I therefore made use of the Knipex Crimping Pliers reviewed here and a sleeve-less ferrule. The wire has more than 500 strands I wanted all strands to be captured and attached to the banana plug. Note that although other cables could be used (such as a speaker cable if the banana plugs are for an audio system), it is fairly important that the overall diameter is around 4mm because the strain relief on the chosen banana plug shell is designed for 4mm diameter cables. These Knipex wire strippers Knipex wire strippers would possibly make the job a lot easier this style of wire stripper does not rely on the strength of the insulation.
After that the wire was twisted back into its original lay. Since I wasn’t making many lots of leads it was very easy to gently slice at the insulation with a scalpel, bend the wire slightly to confirm that it hadn’t reached the copper core, and then dig a fingernail into the insulation and tear apart the insulation.
Ordinarily I’d use a wire stripper for cable stripping but this 4mm cable wasn’t something I normally use it has hundreds of very thin copper strands and a very thick and soft plastic insulation for extra flexibility and therefore I was worried about the risk of nicking copper strands with the strippers I had (electrician’s wire strippers which are designed for solid core wire of certain sizes). It is usable at temperatures down to -30 degrees C, and can withstand up to 105 degrees C. It is designed for hand-held test leads according to the manufacturer Multi-Contact ( PDF datasheet). The insulation is thermoplastic elastomer and 525 strands of copper wire making it very flexible.