The Golden State: Where & How to Live, Secure, Visit, Enjoy and Thrive in California

Practical Electricity And House Wiring

Cutting Cable.—The cutting of armored cable is an art that requires some time and experience to do properly; every student should practice doing this. A hack saw is employed for the purpose.

Hold the saw almost at right angles to the strip of armor, as shown in Fig. 149. With a little practice you will be able to saw through the armor without cutting into the wires at all. Once the armor has been sawed through, a twist on the short piece of armor on the end will remove it, as shown in Fig. 150, leaving only the wires with the paper wrapping.

Use of Fiber Bushings.—If you will carefully examine the cut end of the armor, you will find that cutting it has left small projections or teeth sticking downward towards the wire. These projections or teeth are sometimes long enough to puncture the insulation of the wire, causing a ground or short-circuit.

It is impossible to file them off and therefore we protect the wires against this possible damage by slipping between the cut end of the armor and the wires, a bushing such as shown in Fig. 151. This bushing is made of a tough fiber which is not easily damaged and which is at the same time a good insulating material.

But how can we insert this bushing between armor and wires (there is little room because the armor is rather tightly applied around the wires) ? The layer of paper will make this possible. When you unwrap it off the exposed wires, do not tear it off when you come to the armor; carefully pull it out from underneath the armor for some little distance, give it a sharp yank, and tear it off inside the armor, to make room for the bushing (see Fig. 152 and 153).