Phonetek
03-29-2018, 04:19 PM
It always amazes me just how few people know how to properly cut cable ties. Even in the back where I work there are a bazillion of them and none of them are trimmed properly. People use scissors or diagonal cutters and snip. More times than not they are sticking out often cut on an angle making them nice and sharp. Every drag your arm across one of them? You bleed like you tried to commit suicide. I actually got to school our mechanic on this.
The PROPER way to do it is to use a tool called "Flush Cuts", they can be bought at any hardware store for about 8 bucks. Their sole purpose in life is to cut cable ties. After you tighten the tie you put the blades flush to the square part of the cable tie and snip it off. You rub your finger across and find no sharp edges. TADA!
Even seasoned telecom guys know better but are in too much of a hurry or too cheap to buy the right tool. I've been cut by cable ties so many times and it sucks. In the back of our lanes I am getting rid of all of them and starting fresh. They should surround the entire bundle of the cables. When you add more cables then you cut out the old and put in new not stack them. Then the sharp edges will pierce through the new cables.
If you're OCD like me and you want it to look very neat. All cables should be formed evenly and look the same throughout the bundle. When you use the cable ties, they should be evenly spaced. Once you trim off the excess the heads should be turned to the back of the bundle so they are out of sight. It takes a couple extra minutes but looks great when your done.
Now there is an even better way and they sell rolls of velcro. Nice thing about that is if you need to add or pull out a cable you just take it off and you can reuse it or cut a longer piece. Although it's much more expensive. I'll take some before and after photo's when I do it and show you what I'm talking about.
NOTE: Flush cuts are designed ONLY to cut cable ties NOT wire, it will damage or snap the blades off.
There is one other alternative but rarely used and it's called lacing cord. It's an a 8 strand wax covered string. It's Incredibly strong and works great. There are several different types of specific knots to tie it in depending on what you are doing in order to be effective. It it far stronger than cable ties. It's mainly used in telecom central offices to form all the immense amount of cable. Cable ties are strictly forbidden in Central offices and you will be thrown out and banned if anyone even sees you using them.
The PROPER way to do it is to use a tool called "Flush Cuts", they can be bought at any hardware store for about 8 bucks. Their sole purpose in life is to cut cable ties. After you tighten the tie you put the blades flush to the square part of the cable tie and snip it off. You rub your finger across and find no sharp edges. TADA!
Even seasoned telecom guys know better but are in too much of a hurry or too cheap to buy the right tool. I've been cut by cable ties so many times and it sucks. In the back of our lanes I am getting rid of all of them and starting fresh. They should surround the entire bundle of the cables. When you add more cables then you cut out the old and put in new not stack them. Then the sharp edges will pierce through the new cables.
If you're OCD like me and you want it to look very neat. All cables should be formed evenly and look the same throughout the bundle. When you use the cable ties, they should be evenly spaced. Once you trim off the excess the heads should be turned to the back of the bundle so they are out of sight. It takes a couple extra minutes but looks great when your done.
Now there is an even better way and they sell rolls of velcro. Nice thing about that is if you need to add or pull out a cable you just take it off and you can reuse it or cut a longer piece. Although it's much more expensive. I'll take some before and after photo's when I do it and show you what I'm talking about.
NOTE: Flush cuts are designed ONLY to cut cable ties NOT wire, it will damage or snap the blades off.
There is one other alternative but rarely used and it's called lacing cord. It's an a 8 strand wax covered string. It's Incredibly strong and works great. There are several different types of specific knots to tie it in depending on what you are doing in order to be effective. It it far stronger than cable ties. It's mainly used in telecom central offices to form all the immense amount of cable. Cable ties are strictly forbidden in Central offices and you will be thrown out and banned if anyone even sees you using them.