Multicore Cable Peeler

thingiverse

I rarely buy new wires for my projects since I'd rather repurpose old cables that are still lying around or discarded by others. Recycling multicore cables like power cords, SCSI cables, parallel and serial printer cables is especially appealing to me. The main challenge with salvaging these cables is removing the outer insulation shell that surrounds the inner wires I want to extract. I've found it possible to use a cutter knife to make a slit along the full length of the cable, allowing the inner wires to be pulled out sideways from the outer shell. However, this process can be tedious and hazardous as the knife can easily slip and cause injury - a mistake I've made before. The goal of this project is to simplify the peeling process for multicore cables. To achieve this, I created a tool that guides the cable through a narrow hole with a protruding cutter blade tip. By pulling the cable through the hole, a precise straight cut can be made along the entire length of the cable at a specified depth. My cable peeler tool consists of three components: A disk with a set of guiding holes in various diameters arranged in a circular pattern allows for easy selection of the correct diameter based on the cable's thickness. Two interchangeable disks are provided, one for smaller cables (3.5 to 8mm) and another for larger ones (8.5 to 13mm). A handle is attached to the disk, aligning the selected guiding hole with a standard 9mm cutter blade securely contained in a recess on the side of the handle. The disk is held in place by an M4x20mm screw and wing nut, while a notch prevents the disk from rotating. A clamp firmly secures the blade in position once it's been set for the desired cut depth. Two M3x8mm screws are tightened to pull the clamp onto the blade, with a spare blade positioned underneath to prevent damage to the handle. To peel a cable, simply select the best-fitting hole on one of the disks and attach it to the correct position. Adjust the blade tip for the desired cut depth, noting that cutting halfway through the insulation shell is sufficient to avoid damaging the inner wires. Once you can grasp the inner wires, they can be easily pulled out sideways from the outer shell. The 3D-printing objects for the cable peeler tool are available as fully parametrized OpenScad source code and ready-to-print STL files. A single STL file contains all the parts, while separate files are also provided for each individual component to facilitate printing individual pieces. The OpenScad source can be easily modified to accommodate special needs like larger cable diameters or non-round cable cross sections.