There’s something about having good hand tools. When you’ve got them, you never want to go back to anything less. If you don’t have great hand tools, they really make an impact when you finally get them. There’s nothing like putting your hands on something that’s really designed well and performs perfectly for the job at hand. When we decided to rewire a two-story home in our neighborhood, we turned to Klein Kurve wire strippers. In particular, we grabbed the Klein-Kurve Dual NM K1412 wire strippers. The NM stands for Non-Metal Cable Strippers. the best 12/2 and 14/2 wire strippers you’ll find on the market and are something we see a lot of out in the workforce.
Klein-Kurve Dual NM K1412 Wire Strippers Features
What was attractive about these strippers, and we’d used a pair of basic Klein strippers/cutters before, was two-fold. First, we loved the Klein-Kurve design. It’s easy on the hand and it maximizes the squeezing pressure you can exert while minimizing your hand effort. The handles are “double-dipped” according to Klein. They should last a good long time without wearing out at the ends—provided you don’t use them as a punch!
We really liked the dual 12/2 and 14/2 stripping slots. With these strippers, you can slide in just about any 12/2 or 14/2 jacketed cable and strip it back with an ease that we thought shouldn’t be possible. We typically use a razor knife or a cable ripper. The Klein Kurve Dual NM wire strippers give you a more exact way to strip wire for electrical boxes or breaker panels.
Testing the Klein Kurve Wire Strippers in the Field
We’ve used a variety of methods to strip cable in the past. All of them get the job done. We appreciated the way the Klein-Kurve Dual NM K1412 wire strippers fit our hand perfectly. They let us strip and bend wire more quickly. Klein really seems to have this tool down pat. While you can find lots of competition, the Kurve’s miss none of the features we want.
These wire strippers have near-perfect spring tension. They deliver just the right amount of opening force when easing up on the handles. The sharp cutting edges let you simply squeeze down on 12/2 and rock slightly front to back once to completely sever the jacket. We never once nicked the shielding of the inner cables. This meant fast stripping with little or no thought as to how to perfectly align or position the tool. Everything just fit where it was supposed to. The individual 12- and 14-gauge stripping slots also work great. We found that a simple squeeze and 90 degree back and forth rotation delivered a clean cut every time. It became very easy to speed up the process of stripping wire, given the consistency of the tool.
Conclusion
Having used the Klein-Kurve Dual NM K1412 wire strippers to strip and prep well over 100 wires, we can say without a doubt that it will speed up your work process. If you’re in need of a new pair of strippers, or the ones you’re using aren’t “cutting” it, there’s really no reason to go with a generic solution on a tool you’ll use over and over again. For professionals, this is an easy decision. For the occasional user, it will ensure that you have one less point of frustration with your wiring or rewiring project.
In terms of performance, the Klein-Kurve Dual NM K1412 wire strippers impress. The tool and its variants, which include a Canadian NMD-90 model and tools with alternate handles and supporting different wire gauges, come in a retail package and are available at many hardware stores, dealers, and even some home improvement warehouses. Highly recommended for around $29. You won’t go wrong with these strippers.
