Mid Span Slit & Ring Tool, 2.9 mm-6.8 mm (MS-316)

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

The 3 mm to 7 mm band is where most of the fiber a technician opens in a week falls: drop cable, distribution cordage, small loose-tube and breakout cable, and the buffer tubes inside bigger cable. The Jonard Tools MS-316 is the mid-span slit and ring tool for that band, 2.9 mm to 6.8 mm, with five precision slitting grooves on one side and five precision ring grooves on the other, each sized to a narrow range of cable diameter: 2.9 to 3.6, 3.6 to 4.4, 4.4 to 5.2, 5.2 to 6.0, and 6.0 to 6.8 mm. Seat the cable in the groove that matches it and the blade depth is right for that jacket, with nothing to adjust; an indicator line on top of the tool shows where the blade sits, so the ring lands on your mark and the slit runs where you want it. It weighs under 2.5 oz, has a tethering hole, and takes the MS-316RB replacement blade set when the blades wear.

Features

• Slits and rings cable from 2.9 mm to 6.8 mm. Outer jackets and loose buffer tubes in the most common small-cable sizes, for mid-span entries and end preparation.
• Five slit grooves, five ring grooves. One side of the tool makes the longitudinal slit, the other makes the radial ring cut, with a sized groove for each cable on both sides.
• Groove sizes. 2.9 to 3.6 mm, 3.6 to 4.4 mm, 4.4 to 5.2 mm, 5.2 to 6.0 mm, and 6.0 to 6.8 mm.
• Blade indicator line. Shows the blade position on top of the tool for accurate slitting and ringing.
• Compact and tethered. Under 2.5 oz, with a tethering hole, for tight spaces and work on the go.
• Replaceable blades. Replacement blade set MS-316RB.

Where It Fits

It suits FTTH installers opening drop and distribution cable at terminals and pedestals, splicing crews ringing and slitting loose buffer tubes and small breakout cable at a closure or a tray, enterprise and campus technicians prepping 3 mm cordage and small-count indoor cable at panels, anyone who wants one sized tool for the cable they meet most rather than an adjustable slitter set by eye, and the fiber kits that carry it, since the MS-316 is the second tool in the mid-span set packed in Jonard's TK-106, TK-107, TK-107B, and TK-199B kits.

Good to Know

Measure the cable's outside diameter and pick the groove it falls in; a groove one size too big leaves the jacket uncut and one size too small puts the blade into the buffer tubes, which is why the bands are narrow. For a mid-span entry, make the two ring cuts first with the ring side, using the indicator line to put the blade on your mark, then turn the tool over and slit between them with the slit side; peel the jacket in sections and watch the buffer tubes or the fibers underneath. On a buffer tube, ring it and flex the tube at the score until it snaps rather than cutting through, which keeps the blade off the fibers. Keep the tool square to the cable on the slit so the cut runs straight rather than spiraling, and let the groove set the depth rather than pressing harder. Fit the MS-316RB set when the blades start to drag or tear rather than cut. Tether the tool when working in a tray or over a manhole. The range overlaps its neighbors on purpose: cable at 2.9 to 3.3 mm also fits the MS-306, and 5 to 6.8 mm also fits the MS-326; when a cable falls in an overlap, use the tool where it sits nearer the middle of a groove. Above 6.8 mm the MS-326 covers 5 to 10 mm, the MS-426 5.8 to 12 mm, and the MS-526 9.8 to 18.2 mm.

Specifications

Documentation