Brett Smyth, general manager of IDEAL Industries EMEA, discusses the benefits of the company’s Twin and Earth Stripper for removing the slug cleanly and quickly. For many electricians who have worked in the trade for years, stripping a cable using an electrician’s knife is as easy as buttering a piece of toast with a butter knife. But, unlike buttering toast, where mistakes are unlikely and easy to clear up, when stripping a cable with a knife it’s easy to nick the core, which means the cable has to be re-cut and stripped again. And if there is insufficient length to re-cut and strip, a small mistake can become a big headache. At IDEAL Industries, our product development is led by the philosophy that our tools and products should make electricians’ jobs easier by offering them solutions that save time, are simple to use and enable right-first-time consistency. It’s an approach that helps less experienced electricians step up to complete more high quality work on site, while supporting professionals with a higher skill level to get the job done quickly and to a high standard, no matter how tight the programme might be and regardless of hectic site conditions.

Simple, Accurate & Consistent
The IDEAL Industries Twin & Earth Stripper has been developed for use with PVC insulated flat twin and earth cables to provide quick, easy and accurate removal of both the external sheathing and internal conductor insulation in a single, simple action. Designed with an ‘open throat’, it is suitable for stripping any length from the outer jacket of flat twin or earth cable with no adjustment required, delivering speed, convenience and accuracy for every strip. Suitable for use with any flat cables up to 12mm wide and 0.75 -2.5mm2 in diameter, the IDEAL Industries Twin & Earth Stripper removes both the outer sheathing and the inner insulation with a simple and smooth action. To remove the outer sheathing, the electrician simply needs to insert the cable as far as the desired stripping length and squeeze the handles together. This process is then repeated to strip the wires. The tool provides an unlimited stripping range and the self-adjusting stripping blades automatically select the proper position to strip the cable at the correct diameter, providing a one-tool-fits-all solution.

Comfort, Quality and Convenience
Across the IDEAL Industries range of hand tools, the product development focus is not just on functionality, but also on value for money. We believe that a good tool should last for a whole career and the IDEAL Twin & Earth stripper has been designed and built with that philosophy in mind. Built using specially hardened and tempered steel blades to provide a high strength and lightweight hand tool, the Twin & Earth Stripper has been ergonomically designed for comfortable, fatigue-free, repetitive stripping. Engineered in Germany, the unit is strong but it provides a cutting action that requires minimal strength and pressure to squeeze the handles and achieve a clean strip. This means that it protects against repetitive strain injury and is suitable for use by electricians of any age or skill level. The Twin & Earth Stripper’s specially hardened blades are also part of IDEAL Industries’ commitment to robust construction across all our hand tools, and they deliver a clean and accurate cut every time. These robust blades also help to ensure the tool provides an extended service life, making the Twin & Earth Stripper an excellent investment that delivers value for money, along with ease of use and consistency. In fact, the IDEAL Twin & Earth stripper has been designed to allow the blades to be replaced in order to extend the service life of the tool even further. In practice, however, the original blades are so robust and effective that there is little demand for the replacements!

Save Time without Losing Consistency
IDEAL Industries is the biggest manufacturer of tools and components for the electrical contracting sector in the world, and it is tools like the Twin & Earth Stripper that have helped the company to build that global presence and become the first choice for electricians who value quality and consistency at a competitive price. Every professional has their own tricks and methods, but consistency is important and time is often in short supply, so solutions that offer right first time accuracy and speed and ease of use are always worth a look.