Technical Hard line bending tools

Good call Gimpy! And if one does remember to put the tube nut on, double check the direction the threads are pointing before you flare!

 

I would put money on it being the same tool. The guy I gave it to has never come back to the shop to know if he used it or not.

 

I know I used it on a few trucks and some tractor stuff, I don’t recall it being difficult to use or making poor bends. I’ll look around for some old line and make a few bends. I just didn’t have anything close by when I grabbed it for a pic.
Guess it’s been awhile since I used it, the top two rollers don’t roll anymore

 

Another trick some of you may want to do…
I modified my bluepoint bender to bend at the nut also. A little cutting/clearancing, and an internal mandrel to rest against the tube stop.

 

I'll have to file that one in the memory banks....

 

I have Imperial tubing benders for 3/16", 1/4", 5/16", and 3/8". All bought used on the auction sight for cheap. Just watched and waited for a non-crazy or poorly listed auction.

Seem much better than the one size fits all benders.

Now they have that limp ni-cop stuff you can bend any which way. But it doesn't have the dead straight look on the long sections.

 

I buy the Nicop tubing in pre made lengths straight sections up to 72” long. I did have some in rolled form that was really easy to get just as straight as any other tubing with my tubing straightener.
My entire RPU is plumbed with it. Really great stuff.

 

Somehow the thread drifted over to flaring tools.

I had one of those Mastercool kits, bought it brand new and I hated it.
I found it difficult to impossible to determine how much hydraulic pressure to apply each time to get a perfect flare.
There seemed to be no way to get it figured out and then repeat it with the next flare.

I sold it and bought the flaring tool from Eastwood and it’s really good.
Easy to make perfect double flares every time.

 

Imperial for me, 3/16" , 1/4" and 3/8". Never had much call for 5/16" except for transmission lines, so never got that size. Also have a Mastercool kit for flares and love it for 10 years now.

 

Damn that's clever.

Cheers,
Harv

 

I’m sorry to hear that you had a poor experience with what I feel is a fantastic tool. As I stated before, it’s not perfect as the dies can take 3 hands to load.

Almost all the dies are set up to close up as a hard stop, and have built in length setting by aligning the tube flush with the end of the die set. The only dies that are not setup as a hard stop are the flaring cones. These cones do require a “feel”, but no different than any other flaring tool. The goal is to form the tube , not crush it. The hydraulic advantage does make it easy to crush the tube tho

Makes me curious about the Eastwood tool... which one are you using..?

 

This one. Works really great.
https://www.eastwood.com/professional-brake-tubing-flaring-tool.html

 

^^^^^^^^^^
Check that thing out!!!

 

GENIUS!!!!!
Did you use some kind of a fly cutter for the fitting seat?

 

I sawed off a large chunk which worked for the smaller sizes, but I did need to use an end mill to make clearance for the 3/8 nuts.

 

how are you guys putting coils in your lines? This was the easiest means I had available

 

I looked at this before buying the Mastercool and there is a lot to like. The major flaw IMO is there's no way to do a flare 'in place', the tool has to be clamped into a vice. The Mastercool, while a bit clumsier, can do flares on the vehicle if there's room to get it in there.

I've had zero issues with mine, and my new friends love it... LOL

 

Eastwood must have thought the same thing seeing they now offer this one also,
Item # 31562 BRAND: Eastwood

 

Valid point however for me I was building my RPU and didn’t need anything to flare in place.
It’s the best flaring tool I’ve ever used for making new lines.

 

Thanks for the reply!

 

What i have collected over the years. The black is a replacement for the red one because plastic ones don't like having chunks removed to get bends close to the nut. The center one has an aluminum mandrel that didn't mind having a quarter removed.


Idea is not original to me. Don't remember the source. But, they are handy when it comes to figuring out where to position the bender to get the out leg to lay tight where you want it. Need one for whatever diameter tubing you are bending. Take a scrap of tubing, mark it and place it in your bender with the mark on "0", then pull the desired
bend. Run your tube, lay the jig where the bend needs to be and mark the tube. Put the marked tube on zero in your bender and and bend away.

 

Since this has gotten on a flaring discussion, all that I will add is be aware of the tubing you are buying. I have a number of flare tools from the old double clamp bar to the newer Eastwood like tool that use a split clamp block. The newer tool works like a charm as long as the tubing OD is on spec. I have found tubing from several sources that 3/16" tube is undersized. It's in the 0.184" to 0.185" range and not 0.187". The clamp blocks on the newer tool doesn't clamp the undersized tubing enough to prevent it being pushed out of position when forming the flare. The old double bar tool still works OK. So I now take calipers with me when shopping for tubing or by online from the one or two places that sell spec tubing.

 

A friend had this problem, so wrapped some black electrical tape around the clamp area.
I winced, but it did work...

 

I have a set of Ridgid benders that are very similar to the Imperial Eastman. I have used both over the years and they are both excellent.

 

I bought one of these and love it. Does bubble ends too.

 

From this mess on the bench, to this.

 

My friend Tom T turned me on to the wonders of this little Lisle tubing bender. The only drawback I have found on this one is that the largest size tubing it will bend is 3/16".

 

This unit isn't cheap but you can make some pretty tight bends with it ECI Tubing Benders Catalog Page - Engineered Components, Inc. (ecihotrodbrakes.com)
I could probably pay for it with the money that I spent on tools that didn't work very good and the tubing that I tossed because it kinked or I just wasn't happy with the bend.

 

Imperial for the win. Got 1 for each size from ⅛ to ½.



Cheats, always grease it for stainless. Sometimes bend in very short steps for less crush in the center. Go up 1 size for a bigger but consistent radius on smaller stuff, and again, grease the shoes. I bent ½" ½ round solid stainless with my bender. Taped it together with nylon packing tape, greased it, needed a cheater extension pipe, took my time, got 2 exact trim pieces for this:

Wanted to emulate the outer side trim inside. Worked like a charm. Solid ½ round...