• I need a ribbon cable cutting/stripping tool

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  • I need a tool that will cut individual strands (wires) in a ribbon cable strip and strip off the insulation. All I can imagine so far is position-adjustable razor blades, but how to do the in-line cut to strip insulation?

    I've checked with major wire and cable manufacturers, and cable prep houses, but with no luck. Any ideas?

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    Question by Oliver Hulland
    10/02/2011

I've never seen a ribbon cable that was designed to have individual lines separated. There are lots of tools designed for whole cables to terminate into full width connectors, of course, and none of these depend on stripped wires - the compression connectors pierce the still-in-place insulation.

If I had to do a lot of what I think you're planning, maybe I'd try fine-notching a nail clipper to use as a stripper - the shape of that would let me strip an individual wire in a direction that might minimize distortion of the overall cable. Or maybe some sort of thermal stripping, not sure about that.

Check out No-Niks? They're hard to find anymore, but they work great. Color coded handles for wire diameter - look at the chart in the PDF.

Maybe you should just put a full width connector in the middle of the cable and pick off your conductors from the connector?

Can you clarify what you need to accomplish please?

Answer by wayne ruffner
10/23/2011
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