After the sides have completed their strokes the two sides of the mechanism spread apart to push the cut tube of insulation from the end of the conductor. To use it, one simply places the wire in the jaws at the cutting slot matching the size of the conductor and squeezes the handles together. This device allows even a novice to strip most wires very quickly. The compound automatic wire stripper's cutter must be short, because it causes the jaws to twist, as described by Wood in the 1943 patent. All wire strippers are inherently limited to those wire sizes the cutting jaw notches will accommodate. A compound automatic wire stripper's short cutter limits it to fewer notches and a smaller range of wire sizes than most other types of wire strippers. The accuracy of the cutting blade opening determines the smallest conductor that can be reliably stripped. If the cutter opening is too small it will impinge on the conductor causing excess friction and more tension than the wire can withstand. If the cutter opening is too large the tension required to tear the remaining annulus of uncut insulation may be greater than the wire can withstand. Some models have an adjustable grip tension, to adjust the clamping force of the gripping jaw. The knob below the jaw on the yellow automatic strippers in the image below is a grip tension adjustment. Although in principle applicable to wire of any size, compound automatic wire strippers that are widely available have cutters that can accommodate conductors in a range of sizes no larger than 8 AWG nor smaller than 26 AWG, but not the entire range. Laser wire stripper A laser wire stripper is a computer-controlled machine, much like a CNC router, which uses a laser to burn off the insulation of the wire. Laser wire stripping machines are used mostly for very fine gauge wires since they do not damage the conductor. A typical CO2 laser wire stripping machine should be capable of stripping the insulation from any size wire. Gallery See also Lineman's pliers Needle-nose pliers References Mechanical hand tools American inventions Electrical construction tools Wire