Stripping 12/2 in a tight 4-square box was killing my fingers until I tried a trick with my linesman pliers.

I started using the back of the pliers to score and snap the sheathing off in one go, instead of trying to peel it with a knife. Anyone else have a better method for old, stiff cable?

2 comments

2 Comments

ivan2307d ago

Ever try just bending the cable back and forth right at the box entry? That old sheathing gets brittle. A few good kinks and it often cracks clean so you can just pull it off. I still keep my knife handy for the ground wire paper though.

mitchell.wade7d ago

Oh man, that's a solid trick for the outer jacket. But you gotta watch the ground wire inside that paper wrap. If you're not careful, bending the whole cable can snap that thin copper ground right where it meets the clamp. Then you're stuck with a short ground, and you're slicing open the sheathing anyway to fix it. I just slit the jacket carefully from the start now. Saves me the headache later.