Build Your Own Arcade Controls Forum
Main => Main Forum => Topic started by: J_K_M_A_N on February 06, 2004, 04:45:56 pm
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Quikstrip tool (http://www.quikstrip.com/)
I watched the commercial the other day and they look like they work REALLY REALLY well. I was just wondering if they only work once and then suck or if they really are good. Anyone have them? Do they work well?
J_K_M_A_N
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Depends how thick of wire youre using..
I use 22 or 24 mostly, and the easiest way Ive found is a pocket knife with a serrated blade- set the wire in one of the grooves, apply a little bit of thumb pressure, and pull
If its thicker you might be better off with something like that. Theres a pliers style tool thats great for this, typically it comes packaged with wiring kits (kinda like this one (http://www.ultimarc.com/controls.html) on the ultimarc site, tis at the bottom of the page) Its got several different sized grooves for different wire, crimpers, cutters, all built into one tool
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I too want to know how well these work. Hell yea they look sweet in the commercial. Someone should definitly buy these and let us all know how they work...
If nobod does by the time I get my tax return I'll buy em!
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Hi,
I have one of those and they are simple the best tool I have ever used for stripping wires. What makes it a very good tool is that you can do 1 mm one second and 10 mm on the other.
It "mesures" the wire automatically and removes acording to it ...
Go for it ... aldo ... that thing is quite expensive there ... I bought mines for 5
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If it's advertised on TV, and not in stores, it doesn't work. :P
Radio shack sells one for 19.95 that will do around 6 different gauges. I think Home Depot as them too.
Art
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I use my teeth.
My wife HATES it when I do that, but that's half the fun.
I have a much better feel with my teeth, especially as the wires get thinner.
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I use my teeth.
My wife HATES it when I do that, but that's half the fun.
I have a much better feel with my teeth, especially as the wires get thinner.
Me too...but after my second 4 player control panel...even I was getting tired of it....
Allroy
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Quikstrip tool (http://www.quikstrip.com/)
I watched the commercial the other day and they look like they work REALLY REALLY well. I was just wondering if they only work once and then suck or if they really are good. Anyone have them? Do they work well?
J_K_M_A_N
I bought a very similar product (different brand and about half the price).
They work well.
Two comments -
They will occasionally cut one or two strands when using very finely stranded wire.
They are not extremely accurate length-wise if say you want to have exactly 1/4-inch of bare wire showing. They tend to pull the insulation off the wire, so the stripped section of wire ends up shorter than requested.
I would recommend them though.
I got mine at a model train show where a guy had a demo booth and you could test them out.
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They look like they might work. But the ones I have been working with were left at our house by a telephone installer in 1975. And not once have they not worked.
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gripping wire
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finished
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http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2377633283
$7.00 including shipping. That makes them about $20 cheaper than the "official quikstrip". I'll let you know how well they work when I get them ;)
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heheh. Sylentwulf, ever the e-bay hunter. A fair deal, definitely.
Oh, and I kind of lean towards JackTucky's thoughts about TV advertising: It's either overpriced or doesn't work.
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I have the same model Edgedamage has...got it at Home depot, and the thing works great...It doesn't set the gauge automatically though, so that might be a nice trick if it always worked (on that tv model). Pdero says it works, so probably it's a great tool!
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Beware of the cheaply made quick strippers.
I had a cheep one go to pieces while stripping the wiring for my workshop.
Anyway, I also have a very good quality pair that I bought some time back from crutchfield & those things are bullet proof.
Both pairs looked pretty much identical except for the brand markings.
After stripping several 12 gauge solid core wires, the no name one practically exploded on me.
Parts went everywhere.
I found my good 11 year old pair & finised up the rest of the wiring.
Crutchfield still sells them.
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-iZ5Yc5QcLsr/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?i=18119000
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I just ordered the one on ebay and im going to give it a shot when i wire my stuff next week. Hopefully it will go well :) It was only 7 bucks. I figure it was worth the money to try it out anyways. I am sick of using the one i have that is a basic wire stipper/crimper. Damn thing hurt my hand after about a half hour.
groovy~
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Got mine in, worked on the cables I tried it on pretty well, not TOO cheap feeling. I'll get my money's worth out of them at least.
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Using your teeth is a bad idea. You're going to rub the enamel off of them sliding metal wire across them repeatedly. Who wants cavities in their front teeth (or any teeth for that matter)?
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Using your teeth is a bad idea.
I didn't say it was a good idea, just that it's what I do.
Most of the wires I strip are 28 gauge, and I've never developed a good enough feel to use strippers or a blade to strip them.
On an 8-conductor I usually end up with 4 different lengths of wire using tools.
When you are trying to get them into a single connector end, it helps if they are all the same length, which they rarely are if I try to use tools.
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Ok, i just got my quick strips in the mail today and let me tell you.....THESE THINGS ROCK!!!!! I was in total giddiness after i tried stripping about 10 ends off. OMG, my first thought was "where the hell were these when i cut my wires for my four player panel!!" My hands were so sore at it literally took me almost 7 hours to cut, strip and crimp the wires for my 4 player panel. I used a pair of normal 10.00 cutter, crimper , strippers from walmart. Just the standard one. With these new ones, i KNOW i can cut my time in half AT LEAST!
My final word is, for smaller wires like 22-28 gage, these quick strips should last a good long time. If your doing thick wires, i think the quick strips would probably break down at some point, but this is only a guess as i have not tried it. They just don't "Feel" or look like they are made to do thick wires, but my the one i got is just a medium size looking one, so i think it was made to be used on smaller gage stuff.
Anyways, i bought mine on ebay for 12.00 shipped! They are VERY MUCH worth it and i'm totally glad i bought them ,because i'm getting ready to do a couple of panels and this should make things go ALOT smoother!
groovy~