# Best way to remove magnet wire's lacquer insulation? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 29, 2015, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-remove-magnet-wires-lacquer-insulation/726463 "2015-07-29T11:17:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2015, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-remove-magnet-wires-lacquer-insulation/726463/1 "2015-07-29T11:17:22Z")
Howdy! So, two weeks ago I got my hands on a free 500’ spool of magnet wire. Being the nerd I am, I wanted to make myself a good sized loop antenna for some of my shortwave radio listening. My aim: loop the spool around some PVC to count wraps and get a wider area to grab signals, while twisting loops into the copper to have ‘taps’ to attach my antenna leads to (coarse antenna tuning). The wire’s real fine (thin). And the red lacquer seems pretty rugged. Is there an easy, safe way to remove that lacquer without damaging the thickness of the copper (and hopefully without chemicals)? Tripler I’m on a New Mexican. . . radio. . . whoa-oh! ---
**Author:** ![Habeed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a587f6/32.png) [@Habeed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Habeed)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2015, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-remove-magnet-wires-lacquer-insulation/726463/2 "2015-07-29T11:19:47Z")
Sandpaper is what I use. ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2015, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-remove-magnet-wires-lacquer-insulation/726463/3 "2015-07-29T11:27:37Z")
Some lacquer is designed to vanish as a soldering iron + solder is applied. You might be lucky - but maybe not. As **Habeed** says, fine sandpaper is OK, but if the wire is really thin you might have problems. Fold the sandpaper around the wire and pull the wire through. Burning it off with a carefully applied lighter can work, but you still need to clear the ash - so it isn’t the first option I would try - but it has worked for me. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2015, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-remove-magnet-wires-lacquer-insulation/726463/4 "2015-07-29T11:32:44Z")
Burning it off can work, or make a mess, depending on the wire. I’d just use some emery paper. You aren’t stripping it all are you? TriPolar Similar but not the same user name as Tripler ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2015, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-remove-magnet-wires-lacquer-insulation/726463/5 "2015-07-29T14:16:11Z")
acetone (nail polish remover) may also work depending on the laquer type. Then, clean up the goo with alcohol. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2015, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-remove-magnet-wires-lacquer-insulation/726463/6 "2015-07-29T20:47:35Z")
> [@Habeed](#): > > Sandpaper is what I use. Hrm, this will probably be the easiest. I can’t recall the wire gauge I have–I’ll have to check when I get home tomorrow. > [@TriPolar](#): > > Burning it off can work, or make a mess, depending on the wire. I’d just use some emery paper. You aren’t stripping it all are you? All of it? No! Just at the appropriate points for my multi-band receiver. Depending on the band I want, I’ll just move the connection to the appropriate bare spot on the wire. I also scored some copper foil tape with conductive adhesive to put tabs out of the wire loop to ‘flag’ the connection points, and make it easier to connect. I’ll take pictures when I’m done. > [@swampspruce](#): > > acetone (nail polish remover) may also work depending on the laquer type. Then, clean up the goo with alcohol. I’ll try that first–I have some acetone, and a spare end of this wire. Would this make a cleaner spot than using sandpaper? Tripler Similar to TriPolar, but I got here first. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2015, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-remove-magnet-wires-lacquer-insulation/726463/7 "2015-07-29T21:00:01Z")
Ages ago when I worked in a physics lab, I used to use a formic acid-based goo which was very effective at quickly stripping wires; but a little googling does not turn up any products that seem similar, just straight up formic acid. Perhaps off the market now? ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2015, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-remove-magnet-wires-lacquer-insulation/726463/8 "2015-07-29T23:52:53Z")
> [@TSBG](#): > > Ages ago when I worked in a physics lab, I used to use a formic acid-based goo which was very effective at quickly stripping wires; but a little googling does not turn up any products that seem similar, just straight up formic acid. Perhaps off the market now? I can get my hands on formic acid; there’s plenty of industrial suppliers and knowledgeable hardware stores that I can get it from. It’s pretty strong though, and I gotta ask: were you stripping ROMEX or something? 🙂 Tripler I don’t need to melt the wire I’m stripping . . . 😉 ---
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2015, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-remove-magnet-wires-lacquer-insulation/726463/9 "2015-07-30T16:06:24Z")
I was just stripping ordinary wires, and this was 25 years ago, and quite possibly the product had been sitting in the lab for 25 years by that point…it wasn’t straight formic acid, as I said it was kind of a goo so you could paint it onto the right section. That said it was pretty strong and I wore gloves when using it. I’ll tell you about the incident where I put my hand in a beaker of nitric acid another time… :smack: