Three-Step Fiber Cleaver (FC-220)

Ships direct from the manufacturer. Please allow up to 10 business days, though it often ships sooner.

A mechanical splice or a field-installable connector needs a fiber cleaved clean and to a set length before it goes in, and the Jonard Tools FC-220 is the compact hand cleaver for that job: 250 µm coated and 900 µm buffered fiber, single-mode or multimode with 125 µm cladding, cleaved in three steps with the length set on a ruled scale. Strip and clean the fiber, press the lever, and insert the fiber against the leaf spring scale to set a cleave length anywhere from 2 to 20 mm; release the lever, press the head down and let it go, then bend the leaf spring until the fiber breaks. The carbide blade lasts up to 6,000 cleaves, and when it's done an FC-4 blade and an FC-65 leaf spring are available as replacements. At 7 in and a third of a pound it fits a pouch, and it's the cleaver in Jonard's TK-183 clean-and-prep kit. Backed by a lifetime warranty.

Features

• 250 µm and 900 µm fiber. Cleaves coated or tight-buffered fiber, single-mode or multimode, with 125 µm cladding.
• Ruled scale, 2 to 20 mm. The leaf spring scale sets the cleave length from 2 to 20 mm (0.079 to 0.79 in), which covers what mechanical splices and field connectors ask for.
• Carbide blade, 6,000 cleaves. Lasts up to 6,000 cleaves before it needs replacing.
• Three steps. Set the length, cleave, bend to break: quick operation suited to mechanical splicing and field termination.
• Replaceable blade and leaf spring. FC-4 replacement blade and FC-65 replacement leaf spring available.
• Lifetime warranty.

Where It Fits

It suits FTTH installers fitting field-installable connectors and mechanical splices at the wall box and the ONT, enterprise and campus technicians terminating with pre-polished connectors at the panel, security and AV installers doing a handful of fiber terminations without a fusion splicer on the truck, anyone who needs a cleaver that sets the length on a scale rather than by eye, and the TK-183 kit, where this is the cleaver. For fusion splicing, where the cleave angle has to be under half a degree, the FC-500 and FC-600 are the cleavers; the FC-220 is for the mechanical and field-connector work where the connector's spec, not the splicer's, sets the standard.

Good to Know

Strip and clean first: take the fiber down with a stripper such as the JIC-375, wipe the bare glass with an alcohol wipe, and don't touch it again. Set the cleave length to what the connector or the splice calls for; most field connectors and mechanical splices specify it to the millimeter, and the scale is there so it's the same every time. Press the lever, seat the fiber against the scale at the right mark, release, press the head down and let it go to score the fiber, then bend the leaf spring in a smooth motion until the fiber breaks; a hesitation or a jerk at the bend is what makes a bad cleave. Check the connector's instructions for whether it wants the cleave made with the fiber coated or stripped at the cleave point. The cleaved end is sharp and nearly invisible; drop it in a scraps can, not on the floor. Count the cleaves, or watch for the breaks starting to go ragged, and fit an FC-4 blade when the carbide is done; replace the FC-65 leaf spring if it loses its set, since the spring is what makes the break. Keep the cleaver between 0 and 40 °C in use. For a fusion splice, this cleaver's cleave is not the one you want; the FC-500 and FC-600 hold the angle a fusion splicer needs.

Specifications

Documentation