Encapsulant cutting tool for fiber optic cables

A cutting tool for removing encapsulant material surrounding a fiber optic cable splice, said cutting tool comprising

• overlapping scissor blades, each blade including a first cutting edge and an opposing connection edge, the overlapping scissor blades coupled together at their connection edges to form a pivot point;
• a blade propulsion arrangement coupled to said overlapping blades for providing opposing scissor motion to said overlapping blades, said blade propulsion arrangement comprising
• a plurality of translation arms, each arm coupled at a first end to a separate connection edge of said overlapping blades, with a second, remaining end of each arm of said plurality of translation arms formed as a gear tooth;
• a gear disposed to engage each gear tooth of the plurality of translation arms;
• a gear shaft coupled to said gear;
• an activation switch for turning "on" and "off" said scissor motion;
• and
• a motor, coupled between said activation switch and said gear shaft for controlling the rotation of said gear shaft, the oscillation of said gear shaft resulting in generating the scissor motion of the overlapping scissor blades.