Riser Slitting Tool (RST-8514)

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

Round FTTH riser cable runs up a building in a shaft or along a wall with other cables an inch away, and getting into it at mid-span means opening a window in the jacket without a knife and without room to swing a tool. The Jonard Tools RST-8514 is a riser slitting tool shaped for that job: it shaves a lengthwise access window into round FTTH riser cable and microduct from 8.5 to 14 mm (0.33 to 0.55 in) in diameter, so you can reach the fibers inside for a mid-span tap or an end preparation. The high carbon steel blade is fixed at the factory, so there's nothing to adjust between cable sizes and the window is cut without damaging the fiber underneath. Seat the cable in the tool and draw the tool along it to shave the window to the length you need. The narrow body fits between closely spaced and surface-mounted cables, the tool weighs just over an ounce, and RST-RB25 replacement blades come in packs of 25. Backed by Jonard's lifetime warranty.

Features

• Shaves an access window. Opens a lengthwise window in round FTTH riser cable and microduct from 8.5 to 14 mm, for mid-span or end-of-cable access, without damaging the fiber inside.
• Factory-fixed blade. High carbon steel, set at the factory, with no adjustment to make between cable diameters.
• Narrow, light body. Reaches cables that are closely spaced or surface mounted, where a bigger slitter won't fit.
• Replaceable blade. RST-RB25 replacement blades, pack of 25.
• Lifetime warranty.

Where It Fits

It suits in-building FTTH crews tapping a riser cable at each floor for the drops to the units, MDU installers working surface-mounted riser in hallways and shafts where the cables run side by side, microduct installers opening a duct mid-span for a branch, anyone who has tried to window a riser cable with a knife and found out how little jacket there is over the fiber, and the fiber kits that carry it, since the RST-8514 is the riser tool in Jonard's TK-199B.

Good to Know

Check the cable's outside diameter before you start; the blade depth is fixed for jackets in the 8.5 to 14 mm range, and a cable outside it either won't seat or won't be cut to the right depth. Seat the cable fully in the tool so the blade sits on the jacket rather than above it, then draw the tool along the cable in one steady pull to the length of window you need; stopping and restarting leaves a step in the cut. The blade shaves rather than slits, so what comes off is a strip of jacket, and the fibers or the buffer tubes underneath are left exposed in the window. Make the window a little longer than the slack you need for the tap, and watch the fibers as you lift the strip. Keep the tool square to the cable; tilting it is what changes the depth on a fixed blade. Swap in a fresh blade from the RST-RB25 pack when the cut starts to tear rather than shave; at 25 to a pack, there's no reason to work with a dull one. The tool is for round riser cable and microduct; flat drop cable is a job for the FDS-312 or FOD-2000, and larger cable for the MS-series mid-span tools or the RCS-30. The window edges are sharp and the fibers in it are bare; gloves for the jacket, and no tools near the glass.

Specifications

Documentation