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Found a trick for stripping NM-B faster without nicking the copper

I was wrestling with a 12/2 Romex on a job in Raleigh last week and finally tried scoring the outer sheath with a utility knife at a shallow angle before pulling the inner wires free. Cut my stripping time per box down from about 45 seconds to 15. Anybody else got a go-to method for keeping the insulation intact?
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2 Comments
wadefoster
wadefoster29d ago
I get what you're saying but honestly I've been scoring NM-B outer sheath that way for like five years on hundred of boxes and never once nicked a conductor. You just have to use a really sharp blade and keep the cut shallow, barely through the vinyl, then peel it apart with your fingers. The trick is starting the score at a forty five degree angle near the end so you don't accidentally dig in where the wires sit tight against the sheath. Plus you save way more time than the old bending and ripping method, which always left me wrestling with torn fiberglass paper anyway.
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dakotal16
dakotal161mo ago
Score the jacket deep enough and you're fixin' to rewire the whole circuit.
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