Mid Span Slit & Ring Tool, 8.7 mm-14.6 mm (MS-446)

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

AFL's Heavy Duty OSP MicroCore cable has the thick jacket its name promises, and getting through it without reaching the fibers is a job for a tool cut to that jacket. The Jonard Tools MS-446 is the mid-span slit and ring tool cut for it: a patented, award-winning design sized for AFL's Heavy Duty OSP MicroCore LMHD-Series cables and other thick-walled jackets from 8.7 mm to 14.6 mm in diameter. Four precision slitting grooves on one side and four precision ring grooves on the other are each sized to a narrow band of cable diameter, 8.7 to 9.1, 9.5 to 9.9, 11.8 to 12.2, and 14.2 to 14.6 mm, so the groove sets the blade depth for the jacket and there's 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 8 oz, has a tethering hole, and its blades last 5,000 slits or cuts before an MS-446RB replacement set goes in. Backed by Jonard's lifetime warranty.

Features

• Made for AFL Heavy Duty OSP MicroCore. Specially designed for the LMHD-Series and other similar thick-walled cables, 8.7 to 14.6 mm in diameter.
• Four slit grooves, four 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. 8.7 to 9.1 mm, 9.5 to 9.9 mm, 11.8 to 12.2 mm, and 14.2 to 14.6 mm.
• Blade indicator line. Shows the blade position on top of the tool for accurate slitting and ringing.
• Compact and tethered. Under 8 oz, with a tethering hole, for tight spaces and work on the go.
• 5,000-cut blades, replaceable. Blades last 5,000 slits or cuts; replacement blade set MS-446RB.
• Patented, award-winning, lifetime warranty.

Where It Fits

It suits outside plant and long-haul splicing crews doing mid-span entries on AFL MicroCore feeder and distribution cable in vaults and closures, FTTH construction teams who have standardized on LMHD-Series cable and want the tool Jonard cut for it rather than an adjustable slitter set by eye, utility and transit fiber work where the cable is heavy-jacketed OSP and the entry has to be clean the first time, anyone opening thick-walled cable between 9 and 15 mm who has found the MS-426 tops out at 12, and the kit that carries it, since the MS-446 is one of the two large tools added to Jonard's TK-107B backpack mid-span kit.

Good to Know

Measure the cable's outside diameter and match it to a groove; the bands are narrow and there are gaps between them (9.1 to 9.5, 9.9 to 11.8, and 12.2 to 14.2 mm), because the grooves are cut to specific MicroCore cable sizes rather than a continuous range. A cable that falls in a gap, or one with a thinner jacket at the same diameter, belongs to the MS-426 (5.8 to 12 mm, thick-walled) or the MS-526 (9.8 to 18.2 mm), not to the nearest groove on this tool. 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 and strength members underneath, which on OSP cable can include a ripcord worth using for the long peel. 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; a thick jacket takes a steady pull, not a hard one. Count the cuts: at 5,000 slits or cuts the blades are due, and a blade that starts to drag or tear is due sooner, so fit the MS-446RB set rather than running on a dull edge. Tether the tool when working in a vault or on a ladder. For armored cable, the AST-200 CableSaber is the tool; the MS-446 is for jackets, not armor.

Specifications

Documentation