You need a good wire stripper

I’ve never had a good wire stripper. Yes I’ve used my teeth, which I don’t recommend.

I picked this one up for $7.20 at All Electronics and quickly set the screw for the 22 gauge wire I’m working with.

It really works. It can even strip the cloth wire I bought from StewMac.

This makes working with wire so much easier. The comments at All Electronics say the tool hard to adjust, but I had no trouble loosening the screw with a flat-head screwdriver and setting it. And at around $7, if if ever loses its sharpness, I won’t hesitate to get a new one.

While I’m here, let me put in a plug for All Electronics. They do a mail order business but also have a store in Van Nuys. There are shelves and walls filled with all kinds of electronic parts. I imagine that it’s like the radio-supply stores that used to exist maybe until the 1960s or ’70s. They have a lot of odd items of the “we buy surplus and sell it to you cheap” variety.