How to choose Fibre Cleaver for Fusion Splicer?

It is crucial to employ Fibre optic cables with a smooth and clean end face in Fibre optics. When you choose Fibre cleaver, it becomes an extremely useful tool for low-loss and low-reflectance Fibre optic splices or terminations, particularly when using pre-polished interconnections with inner splices.

The Fibre cleaver, essential to producing high-quality connections and splices, frequently works with fusion splicers to perform the best splicing tasks.

Cleave

Cleave, as used in optical Fibres, is an intentional and planned break to produce a flawless flat end face perpendicular to the optical Fibre axis or at a specified angle from it.

• The Fibre cleaving procedure can be used to produce a Fibre end face that is sufficiently perpendicular and planar.

Cleaving process

Cleaving is the common technique for accurately breaking (cutting) an optical Fibre for termination or splicing. It starts with applying a specific amount of tension to the optical Fibre before and simultaneously creating a very small crack on the side of the Fibre using a sharp diamond or carbide. As a result, the Fibre fractures, beginning at the stated fracture point:

The optic Fibre’s entire cross-section is immediately affected by the fracture as it spreads. The two Fibre portions that are formed after the cleaving frequently have a very clean surface. The Fibre cleaver is the piece of machinery that is utilized the most during the cleaving procedure.

What Are Fibre Cleavers?

An optical fibre must be “cut” or properly shattered for termination or splicing. Thread is cut similarly to breaking glass plates by scoring or scratching the surface and applying tension, which causes the glass to shatter smoothly along the stress lines produced by the scratch.

•  If done correctly, the Fibre will cleave with a smooth surface parallel to its length and no projecting glass on either end.

A fibre cleaver is a tool that holds the fibre under little strain, neatly cuts the surface, and then progressively raises tension until the fibre snaps. Excellent cleavers are automatic and offer consistent output, irrespective of the operator.

With effective Fibre cleavers, Fibreglass is automatically cut once you clamp the Fibre into the cleaver and run the controls. To cut the Fibre cable, however less automated, some cleavers require manual force from the operator, making it challenging to forecast and manage the force.

 The better cleavers are precision, whilst the less automated ones, discussed in the following section, are known as cheap or scribe cleavers.

Types of Fibre optic cleavers

Precision cleavers and scribe cleavers are the two types of fibre optic cleavers.

Scribe Cleavers

Scribe or manual cleavers, which are less costly than precision cleavers, are the most cutting-edge fibre optic cleaver types. Scribe cleavers typically take the form of tile squares or are formed like ballpoint pens with diamond-tipped wedges.

The scribe has a hard, sharp tip typically composed of carbide or diamond to scrape the fibre physically. The operator then breaks the Fibre by pulling on it.

 Because the breaking process is controlled manually, it is difficult to manage the force, which results in less accurate and exact cleaving. That is why the majority of technicians avoid using these affordable cleavers.

Precision Cleavers

As the name suggests, precision cleavers can chop more precisely than scribe cleavers. A diamond or tungsten wheel or blade is used in a precision cleaver to create the nick in the Fibre.

 The Fibre is subsequently subjected to tension to form the cleaved end face. By simply turning the wheel or blade appropriately, precision cleavers can produce repeatable results over thousands of cleaves.

Precision cleavers, however more expensive than scribes, can cut several Fibres with increasing speed, efficiency, and accuracy. Precision cleavers were created as fusion splicers gained popularity to accommodate diverse splicing tasks.

• Precision cleavers prepare Fibre for various pre-polished connectors and fuse standard 125/250um and 125/900um Fibres.

Features of Precision Cleavers

The following are the High-precision Fibre cleaver characteristics:

• Under on-side settings, most high-precision cleavers produce a cleave angle deviance of typically 0.5° with extremely high dependability and little scattering. Using cleavers allows one-step cleaving operations, and a single action can clamp, bend, scrape, and cleave Fibres.
• The best cleave quality and the longest-lasting blade is a diamond blade. They can even be adjusted to cleave Fibres with higher tensile strengths, such as those coated with titanium.
• An 80-um diameter Fibre can be cut easily, and a 125-um Fibre may be cut, but cutting > 200-um Fibres is typically difficult. The fact that the Fibre material is not crystalline contributes to the difficulty of cutting these Fibres to some extent. Once more, torsion will result in an oblique end face.

What is the purpose of Fibre Cleaver? Why is it used?

A Fibre cleaver uses an autonomous anvil drop for fewer steps and improved consistency. The automated anvil design can speed up production and significantly improve the quality of the cleave by eliminating human error and the subpar cleaves associated with scribes and manual cleavers.

Follow these steps to cut optical Fibres correctly:

 Step 1: Unlock the body cover, then place the stripped Fibre on the v-groove.

Step 2: Close the holder cover

Step 3: Cleave the Fibre by closing the cover and moving the slider forward.

Step 4: Check the cleaved Fibre by opening the cover.

Step 5: Remove the cleaved Fibre by opening the holding cover.

Step 6: Use a pair of tweezers to remove the Fibre chip.

Essential Questions to Consider Before Purchasing a Fibre Cleaver

• Decide on a cleaver that satisfies your application’s needs.

Cleavers suitable for mechanical connectors must have angles below three degrees, while cleavers intended for fusion splicing must have a low average angle of one degree or below.

Decide if you need a precise single- or multi-Fibre cleaver that can cut up to 12 Fibres simultaneously.

•  Get your cleaver from a trustworthy producer or vendor.

There are numerous tempting Online offers for cleavers at steep discounts. Like fusion splicers, several counterfeit cleavers mimic the top manufacturers’ design, appearance, and branding.

If you examine the inner components, you will likely find parts that Fibre cleavers created cheaply and blades made of subpar metal alloys that could weaken your splice or malfunction while working.

By purchasing from reputable manufacturers, you may have access to manufacturer support and warranties, services for routine maintenance and cleaning that extend the life of the cleaver, and a cleaver made of the best long-lasting metal components.

• Refrain from buying a cleaver that is also a splicer.

The drawback of these built-in cleavers is that the technician loses two important tools, which can delay the task if either the cleaver or the splicer needs maintenance.

• Invest in a cleaver with the newest time-saving automation features.

Like fusion splicers, cleavers are always updated with fresh features, including automatic Fibre scrap collecting, automatic scoring systems, and the most recent automatic blade rotation technology.

Conclusion

Fibre cleavers are a crucial piece of equipment for precision optical Fibre splicing in the field of Fibre splicing. The cleaver’s quality ensures good quality in the splicing process.

The precision and effectiveness of Fibre cleaving are enhanced by using a competent tool. High-precision Fibre cleavers and premium Fibre splicers are just two of the many Fibre tools available from Splicer Market.