How to Cut Cables

Electrical cables in the home can be a challenge to cut should you need to reroute or replace them. They have a heavy outer nonmetallic plastic sheathing which protects the inside wires. The inner wires are coated in plastic except the ground wire, which though sometimes covered in green plastic, is usually bare. The wires themselves come in various gauges (thickness), and depending on their size determine how the cable is cut. Cutting away the cable's outer sheathing is carried out with a cable ripper, looking somewhat like a short section of split pipe with a blade on its inside. The blade is large enough to cut the sheathing, but not damage the wires inside.

Wire cutters
Hacksaw
Cable ripper

Instructions

- 1
  Open the wires cutter handles and position the electrical cable between the cutter jaws at the point where it needs to be cut (use cutters for 10-gauge wire or smaller). Firmly grip the cutter handles and squeeze them together to close the jaws and cut through the cable. For cables with wires larger than 10 gauge, position the cable on a flat surface, rest the blade of a hacksaw across the cable in the place where it needs to be cut, and saw through the cable until it is separated.
- 2
  Slide the cable ripper over the end of the cable (bladed end first), moving the ripper's blade along the cable to the point where the cable's outer sheathing needs to be cut back.
- 3
  Squeeze the cable ripper's two split sections together to press its blade into the sheathing. Continue squeezing the ripper while pulling it toward the end of the cable. Peel away the cable's split outer sheathing to expose the inner wires. Cut off the loose sheathing with wire cutters.

Four Types of Property Damage Casued by an Earthquake

Concrete Foundation Settling

Earthquake Damage