steel shielded house wire (14/2), how to remove shielding easily?

**exibar** · 10-26-2012, 12:13 PM

Is there any preferred method for removing the steel flexible shielding from armor shielded wiring?

this stuff: Armorlite 12 2 Steel Armor cable "Southwire-55274921-Armorlite-12-2-Steel-Armor-Ac-By-25-Foot-0879411 "

I have it cut into short lengths, about 2foot and less right now, I was told I should be able to just pull the copper wire out of the armor shield, but yikes it's still nearly impossible even when I cut a few pieces to about a foot in length...

is thee a trick to pulling the copper out of the steel armor shielding?

thanks all!
Mike B

**losthope** · 10-26-2012, 09:32 PM

it is hard depending on what brand it is to pull the wire out of the armored cable, also known as "metal clad" or "mc" cable in the electrical field.....the trick is not to try and get the wire out but is to slide the "mc" jacketing off the wire!! google "mc cable cutter" and that is the easiest tool to use .....it cuts the jacket then you slide it off do that every couple feet......or every couple feet take a grinder with a cutting blade and make a cut length wise down the cable jacketing like the mc cable cutter tool does and slide it off.....or you can do it the old school way and fold the cable in half (every few feet)till the jacket snaps apart from it self....itlll still be coiled together at the snapped spot but is unrevealed a bit where you can cut it with some dikes or snips and slide the jacket off the cable...hope that makes sense? or you can try another method of unraveling the jacket off the wire but also is a pain in the butt..... good luck!

also make sure to check the jacketing it comes in steel or aluminum!

heres a video on the tool:

**DiamondN** · 10-27-2012, 12:19 AM

If I don't have my Roto-Split with me, I find a Dremel tool with a thin cut blade makes a nice slit every few feet.

**exibar** · 10-27-2012, 01:10 AM

that tool looks awesome! I have about 100 pounds of the armor wire though, I'll bet to buy one I'd wind up breaking even... I mostly do e-scrap, so it's rare that I get a house full of wire to scrap ;-(

**BurlyGuys** · 10-27-2012, 06:43 AM

Usually I find when I do a certain amount of scrap of a particular type, if I break even or do a little better, I will use the money to buy the tool that makes the job easier, then I can do the job efficiently next time. Next tool for me is a bandsaw.

**bluemeate** · 10-29-2012, 12:57 AM

i have a few 50ft lengths of this stuff. think theres some cl resale value for that?

**Bear** · 10-29-2012, 01:09 AM

Originally Posted by bluemeate

i have a few 50ft lengths of this stuff. think theres some cl resale value for that?

I allways think twice about selling wire because I do my own wiring. Even what I have sold I know will cost many times over to replace. You might do well on CL if you get 50%