• Pulling cable into a breaker panel.electrician image by Greg Pickens from Fotolia.com
  
  Electrical workers use a specialized set of tools to pull cable behind walls and ceilings, beneath floors and through conduit. Manual cable-pulling tools rely on the strength of the electrician. Power cable-pulling tools use electric or internal combustion engines to draw cables across long distances. Familiarity with the tools for pulling cable prepares the do-it-yourself builder to tackle both small electrical repairs and large wiring projects.
  
  

Fish Tape

• Fish tape generally consists of two parts: a flexible strip of metal and a solid case. The flexible strip of metal neatly coils into the rigid case. The fish tape's metal strip is resilient; it resumes its original shape after bending and twisting. To use a fish tape, an electrical worker pulls the metal strip from its case and pushes the strip through electrical conduit or behind walls and ceilings. When the strip pops out from the opposite side of the conduit or wall, the electrical worker attaches cable to the strip and pulls it back through. A handle protruding from the exterior of the fish tape's casing attaches to an internal reel, allowing the electrician to crank the tape and attached cable back to its point of origin. Fish tape is available in short lengths, sometimes less than 15 feet, or in lengths of hundreds of feet.
  
  

Conduit Lubricant

• Used in conjunction with fish tape, conduit lubricant eases the entry and exit of cable through rigid conduit. Typically a petroleum jelly product, this gooey substance is available in both small and large squirt bottles. To use conduit lubricant, the electrical worker simply pops the lubricant bottle's cap and squeezes a portion of the goop into the conduit or onto the exterior of the cable. Conduit lubricant not only makes pulling cable through conduit easier, but also reduces the amount of friction created during pulling. Friction and resulting heat build-up frays and destroys the tips of electrical cable.
  
  

Keyhole Saw

• A keyhole saw, or the similar drywall saw, manually cuts small access holes for cable through walls, ceilings and floors. Prior to pulling cable with a fish tape, an electrical worker must create access holes for entry and exit. The keyhole saw is essentially a tiny hand saw; the saw's handle typically fits in the palm of the hand and blade stretches from roughly 6-inches to 12-inches long. The keyhole saw's blade tapers to a sharp point. To use a keyhole saw, the electrical worker plunges the blade's sharp tip through a surface and begins to saw.