Stripping RG 59/U Coaxial Cable using the RBF Products WS-001 Scrap wire stripper

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RBF Products, Inc.
Short tutorial on stripping RG 59/U coaxial cable using the RBF
Products WS-001 Scrap Wire Stripper
Stripping RG 59/U
Coaxial Cable using the
WS-001 Scrap Wire
Stripper

2. For this demo I found a 6 foot piece of RG 59/U coaxial cable lying around the shop. It is pictured above next to my
RBF Products WS – 001 Scrap Wire Stripper. If you’re like me you’ll have a box of these lying around somewhere in your
house. It seems like every time I buy an electronic device to hook up to a TV there is a least one in the box with it.
The first thing to do is cut the ends off of the cable. They will not easily pass through the wire stripper, plus the metal
connectors will dull the blade of the wire stripper. Do not throw these away yet!

3. After you cut the ends off, pull the center copper wire cores out. I use a pair of pliers on the copper wire while holding the
connector in my hand and pull the wire straight out the end. They’re not big pieces but are considered #1 bare copper and
do add weight to your total.
Next you want to strip the outer insulation off of the cable. Adjust the blade on the WS – 001 Scrap Wire Stripper (shown
above)by turning the large black knob on the wire stripper that moves the blade in and out until it just cuts through the
outer plastic cover. Do not set the depth of the blade too deep or you’ll cut through the braided copper shield making it
difficult to pull the cable through the stripper and also make it harder to pull the braided copper shield off the inner
insulated core. I do this by pushing the wire between the blade and the vee pulley partway through on the right side of the

4. unit until it contacts and cuts a short distance. I then pull it back out the right side and examine the depth of cut. If it is
through the insulation but not nicking the wires it is set correctly.
After the depth is set correctly, push the insulated wire through the right side until enough of it is sticking out the left side
so that you can grab a hold of it. Grab the wire sticking out the left side and pull it through the stripper and toward the vee.
Also keep tension on the wire on the right side by applying slight pressure toward the vee. This forces the wire into the vee
and makes for a straight cut with an even depth of cut. When the wire on the right side becomes too short just let go of the
right side and pull with the left until the wire is completely through the stripper. DO NOT put or pull your hands or fingers
into the blade area. The blade is very sharp and will cut you. Once you have pulled the wire completely through the
stripper, take one end and open the cut made, grab the wire and pull it sideways against the cut in the insulation. The inside
wires should pull out of the insulation easily. (see above and below photos)

5. Once the inner wire has been pulled out of the insulated cover, you want to remove the outer braided copper shield. Grab
one end of the braided copper shield and pull or push it toward the opposite end. It should loosen up and come off looking
like the one pictured above. Next, do the same thing for the aluminum foil shield. All that is left after that is removing the
inner copper wire core from the inner insulation.
When adjusting the wire stripper for a different blade depth, especially for thicker insulations, I like to strip one end just
long enough to get a visual guide as to how far I need to adjust the blade depth. The picture above shows the exposed inner
copper core after I stripped about a 1/2” of the insulation off the end with a standard wire stripper. I then slide this end into
the WS – 001 wire stripper on the right side and adjust the blade down until it touches the copper using the large black
knob.

6. Once the blade depth is set. Push the wire through the right side like you did (from above) when you were stripping the
outer insulation off until you have enough sticking out the left side to grab a hold of. Pull the wire through the wire stripper
from the left side like you did before, keeping tension on the right side again, making your cut through the inner insulated
jacket the full length of the wire. I have found on some thicker insulated wires or wires with a slippery insulation it is easier
to grab the wire on the left side with a pair of pliers and pull it through with them. I did not have to with this wire.
After the wire insulation is cut the full length just take a hold of the bare copper wire and pull it sideways through the cut in
the insulation. For the RG 59 wire I did find it easier to use a pair of pliers to grab the wire and pull the copper wire through
the insulation because the insulation is a lot thicker than the outer insulated jacket was.

7. All of the pieces above are now separated and ready to add to my scrap containers. I personally have 5 gallon buckets
marked with #1 copper, #2 copper, Aluminum, etc… As you can see above I ended up with the aluminum foil shield (upper
right), the braided #1 copper shield (upper left) the #1 copper wire core (lower center) and the 2 pieces of #1 copper wire
core from the ends (lower right).
Tip #1.
If you find the bare wire to be grayish in color after stripping the insulation off. Take a knife or sharp utility blade and lightly
scrap the wire lengthwise. If it is bright silver in color where you scraped, then it is aluminum. But if it is copper colored
where you scraped, it is tin plated copper. My recycling center considers this to be #2 copper. I had to show them the
scraped areas and they scraped more at random to prove it but #2 copper does pay more per pound then aluminum. Not as
much as #1 copper but just a little tidbit of information to get as much for your scrap as you can.
Tip #2.
If you are doing multiple pieces of the same style wire. I do them all according to the blade depth at a time. Like on these
RG 59 cables, I would cut the outer insulation off all of the pieces I had after the blade was set to the proper depth on the
first piece and likewise I would cut the inner insulation off all the pieces after that blade depth is set.
To get your own WS-001 Scrap Wire Stripper.
Go to: http://shop.rbfproductsinc.com/Adjustable-Scrap-Wire-Stripper-WS-001.htm
Or you can contact them at WWW.RBFPRODUCTSINC.COM