Spent $180 on a fiber cleaver on Amazon and it couldn't cut butter

Needed a replacement fast after my old one took a dive off a ladder. Saw this no-name brand with decent reviews. Big mistake. First cut left a jagged edge that looked like a zigzag. Second cut shattered the fiber. Third try the blade chipped. Sent it back same day. Anybody got a go-to cleaver under $200 that actually works more than once?

3 comments

3 Comments

aaronsullivan14d ago

Jumped right into that same trap last year. I grabbed a cheap cleaver off Amazon with like 150 reviews averaging 4.5 stars. First job, a simple 2 fiber splice, and the cleaver left a burr so bad I couldnt get the fibers to align right. Sent it back and went with a Fujikura CT-50 off a used equipment forum for 190 bucks. Its been banging for over a year now, cuts clean every time, no chips, no jagged edges. What kind of fibers are you mostly working with?

charles64014d ago

You ever try cleaving single mode vs multimode with one of those cheap cleavers? Night and day difference, and not in a good way. I learned that the hard way too when a cut on some OS2 cable left a nasty lip that was basically unworkable. The CT-50 is solid advice, I picked up a used Sumitomo off a guy who was retiring and it hasn't let me down since. Spend the money on the tool once or you'll waste it on rework and replacement parts later.

logan_mitchell14d ago

That "unworkable" part hit close to home, been there and it sucks.