Fiber optic rapid spooling tool

A spooling tool for paying out a desired length of cable from a cable drop box having an axial through passage that opens atop the drop box and from an associated outboard spool an end wall of which is fixed to a bottom of the drop box so that an axial bore in the spool is aligned with the axial passage through the box, the tool comprising:

• a base plate having a first major surface, and a second major surface opposite the first major surface;
• a stud having a bottom end joined to the base plate and having a top end that projects a certain height above the first major surface of the base plate, wherein the top end of the stud is arranged so that a bottom surface of the cable drop box seats on the stud, and the stud is aligned with the axial passage through the box;
• an elongate arbor having a first end dimensioned and formed for insertion through the top opening of the axial through passage in the drop box, and to engage the stud so that the arbor is supported substantially perpendicular to the base plate and the drop box pivots on the arbor when the cable is unwound from the drop box;
• and
• a cap mechanism arranged at a second end of the arbor opposite the first end for retaining the drop box on the arbor, and for applying a sufficient drag on the box to inhibit free wheeling of the box on the arbor either while the cable is being unwound or in the absence of a pull on an unwound portion of the cable;
• wherein the stud projects a sufficient height above the first major surface of the base plate to extend fully through the axial bore in the associated spool and to seat the bottom of the drop box at the top end of the stud so that when the arbor engages the stud, the arbor acts as a spindle about which the drop box pivots when the cable is unwound from the spool and the spool pivots about the stud.