Lasers can be an appropriate alternative to chemical and manual wire stripping particularly for high value, very fine wires that are used in medical devices such as catheters because it allows for a quick and precise cut with little to no residue.
There are a number of wires ideal for laser wire stripping. This includes the following applications (typically where mechanical tools are no longer able to cope and when chemical methods are ruled out on safety grounds).
Wires for Laser Stripping
Small Wires
- Very thin wires – e.g. <38 AWG
- Microcoax – especially <40 AWG, and/or especially micro-coax ribbons – we can strip the shield too!
High Value / Quality Cables in the medical, defence and aerospace markets
- Very thin insulation (blades cause too much damage); e.g. ultrasound cables, RF ablation catheters or pacemaker electrodes
- Round metallic jackets, e.g. high-powered RF cables and high temperature mineral-insulated thermocouples
- Microwave coax cables.
Challenging / Labour Intensive Cables
- Foil insulations, e.g. on twin-ax data cables
- Ribbon cables
- Wires with bonded insulation
- Tough insulations, e.g. fibre glass
- Out of round cables.
Magnet / Enamelled Wires
- Thin magnet wire <38 AWG
- Ribbonized magnet wire (bifilar, tri-filar, etc)
- Very small magnet wire coils that need high quality.
Complex Strip Patterns
- Windows and complex strip patterns that mechanical solutions struggle with, but lasers easily master.
Quality
- When strip quality is paramount, i.e. when nicks, damage and residue cannot be tolerated.
- Review our application pages, to find out more about the types of wires which are suited for laser.
There are many suitable wires for laser stripping, so if your wire has not been described here our team can discuss your requirements to find a suitable solution for your wire stripping needs.
