Flare tool?
 

Guys I'm looking for a good inverted flare tool to use to do brakes lines on my car. Ive found few of them but they say not to use on SS tubing. I have a Nice Ridgid flaring tool for 37degree, but nothing for the Inverted 45, not trying to go all out with a hydro unit but something decent hand operated.

Try PMing Mark screen name Bentfab he should be able to help you out.

He bends tube better then I can write my name! So impressive!:D
Ill give him a PM

a hand operated hydraulic flare tool costs between 200 and 350 with dies for all the flares uou cab dream of, including gm fuel line, inverted etc...

and it has the bennefit of not having to be mounted to a vice.. so you can do the flares on the car.. and not run back and forth between the car and bench..

i would get one tomorrow if i needed to do a car nicely soon...

I have used the hydro units before, well the Master Cool one, and I did not like it at all, way to many moving parts to get lined up and tight etc all for the moment of squeezing the handle. At least when doing AN flares so i went for a more conventional unit its way faster then you can even do the hydro, and i can get the flare closer to the bends.

Most (stock) brake stuff uses "double" flare - is that what you're looking to do? Or a single 45? Different tools...

Doing SS tubing is an issue - depends on the tubing being used. SS is "brittle" and splits easily when flaring. Did you get seamless and annealed tubing from a good quality brake line supplier?

I'm looking for an inverted 45 so double flare tool, yes these are typically different tools. The stainless i picked up is seamless 304 .187 .028 wall. So far seems to work for the 37* stuff just fine.
I got the tube from Onlinemetals or metals supermarkets locally so i could get 20ft lengths

Yeah - Love Metal Supermarket!

Did you know that you can "rent" any tool Schucks has -- for the price of the tool - you "buy it" - the deposit is the price of the tool - if you bring it back on their "rental" program - they then just charge you a small price - or if you decided to keep it - you just don't take it back?

Interesting, ill look into that, i don't have have an issue picking up a new tool :) but it seems that everyone i find says it wont do SS. Maybe i need to get a MAC, or Matco, something like that. I hoping you guys would have an answer i see a lot of stainless brake lines in these builds!

All my brake stuff is 37* --- and I have a very expensive handy dandy 37* flare tool with rollers in it.... You CAN NOT DOUBLE FLARE SS.... Period - end of story. Sorry to tell you that....

Of course now I'm waiting for Mark (Bent Fab) to jump in here and kick my booty about making such a "complete" statement like the above....

SS is too brittle to make the double bend like that... when you make your first flare - the metal "work hardens" - and if you were to try to bend it again to make the double - it'll just crack... That's why when you see all these beautiful brake lines and fuel line in SS -- you'll see all AN fittings (37*).

A good source for supplies etc is BENT FAB -- he'll hook you up with stuff you need for the job. He has a website. :cheers:

I'll add to my statement - before someone does jump in here and takes my head off.

Yes - you can double flare SS... I know this.... but the "average guy" with average tools --- will most likely end up with an unmitigated disaster. You really have to have the correct tubing (annealed) and you really have to have good tools - and skills - and de-burring etc etc. It's just a whole lot more effort and just isn't "necessary" when you can just do a simple (relatively) 37* AN...

So my "advice" - worth exactly what you paid for it - is to just stick with 37* stuff and use adaptors where you have to mate to a inverted flare.

I don't gIve up that easy Ive come a very long way on my build, more then ive ever posted so I'm going to try at least, I'm willing to drop 3-400$ into making mistakes, and tools etc before i go the route of just going with the std AN flare. It all takes practice I know so i need to get the right tools and get to work.

Might discuss this and or "buy" some help from Bill over at Street Wize...

He's a great guy - and specializes in electric and lines..

I just had him here at the shed helping to wire the '55 I'm working on. Made the job far faster and easier than me doing it by myself! Was worth twice what he charged me.


PS -- Glad to see you are willing to "invest" in the hobby... that's what I've always done... I figure tools are nothing but an investment in my fun - and I'd far prefer to do it myself - just because I like to learn and the pride of having "done that"...

Can you PM me his contact info, im intrested in the help for sure.

PM sent

I was thinking about getting the Mastercool one... I'd be interested in some comments from the "experts" :)

I use a Mastercool hydraulic kit frequently... works great! I love that kit.

I've made dozens of successful double flares in annealed stainless brake lines too; I can only think of one that didn't come out as planned. The trick is do NOT use a rotary (pipe) cutter or cutoff wheel as they will work harden the stainless at the cut area leading to the flare cracking. I only cut with a saw and use a file for "fine tuning" the squareness afterwards and either a small round file or a drill bit (by hand) to lightly chamfer the ID. Then, flare as usual. My experience has been that stainless is much more "picky" compared to standard steel brake lines when it comes to the squareness of the cut and proper chamfering prior to performing the flaring operation.

Ned,

I almost didn't respond because you wanted to hear from "the experts"... so I DO NOT QUALIFY..

Personally -- I L O V E mine.... it makes killer flares - and or GM push to connect - metric bubble flares etc. AND because of the way it's set up - you can do repairs etc "on car"...

The one thing I will say -- DO NOT try a GM push connect on STAINLESS... It just doesn't want to work well on that.

A poster in this thread said he didn't like his - too many "parts" - but in my opinion that's just something that goes away with use.

I do 37* AN with a Ridgid tool -- not the MasterCool.

:woot:

So i need to borrow the master cool unit then for the double flare and try that it sounds like. Then come up with a better way to cut the tube. 3/16 is so small to cut I'm going to have to build a jig or something and use a hack saw. Or maybe my air saw? I have limited ways of cutting so I need to get creative.

I cut mine with an air driven "body saw"... You can get real fine blades.

If you don't have one - they're CHEAP at Harbor Freight -- they'll just chew thru blades on the SS tubing.... Then DE BURR -- don't forget that part BEFORE flaring... and I lube the end a bit with spray silicone lube - - and then I blow them out and run some brake clean thru them...

a 2 inch cut off wheel on a die grinder (or a dremel.. i cant believe i even said dremel out loud) works great on stainless, especially if you cet the right discs for stainless, i have some in 1mm thickness (~1/16 thick) that cut thin wall stuff like butter.. just ce sure to blow the debri out before conecting :P

That's It !!!!

I'm ganna make a how to video and show all the different ways and tools of how I make this stuff look like magic.

Damm !!! Now I gotta find the time:willy:

Does it work harden if you just use an axe?
:rofl:

Another vote for the mastercool unit. I have virtually no experience in flaring tubing and was able to double flare the stainless tubing perfectly the first time. I just get a good square cut with a bandsaw and ream the inside. Makes a perfect double flare everytime. Check the web and you can find these tools for less than $275 shipped with all the dies. Here is a link that I started on this tool from the sister protouring site.
http://www.pro-touring.com/forum/sho...ght=mastercool

So instead of fighting the double 45 flares i bought adapters to convert everything over to 3an only needed 12 for the car most will go on the abs unit here.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...C_3594-set.jpg