Well... the best laid plans... blah blah blah
the wire turned out to be different than expected. I experimented before the
project started to see what would work best.
Instead of a nice round wire with a nice round thick rubber/vinyl/pvc jacket
(like SO cable) it turned out to be almost a shrink wrapped vinyl jacket.
The 'lays' of insulated wire strands carried a 'twist' and the vinyl
followed that twist... so a straight cut down the wire was nearly impossible
since the area between the 'lays' of wire wrapped around the cable making a
full circle in about 6 inches.
Trying to 'untwist' the lay was impossible since the insulation was so tight
around the
conductors...
The tubing cutter was a no go...it only hit the high spots and was
impossible to miss cutting the insulation on the individual conductors...
Liquid nitrogen was too expensive for this project... maybe next time we get
a wiring job for NASA ??????
Checked with my dentist on my warranty on my partials... seems wire
stripping will void the warranty...go figure...
the most reliable but still tedious method was with a utility knife with
about 3/8" blade stickout and carefully follow the void between the
conductors... I'm glad this project is complete...
I did find that using a standard wire stripper for romex cable is great for
4/0 wire also...just clamp judiciously and make a revolution around the wire
and pull... clean cut and no damage to the copper or aluminum
conductors...no whittlin' required.
I do plan on investing on a serious cable cutter with 24" handles or so....
my little 9" greenlees struggled on that thick hard copper... also my
arthritic grip leaves something to be desired...
I did notice that the large cable has a nylon strip thread imbedded much
like cat 5 cable... but it did a pathetic job and just usually broke before
it cut the jacket...
the search continues for the next project with big ole honkin cable...
john
You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away people's initiative
and independence.
You cannot help people permanently by doing for them, what they could and
should do for themselves.
William J. H. Boetcker
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