main cutting blade.

So that leads to the next question, do you believe the intent was for the cut out to be the only sharpend section? With millions of these being made over 100 years at various levels of quality the end users just adapted the tool to their specific needs? I imagine that many years ago in many different theaters of war many service men did not have the luxury of a purpose built wire stripping plyer and made the best use of the tools at hand.

 

[Erik Hansen]

Oh my I want one of these. I love when GEC does a flathead screwdriver. With a liner lock ta boot! Glad they’ve been running larger knives.
This will be an interesting knife to sharpen. A lot of options for fine tuning the various edges.

 

[mrknife]

Fascinating!!! thanks Pàdruig for taking the time and materials to create a through explanation. My fascination with this topic had started back then when I bouught my first SAK that had a "wire stripper" as one of the implements. Was never able to figure it out since it came so dull. I wasnt sure if you had to sharpen or prepare it in some way.

 

[Tyson A Wright]

So that leads to the next question, do you believe the intent was for the cut out to be the only sharpend section? With millions of these being made over 100 years at various levels of quality the end users just adapted the tool to their specific needs? I imagine that many years ago in many different theaters of war many service men did not have the luxury of a purpose built wire stripping plyer and made the best use of the tools at hand.

I've owned a couple of TL-29s over the years, and the edge of the screwdriver was sharpened on all of them. I'd be curious what Amir Fleschwund says, because he owns a lot of TL-29s.

 

[Amir Fleschwund]

You should be able to access the other useful pages from there as well. They have a website with .com but the .net version is where all the good stuff is at.

Good to know~ thanks! The .net/.com was my problem.

pardon my ignorance, is that blade meant to be sharpened? that electrician's i mean. its not actually for cutting is it?

Having previously worked in the telecom industry for several years and almost apprenticed as an electrician prior to that, I can speak somewhat to the functionality of an "e-blade". I used a fixed hawkbill type blade for stripping heavy mainline coax and for the smaller stuff, I either used specialized strippers or special scissors that provided similar functions. Any wire used for conducting electricity or RF, special care has to be used to not damage the surface of the wire - strippers can be just as damaging as a knife in this regard. That said, I've seen guys in the trade use knives with great skill to strip the insulating elements from wires without a nick to be found.

In RF, it's especially important not to damage the surface of the conductor. The signal travels on the surface of the wire so any nicks, cuts, sharp bends, etc. can create signal issues and impact your cable services. There are similar characteristics in the traditional electrician's blades to the scissors that I made good use of. Skill and attention to detail are important - if you have both, you can be a lot more efficient than a fellow using special wire strippers.

I've owned a couple of TL-29s over the years, and the edge of the screwdriver was sharpened on all of them. I'd be curious what Amir Fleschwund says, because he owns a lot of TL-29s.

Dylan, @Padruig has probably forgotten more about wiring and electrical work than I know. For example, I did not know about the conduction being on the outside surface of the wire.

I do sharpen my utility blades, but at a very high angle. Not looking for a thin, razor edge, but an edge that takes a beating.

In doing occasional replacements or repairs around the house, like switch or outlet replacement, or putting new guts in a lamp, I can strip a wire pretty quick just by rolling it on that blade and pulling it off.

Anything more, I’d stick real strippers in my pocket.

 

[mrknife]

Good to know~ thanks! The .net/.com was my problem.






Dylan, @Padruig has probably forgotten more about wiring and electrical work than I know. For example, I did not know about the conduction being on the outside surface of the wire.

I do sharpen my utility blades, but at a very high angle. Not looking for a thin, razor edge, but an edge that takes a beating.

In doing occasional replacements or repairs around the house, like switch or outlet replacement, or putting new guts in a lamp, I can strip a wire pretty quick just by rolling it on that blade and pulling it off.

Anything more, I’d stick real strippers in my pocket.

right, this goes back to using the proper tool for the job to me. In junior hs, we had a program that taught computer repair, basic set ups and what not and one of the things taught was assembling a CAT5 cable. There is an appropriate tool to prep the wires and press on the little clip thing. I would never consider just winging when it comes to wires.

 

[Snodgrass]

Are they making an apprentice version? Smaller with blunt edges/points so they don't hurt themselves?

 

[Pàdruig]

So that leads to the next question, do you believe the intent was for the cut out to be the only sharpend section? With millions of these being made over 100 years at various levels of quality the end users just adapted the tool to their specific needs? I imagine that many years ago in many different theaters of war many service men did not have the luxury of a purpose built wire stripping plyer and made the best use of the tools at hand.

This is a great question and one that I don't really have an answer for. I've only had the opportunity to handle a small handful of them over the years and the sharpening on them has always been pretty inconsistent. In my former professional opinion, the stripper notch, as well as the the straight edge of the blade should be fully sharpened.

right, this goes back to using the proper tool for the job to me. In junior hs, we had a program that taught computer repair, basic set ups and what not and one of the things taught was assembling a CAT5 cable. There is an appropriate tool to prep the wires and press on the little clip thing. I would never consider just winging when it comes to wires.

I am always a big proponent of using the right tool for the job. Dealing with CAT5 and RJ45 connectors would be pretty intimidating with more primitive tools but I've certainly seen my fair share of wizards with scissors.

With regards to electrical wiring, I've worked with all sorts from the old knob and tube stuff to the modern Romex. There is no one-size-fits-all stripper tool and it's only a matter of time before a fella has to break out a knife due to the variances in jacket diameter (regardless of wire gauge), wire quality and type, and age.