• Whether you're designing your own computer motherboard or rewiring a light switch, you'll need access to the bare copper wires that are beneath the color-coded insulation that covers electrical wiring. There are several different ways to get to that copper wiring, and depending on the job and the worker's personal preference, there are also a number of different tools that can be used.
  
  

Wire Stripper

• The most commonly used tool to strip insulation off of copper wires is, appropriately enough, called a wire stripper. This tool resembles a pair of pliers, except that instead of a clamp there are several different gauges of holes all along the tool. Each gauge should be matched to the appropriate gauge of the wire being stripped. The stripper is opened, the insulated wire inserted, and then the tool is shut. All around the hole are sharp edges that will dig into the insulation, cutting through it. With a single tug the insulation can be stripped off the wire, leaving bare copper.
  
  

Box Cutter

• For those who don't have a wire stripper, or who have several different wires encased in a single piece of insulation, a razor knife (commonly called a box cutter) will remove the insulation just fine. If you lay the insulated wire out on a flat work surface, you'll need to make two initial cuts. One should be crosswise across the breadth of the wire to mark the place that you want to strip the insulation to. Then you'll drag the point all the way down from the cross cut to the end of the wire. Lastly, all you have to do is peel the insulation back, at which point you cut it away with the razor knife. It's not as clean as a wire stripper, but a box cutter is a functional tool.
  
  

Lineman's Pliers

• Commonly called lineman's pliers, this tool is actually a combination of different functions. At the nose there are two ridged surfaces that can be squeezed together just like a pair of pliers. Toward the center of these particular pliers are several common gauge holes that can be used to strip wires of insulation just like a pair of wire strippers. Then back toward the handles there's a section called a crimper. This part of the tool is used to crimp, or to crush, wires closed, especially if there needs to be a cap pressed tight around a loose wire end.