Ok, I shouldn't be posting cause Im no expert on ANYTHING.. But...
Ill be honest, the flares look good. #1 looks the best. The nut wont go down? Like Greg said, a lil too much clamping prolly. You raised the metal to form a burr on the outside of the tube. Thats still salvagable. Remove the burr and let the nut slide down.
#2 looks a lil short on the flare surface. Thats just a matter of getting the correct stick out. Im sure you used the same stick out for all three. So what I see is the bubble is large and limited the amount of metal for the inside flare section. Almost looks like the first op ( the bubble making operation was not far enough in, make a tighter bubble, compress it a lil more before you do the second op).
#3 doesnt look bad at all. Still maybe a lil short on the cup, but better than #2.
#1 looks like a good flare IMO. Remember, its ALL about the flare. The cup. The bubble is just there to resist the nut so it can clamp the inside flare cup to the male flare.
When doing the first op, forming the bubble, take it down far enough so it almost bends the outer edge in. Look to compress the bubble so you have an even angle on both sides of the bubble. Too short of a compression on the first stage will make for a short inner cup. The outer edge will bend before the back side of the bubble and make for a short cup.
I think you have it down. The first flare is a good one, besides the outside of the tube being a lil deformed. Looking good. JR
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