Roy Lewallen wrote in
:

Thanks for the additional link.

I had the problem of stripping some very fine PTFE insulated wire some
years ago, and had to search a bit to find a stripper to do it. It was
fairly expensive, and was a lot like a conventional wire stripper
except that the insulation was cut by means of a couple of blades
which momentarily heated to red hot temperature when they came
together over the wire. I'm sure I breathed some of the resulting
fumes, with no ill effects. I wonder how much exposure is necessary in
order to produce the symptoms listed in the hazard sheet.

In any case, I doubt that many amateurs use a thermal stripper for
PTFE.

I used to use a type that had jaws that clamped down on the wire from
the front, and after heating up you would just pull and the insulation
would come off. They were kind of nice because you just didn't nick a
wire ever with them.

I could even use a regular pair of strippers, although they would leave
a little nib of insulation that I had to trim off with a nippper.

While I suspect that the thermal strippers are probably safe, I have to
say that the fumes given off were pretty unpleasant.

I do fairly routinely heat PTFE insulated semi-rigid coaxial cable
to
around 350 C (700 F) when soldering it. That results in extrusion of
PTFE from the tube, but no obvious fumes. And so far none of the
symptoms listed in the hazard sheet.

400 C is the apparant magic temp. Below that it is pretty inert.


I'd think that a Teflon coated frying pan could easily reach 300 - 400
C.

There has been accounts of Teflon pans overheating and causing harm to
pet birds. I've looked at some of the evidence, and although some of the
people are kooks, I think that a badly overheated pan will release HF
gas.


What's the function of PTFE in fireworks?

It is used as an oxidizer.