Anybody tried the "Flaremaster" brake flaring tool offered by the Eastwood Co.?

 

I have there as good as any you can get from people like Sears or snap-on.

 

Are they double flaring tools?

 

Yes they are.

 

So...

Is that good or bad?

 

If this is a once in a life time purchase, try to get a line flaring tool that can handle both 37 (-an) and 45 degree double flares.

 

I recently had occassion to flare some steel fuel lines. Since the factory lines were double flared, I wanted to do the same. I bought a set of double flaring dies (they work with any flaring tool with enough reach) from the local tool store, and then tried several flaring tools which had been sitting in my tool box for many years.

All of the tools which used two wing nuts to secure the tubing (like Eastwood's low-end products) tended to slip and give unsatisfactory results. The one tool that did work well was a Ridgid (semi-pro plumber's) flaring tool. This one uses a second lead screw on the C-clamp that does the actual flaring. This second lead screw acts to clamp down the tubing right at the position being used, rather than at opposite ends of the multi-position clamping beam. Plus the materials and construction were beefier than the generic flaring tools, which seem to be suitable only for single flares on copper tubing.

It takes some practice to make leak-free double flares. If you cut the tubing with a rotary tubing cutter, be sure to ream out the inside diameter of the tubing back to the original size before starting to double flare. (Use a suitable size drill bit or a Phillips screwdriver). This makes a big difference in the smoothness of that portion of the steel which will form the sealing end of the double flare.

Buy plenty of extra tubing. You WILL forget to put on the flare fitting, bend the tubing in the wrong place, end up too short, etc. Your "boneyard" of failed efforts will end up as big as the actual finished work. Pressure test your work on one portion before making up all the lines.

 

I you are not confident in what you are buying don't buy it. I have used the wing nut style holding fixture they work fine for the home,they do the job.Keep your cuts clean, no hack saws use a tubing cutter debur your edges. Fallow the instructions of the tool and there shoud be no problems. If you don't think you can flar a line take it to some one who can.Like every thing in life the more you use tools, knowage, patiences the easyer it is to get things done.

 

fefarms, takes some practice to make leak-free double flairs? You have never been trained properly, followed instructions or working with sub standard equipment. Twin wingnut muti size clamps slip? Been using a Imperial-Eastman Corporation No. 93-FB over 30 years without slipping, or "leaks". Good the first time every time, only with used cheapo crap tubing will a seam split. Use a counter-sink for the inside and a small fine tooth single cut file for the outside, add oil to the flair. Sorry to get on your case but the wifes not in.
Carl....=o&o>....

 

It take only one tool to do the job. I have never had a leak form any repair useing it and will go on useing it the tools don't make the repair I do. If I did not trust in what my skills are in 30 years in the auto service industry I would not still be doing it. I have used your high priced tool in the past but it is yours not mine and my training has you worryed. As I said the tool does not make the repair I do!

 

I was flaring 5/16ths and 3/8ths steel fuel line. This is a tougher to flare material than the usual 3/16ths steel brake line, and way tougher than the copper tubing most flaring tools were nominally designed for. The other issue is that the 5/16ths hole is right in the middle of the group of holes in the clamping beam. This position is the farthest from the fulcrum on those two-wing-nut clamp arrangements. You can clamp the tubing in the tool and visually see the cheaper tools distort into a "smile" from the pressure instead of remaining straight beams and gripping the tubing firmly.

The Ridgid flaring tool cost about $30 when I bought it 6 years ago. The cheap Chinese flaring tools cost about $15.00. The Ridgid tool clamps the part right at the location being used, eliminating the fulcrum problem. The clamp and beam are obviously made of stronger material and do not bend when as you crank down the clamp and then work the flaring screw. In my opinion, the better tool is well worth the modest price difference.

Training and practice may eliminate the stupid mistakes, but I don't see how that would have addressed the obvious problems with the lighter tool bending and distorting when used on the heavier material.

 

Gentlemen we are here to help each other. Please remember that.