How do I strip FPC?

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Sailor1
 
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How do I strip FPC?

Post by Sailor1 »

I need to strip some white FPC to solder it to one of the adapter boards. Is there a tool, or some method of doing this neatly?

Thanks,

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adafruit_support_mike
 
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Re: How do I strip FPC?

Post by adafruit_support_mike »

You can shave the insulation off with the blade from a craft knife. The trick is to lay it nearly flat so the edge skims across the surface of the metal without digging in.

Laying a ruler across the cable and using a few light strokes to make an initial groove in the insulation helps keep things even. Then you can set the edge of the blade in the groove, lean it over, and push.

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Sailor1
 
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Re: How do I strip FPC?

Post by Sailor1 »

Hmmmm, ok, thanks. I had really been hoping there was a tool, because those conductors are so thin. Do you know how it is done industrially? i.e. thermal, purely mechanical, etc?

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adafruit_support_mike
 
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Re: How do I strip FPC?

Post by adafruit_support_mike »

I don't know of an industrial tool for stripping flex cable, but would imagine it's a more highly controlled version of a knife.

It's fairly easy to adjust a machine to a specific clearance, and when you're setting up an industrial tool you can run a lot of tests to be sure you've gotten exactly what you want. The production run will be for thousands of pieces, so a few dozen tests are cost-effective.

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