crappy double flare tool - snap on

that sure is a great set and the video seems to verify it......but man, i could have a set of lake headers for that!

believe me, i'd love to have that set and i really do like ot buy tools (at an addictive rate) but that's a lot of jack for someone that won't be using it that frequently...

what about this one..

http://www.thetoolwarehouse.net/shop/SKF-DF475.html

you guys got me all up in this now!!

another one..

http://www.thetoolwarehouse.net/shop/LT-3000A.html

 

last thing and i'm going to bed....

good info here..

http://www.carcraft.com/howto/50919/

 

i'll second the mastercool thing.
absolutely the best fucking flare stuff out there.....
you CAN just buy the kit that does brake lines but i need to do GM EFI fuel line so i bought that kit and then the dies for double flaring (btw, i didn't know you COULD double flare stainless line, thought it would crack).
that was before they put together the kit pictured....

also have a K-D flaring tool at work (don't do much of that there but it's handy and works every time)

 

That was the secret to my doing the double, Hf tool, put in vice and clamp tightly and then do the flaring. worked for every fitting in my street rod. I tried exspesive flare blocks and they all slipped till I used the vice, there are some hydraulic ones for nearly $200 that are superior but out of my range. Ed ke6bnl

 

I've learned that a tubing cutter work hardens the tubing, causing splits in the metal...just my 2 cents

 

I needed the hydraulic one.......

After I had open heart surgery for 5 bypasses..., ( where they cut the chest bone completely from top to bottom ) ..I lost a LOT of upper body strength so I have trouble twisting the handles on the old style flaring tools. I could not get the flared ends tight enough to really flare the tube completely and seal. With the hydraulic tool......I can easily do it with one hand.....

The tool also addresses the amount of tubing that you leave sticking out.....it is easy to set...without error....and that also adds to the great flares.....

I bought the 41475 tool set.......with all the dies.... It was not a lot more and I like the GM fuel flare...I have used it on my 32 3W project....wherever I have a rubber hose fuel line connection and MAN.....it is slick. I went back and redid some on the 32 roadster too. $300 is a chunk of change for a tool I only use a little......but I think it is worth it....

Randy

 

I thought you werent supposed to douple flare stainless because it could crack?

 

Have a cheap flaring tool that makes ugly, non-factory looking double flares? I have two sets that make equally sucky looking flares, that no expert on the planet can make look better than I can.
I finished up a brake build this weekend, and all of the crappy flares I was worried about worked perfectly.
Unless they're split, or REALLY crooked, getting the fittings they're in good and tight seems to seal them up just fine. Don't sweat it.

 

I've always been told that the reason to bouble flare plain steel lines ids that it is a seamed tubing. The stainless is made in a seamless fashion so it only needs to be single flared.

I've got an old Imperial-Eastman flare set. I just did some double flaring this weekend and had no trouble getting good flares. aaOne thing that iI do is to use a tubing cutter with a sharp cutter wheel. After cutting to length I clamp it in with the end just sticking out and flat file the end. Then chamfer the inner diameter, reset the depth with the adapter and flare away. I haven't had a bad flare since doing this procedure. even using a cheapy Lilse flare set.


jerry

 

I have the same problem w my top end napa kit , works fine on all the lgr double flares, but 3 /16"? forget it , i just do a single flare and hope for the best

 

I love my hydraulc one! Well worth the money even if I only use it 4 times a year! Saves me time and tubing.



.

 

Long ago my dad gave me his single flare tool.
It's blued steel, about 3/32" steel folded into a deep channel.
The darned thing must be 60 years old and it still works great.

15 or so years ago, I bought a Rimac to double flare brake lines on my 32.
Worked ok, but the mandrel pin on the 3/16" mandrel broke off.
Sent it back after buying and breaking several 3/16" mandrels.

Bought a Blue-Point off the airport tool truck.
It worked well and still works well.

Got lucky a few weeks back and bought a very nice Eastman-Imperial at a garage sale.
An older one in like-new condition.
I haven't tried it yet, but . . . for $2. how could I resist?
Besides, somebody in the family will be able to use it.

And then there was the brand new tubing cutter in perfect shape I found in 20' of water at Lake Mead.
Probably fell off a boat.
I found it while snorkeling.


Aside from all this road-test reporting - which is good - we're doing on flare tools, I wonder if the problem could be tubing quality?
I like the Bundy tubing sold as replacement brake lines in the parts houses.
It's always worked well for me, but I would not be surprised to find it's made in China nowadays.
Imho, Chinese metallurgy sucks . . . not PC, don't care.
If they're gonna make crap, then it gets called what it is, crap.

In my experience a good sharp tubing cutter doesn't work harden the tubing to a noticeable extent.
The Bundy lines are annealed to start with.
If you're experiencing work hardening, you're probably working with a dull cutter wheel or taking too big a bite on each crank-down.

One last thing I'd like to add, don't join brake lines with brass unions.
Use steel ones.
I've had home-made flares as well as the Bundy factory flares leak.
Due to the inverted flare in the brass unions sometimes gets started crooked and the small center crown gets damaged.

There are steel unions available, use those.

 

steel unions?
from where? and for the record, why not brass?

 

You should be able to find cad-iridited unions in the Weatherhead fitting assortment at the parts house.
And if not there, a hardware store may have them.

I explained the whuffo on the brass poorly.

If the brake line is not precisely centered when installing it into the union or the flare is off center a little bit, the crown inside the inverted flare catches the line crooked and the crown/seat is damaged and usually leaks.
Sometimes the leak can be cured by torquing the snot out of it, but most of us don't like to crank fittings down that hard.

There is a little bit of play between the tubing and the male fitting and that's what allows the flare to be off center.
Sounds like an impossibility, but it does happen.

If brass works for you, fine.
I'm all through with the stuff where brake lines are concerned.

 

The best thing that I have found that helps to get a square end and get a straight flare is to flat file the end of the tubing. Just let enough stick out of the clamping block to get a flat surface. All you need is about .010 to .020 sticking up.

It sure has helped me when flaring even 3/16 line.

If you look at the cut off end closely you will see that it has a little angle from the edges to the center. Get rid of that angle and you can get a good flare.


jerry

 

need to make sure burr on inside of tubing is gone and a small lead put on out side.go to hyd. shop where they sell fittings get a burring tool tou can use it on id and od ,it will make a big differance

 

Years ago I bought a Blue Point from the Snap On van. Total shit. Gave it back to him on his next visit and bought a KD kit. Kind of funny looking (maybe even cheap looking) but it works great. Done a few complete cars with it.

I did break the 3/16 mandrel as C9 has done. Got a local machine shop opposite my old work to make me a stainless one. No more problems.

I'd like to know more about those steel unions. I didn't know they existed. I think I understand why they are better. I suppose the downside could be rusted joints..??

Pete

 

A lot of good advice on this thread, thanks for the input!

I have a cheap double flare tool that I've had more failures than sucess with, but I'm pretty sure after reading this thread that it's been user error.

 

I bought one at NAPA (KD Tools) and I have 2 problems. If I stick the line out as far as it says (use the edge on the adapter as a guide) then the yoke will not slip over it, even all the way backed off. So you have to try to tighted the clamp with the tube/adapter/yoke all together.

Next I have not found a good way to chamfer the tube, I have found that a good chamfer decides wether the flare with work or not. I even tried a drill bit sharpener. I can do a pretty good job on my grinding wheel but it always seems like im bending the tube 1st then cutting to the right length and trying to turn the bent/curved awkward tube perfectly on the grinder and it just dont work.
any ideas?

Duke