Electric arc system for ablating a surface coating

An electrical arc system for ablating a portion of a surface coating from an electrically conductive wire along a selected cut-off line, said system comprising a pair of spaced apart electrodes and means for generating an arc between corresponding ends of the electrodes, electrically insulative means defining said selected cut-off line and supporting the coated wire perpendicularly across and outwardly of the selected cutoff line and between said corresponding ends of the electrodes, means supporting the electrodes obliquely to the selected cutoff line and obliquely to the axis of the wire, and means insulating the electrodes from each other inwardly beyond the selected cut-off line, whereby the surface coating is ablated cleanly along the cut-off line and outwardly therefrom along the wire when an ablating arc voltage is delivered to the electrodes.