Brake flaring tool, rubbish tool or not?

[easypops 8]

Good day all,

I bought this

a few months ago, can't remember where from , eBay or Amazon likely.

I gave it a go last night, just to see what the process was, but fell at the first hurdle.

The 3/16 hole on the clamp doesn't grip the 3/16 pipe? It basically can slide straight through and I was wondering if it's just a rubbish tool? Or am I doing something wrong?

I can't see that I am in the wrong this time, but it's been known :lol:

 

Too loose

 

This is the pipe

 

My real question is, should I buy a decent tool and does anybody recommend one :)

[Jim 2]

I have made brake pipes using a similar tool before, and whilst it's definitely more in the realm of amateur level and not workshop grade, it certainly does the job. Can't fathom what's happened with the sizing though - have you tried clamping it in the next smallest hole or is that miles off?

[easypops 8]

I have made brake pipes using a similar tool before, and whilst it's definitely more in the realm of amateur level and not workshop grade, it certainly does the job. Can't fathom what's happened with the sizing though - have you tried clamping it in the next smallest hole or is that miles off?

 

It does clamp in the smallest hole Jim but it's too small, makes a right mess of the pipe plus the tapered hole is the wrong size to get the correct flare . I can only guess that the clamping tool is faulty

[Jim Bowen 1]

I bought a flaremaster kit, can only seem to find links to a flaremaster2 online now. I was told them cheap ones aren't very good. Could you wrap some old inner tube around the pipe to help it grip and protect the pipe?

 

http://www.ap-tech.co.uk/products/details/513.html

 

I paid about £100, a mate said he would go halves up but he has never used it nor paid up, so its all mine :lol: I love it, having never done a flare before, i've never made a duff one with it, and can use it with pipes on the car as well.

 

Re-piped my whole car with it now. Something i wish i'd done is coated/painted the pipes afterwards.

[VR6Andy 10]

Hi mate

Have just bought a Clarke kit over the weekend from Machine Mart which is the same as yours. Made some 3/16 tubing up no problem but took a few practice attempts to get it right. It looks like you have your 3/16" pipe through the 1/4" hole which is why it wont clamp. When its clamped in the 3/16" hole it does leave markings on the tube but its the flared part of the tube that makes the seal .

Just remember that when winding down the flaring tool don,t over tighten as it can split the pipe and take out the collet for a double flared joint.

Hope this helps

Andy

[swiftkid 1]

I've got a similar kit which I was bought, haven't used it yet but my dad did last week and found that the cast shaping tool bent (the pin in the middle) and was quite difficult to get a perfect shape. Think I might invest in a proper kit when I get round to making new brake lines. As VR6 Andy says, does look like you've got it 1 hole over (labels to the right of the hole)

[easypops 8]

Hi mate

Have just bought a Clarke kit over the weekend from Machine Mart which is the same as yours. Made some 3/16 tubing up no problem but took a few practice attempts to get it right. It looks like you have your 3/16" pipe through the 1/4" hole which is why it wont clamp. When its clamped in the 3/16" hole it does leave markings on the tube but its the flared part of the tube that makes the seal .

Just remember that when winding down the flaring tool don,t over tighten as it can split the pipe and take out the collet for a double flared joint.

Hope this helps

Andy

 

Hi Andy,

Thank you, I thought that I had it in the right hole :lol:, but can now see where I've went wrong......I just assumed the sizes were in decreasing order :lol:

 

I'll try again tonight :)

[Tigerfish 10]

I've got one like this

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/162128872837

 

Works great and used it to redo all the brake lines on the VR

 

Happy to pop it in the post and just send it back when you've done if it helps.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Edited August 30, 2016 by Tigerfish

[dragon green 4]

Years ago I bought this one,

 

What a waste of money !

 

I then bought this one

 

Goes into a bench vice,absolutely the best flaring tool out there !

[seanl82 23]

I did my front pipes a while back using the same kit Martin. Had no problems but did a couple of trial runs on some small cut offs first. Just experiment with how far you pass the pipe through and compare it to the original pipes.

[easypops 8]

I've got one like this

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/162128872837

 

Works great and used it to redo all the brake lines on the VR

 

Happy to pop it in the post and just send it back when you've done if it helps.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

Very kind offer mate, very much appreciated, but as it takes me forever to get any job completed , I'd have it for far too long :lol:

 

Thank you anyway, looks like it's my bad workmanship at the moment so I'll persevere with what I have at the moment :)

[easypops 8]

Years ago I bought this one,

 

What a waste of money !

 

I then bought this one

 

Goes into a bench vice,absolutely the best flaring tool out there !

 

What one is that mate?

[easypops 8]

I did my front pipes a while back using the same kit Martin. Had no problems but did a couple of trial runs on some small cut offs first. Just experiment with how far you pass the pipe through and compare it to the original pipes.

 

Thanks Sean, I've actually got 6 of the remanufactured brake lines here, so can check my flares against them, which seems like a laugh at the moment:lol:

[Dox 23]

I had one made by a local factor, 18 inches long, 12mm on the ABS pump end, 10mm on the other £4. I had considered buy a flaring kit, but I'm not sure if its worth the bother now.

 

MiniFords Eddleston road Crewe if anyone's local.

[easypops 8]

I had one made by a local factor, 18 inches long, 12mm on the ABS pump end, 10mm on the other £4. I had considered buy a flaring kit, but I'm not sure if its worth the bother now.

 

MiniFords Eddleston road Crewe if anyone's local.

 

Don't get put off by my comedy attempts mate :)

[Dox 23]

Don't get put off by my comedy attempts mate :)

 

I usually pay £1 each for bleed nipples, so if you say the 2 end fittings are a similar price then its hardly worth buying the kit and the bits to do it?

[dragon green 4]

Here it is http://www.workshopsupplies.co.uk/contents/en-uk/d733_brake_pipe_flaring_tool.html

 

Not cheap £130 !!! When you do the flare lubricate the end,WD is good enough,otherwise the tooling grips

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Dox 23]

This is the one recommended to me a year or two ago.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/190388800513?rmvSB=true

[easypops 8]

Just to finish this off.

I ended up buying a second hand Sykes Pickavant double lap flaring tool, does exactly as you'd expect, perfect flares every time(so far)and very easy to use, well in a bench vice anyway :)

 

[jamiehamy 0]

Just to finish this off.

I ended up buying a second hand Sykes Pickavant double lap flaring tool, does exactly as you'd expect, perfect flares every time(so far)and very easy to use, well in a bench vice anyway :)

 

 

NOw I know who to see when I do them on the Mini! I've got your noes btw, full set of all the four.

[easypops 8]

NOw I know who to see when I do them on the Mini! I've got your noes btw, full set of all the four.

 

Ha ha, no worries mate. And yes,thanks, I need to get those from you :)