How To Trim Your Coax TV Cable
Coax cables
What You Need
Equipment and Tools
- Coax cable
- Coax cable cutter
- Crimp or screw-on F-connectors
- Wire cutters or some strong scissors
Instructions
1. Determine how long of a cable you need, and cut it with scissors. We wanted several inches, so choose six inches just to be safe and allow us to have some room for error. If you want to be frugal, reuse the end with the connector already attached, then you’ll only have to add one.
2. Strip the wire using the “outer” setting on the cutter. Give yourself about an inch of exposed silver insulation. Effectively, you are removing the black plastic coating. Put it in, clamp, and twist the cable to score it all the way around and pull to reveal the silver underneath.
3. Repeat using the “inner” setting to cut away the insulation to expose the copper wire. Go down about half way, and repeat the same twist then pull motion.
4. Attach a connector by sliding it down over the insulation and crimping it around the cable using the upper portion of the cutter/crimper. Be careful with how much you crimp, it can pop off. A few simple crimps will do fine, don’t make our mistake and over crimp to make sure its secure.
5. Voila! You now have a shortened coax cable to use without nary a need for the cable man.
Originally posted on Aug 16 2007
Want more smart tutorials for getting things done around the home?
We’re looking for great examples of your own household intelligence too!
Submit your own Home Hacks tutorial or idea here!