No more of brake and fuel lines than I do, I couldn't justify the expense of a dedicated tubing straightener. I took a piece of 4 x 4 wood and drilled a hole through it the same diameter as the tubing, cut the tubing to rough length and put a slight bevel on the tubing then pushed it through the 4 x 4. It takes a little effort but again, I don't do that much of it so it's not a problem. I'm in agreement with filing the ends flat and 90 degrees to the center line of the tube. I use a flat jewelers file, much smoother than a mill file, then chamfer the outside edge and de-bur the inside.
Having watched the video of the Lisle brake flaring tool, I would say that it can do what you need but its not the best tool for the job. Not meaning to discredit what you have, but its pretty basic. I'd just practice a little and you should be fine. The thing about flares is that there are lots of different flare shapes, so getting a kit that does all of the common shapes is often the best route. They aren't cheap, but its nice to be able to form any type of flare when the need arises rather than spend a lot of money buying adapter fittings each time.
All this makes me appreciate the tubing cutter I have, and all old "good" tools, was my gramps when he had the IH dealership and home truck n tractor shop. It has very smooth action as you turn it in, a very tight wheel that doesn't wobble and is also very hard and sharp, cuts very easily. It also has a deburring tool built in, an arrow-shaped piece that swings out, and is also very hard, not a scratch on it, and it's from the 50's. Cuts very straight and clean, and no distortion with very little effort
possibly a bit off topic, but I have been having great success using nickel copper (NiCopp) tubing for brake and fuel lines. Bends easy, and flares easy, haven't had any leaks. I'll agree, the eastwood flare tool is fantastic. Mine isn't eastwood brand, but it looks identical. I also used it (larger diameter) for plumbing my air compressor's aftercooler for my shop air too.
I bought the Mastercool kit a few years ago. It's about as simple and idiot-proof as you can get, follow the directions and you'll get a perfect flare every time. At the time the only one Eastwood sold had to be held down in a vice, the Mastercool can be used 'in place' on the car in some cases. I see Eastwood is now selling a copy of the Mastercool type. Buy one and you'll find you have lots of new friends... LOLOL
When using a tubing cutter it is imperative to cut slowly and it should take several rounds to make a clean cut, I file the tubing and use the deburring part of the cutter to clean up the inside of the tube, I've done a least a hundred double flairs and to the best of my knowledge I never had a leak. HRP
There's a trick that if you use a tubing cutter you can get a clean end that doesn't need reaming. Do like HRP says and cut slowly, but stop short of going all the way through. If you have the right depth, the tubing will 'snap' cleanly in half, won't need reaming or have a distorted end. It takes some practice, and the kind of tubing you have will make a difference as to depth of the initial cut. Not useful if just trimming a small amount off because you need enough tube on both sides of the cut to get some leverage.
I have had some luck burnishing the male and female surfaces by loosening and tightening the joint several times and that was on stainless tubing. Also I think someone makes a burnishing tool. I would try that first.
https://koultools.com/product/flare-lapping-tool/ Bought one, have yet to use it in anger. Thinking more recovering old, manky fittings on long lines that I don't want to remake, rather than correcting new, mis-made ones. Cheers, Harv
Thank you for the help. I am using NiCopp lines but maybe it is offshore crap-not sure. I used a small tubing cutter but that is going bye bye in favor of a cut off wheel, and I have been reaming/deburring and using a small hobby file to chamfer the outside. I do like the 2x4 idea of straightening the tubing out. I don't do that many lines so a dedicated tubing straightener is not practical. Ollie, thanks for the tip I will look for some that already have nuts attached. I will have to get the Eastwood tool eventually but everything is on hold for the next couple of months until I get my new house and garage sorted out. Mike
Everyone else has covered the important stuff already, but I’ll say that I have the Lisle flaring tool and it’s extra important that you have tubing with square ends and that you get the length for the flare just right, otherwise the flare will end up off centre. My father has a Grey Tools flaring tool and it is more forgiving than my Lisle, but I can make good flares with the Lisle if I’m careful. I made 3 lines just last night and one of 6 fittings is leaking but I have an adapter fitting on that line and I think it’s the adapter and not the flare. using Nicop line helps because you can squish the flare in to the fitting when you tighten it and that will help it seal.
For stainless I tend to non-scientifically annealed the tips. Torch it to a mild glow, stuff it in a sand bucket. Once done the danger is polishing the burn off. Don't get it wrapped up in a buffer, I just clean it with a fine scotchbrite. If you need polish tape it to a board. The best idea posted so far has been seating your flares to the fittings used. Leave a little, let it form. Who's to say the seat is as perfect as your flare every time? Also grease or plain ol oil is very helpful. Also on stainless, a little, back off, a little more, back off, finish. I don't know why but it works.
A bit late to the party however I looked at a car some time ago after it was involved in an accident and was being stripped down for rebuilding. The tubing was DOT 45 double flared however the fittings were AN37. There were no leaks however I'm surprised that they didn't leak on the shoulders of the flare. Brake failure wasn't the cause of the accident however..........
I like to use Cu(copper)Ni(nickel)Fe(iron)...CuNiFer. For un-rolling it I found a video on YouTube where the fellow used five patio door rollers to make a tool that you draw the tubing through to do the job. Before I could build it a found a handheld tool at Cdn that does the job. Also bought the Eastwood tool at PrincessAuto...last one they had for $30 CDN. It pays to look at clearance items!
Speedway Motors Tim Mathews has an excellent video promoting their high tech flaring tool & I believe a conventional as well, good tips & can be found in the tech/shop tip section on their web site.
Fastenal carries a Hydraulic thread locker made by Locktite. I have used it when doing stainless and also on my lift when I had a line that didn't want to seal. It is a liquid and you have to let it set (dry) overnight before applying pressure (bleeding).
Flared fittings seal on the flare, not the threads, so any sealant should only be used on tapered (pipe threads) such as would be found on a brake light switch, etc. The only crutch I would use on a flared joint would be the small cone-shaped crush washers that fit inside the female component, and then only when absolutely necessary.
I did stainless lines with AN ends for a car some time ago. Had a professional 32 degree flaring tool. The ends needed to be smooth and square to get a good flare without splits.
I bought the Eastwood flair tool a couple of years ago and it makes it pretty easy to do a good flair the first time. I have the Snap-On double flair tool that I bought who knows how long ago. I may have bought it when I was in trade school as I don't remember not having it. It's pretty well worn out though. I've also got another set like that that I picked up at a yard sale for a couple of bucks just because it was too cheap to turn down. As the others said, clean straight cuts and use a deburring tool to get the burs and sharp edges off the cut end. I've got a couple of different deburring tools including the one in most machinists tool kit and I'm thinking a simpler version of this Eastwood one as I am sure I didn't pay that much. https://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-tubing-deburring-tool.html The problem I had with the Snap-on is that after hundreds of flairs over a period of 50 years it doesn't grip the tube all that great anymore and the tube slides at times.
Yet another trick. Using a proper tubing spanner - grips the fitting on four flats. Snug the nut down gently, then back off a quarter turn, and repeat. The nut will go a little further each time as it 'rolls' the flare on to it's seat. This will not fix a really bad flare, but works on most. I do recommend using the tubing spanner, an ordinary open ender just won't work reliably.
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