I think I might have tried wrapping the tube with a cigarette paper if it
slipped that bad on me. Or two, or three. They ain't as cheap as they used to
be, but the old Zig-zags come in real handy every now and then in the shop.

GWE

its me wrote:

"Jeff Wisnia" wrote in message
...

Last nite the kid comes upstairs from the garage and asks me to show him
how to make a double flare an some 3/16" steel brake tubing he's patching
up his '95 Honda Civic with.

It's been maybe 20 years since I made a double flare, so I Googled up a
nice set of photos for him which showed how far the tubing should project
from the tool when starting out. (By using the thickness of the base of
the "first stage" button die as a gage.)

All I own is an old single flare tool from copper tubing days, so the kid
had borrowed a double flaring tool from Auto Zone when he picked up the
tubing and fittings he needed.

The tool looked brand new, but had the earmarks of being a cheap import.
There was no recognizable brand name on it or it's spotlessly clean red
plastic box, and no instruction sheet with it. But it looked just like the
tool I remembered making double flares with a long time ago.

I thought it would be a snap to make the first flare for the son and let
him do the rest, but 'twas not to be.

No matter how hard I tightened the clamping screws, even using some
leverage on them, the tubing slipped through that #$%^$#@ clamp every time
I tried to make the first stage flare. I cut back the tubing a couple of
times after a failed try, thinking a fresh start would help. I even tried
degreasing the tubing and the tool's jaws with acetone. That didn't work
either. (This morning I thought that maybe I should have tried putting a
little emery powder in the jaws, but I'm keeping my hands off that project
until I get over tha agony of defeat.)

Yes, the tubing miked at .178"-181" and the tool's clamp hole was labeled
3/16". The tubing didn't feel extra hard or too soft, so was it me or the
tool?

Try as I could, I couldn't make even one flare for the kid, and it took
some will power to avoid flinging that tool, box and all, into the woods
behind the house. Only the thought of the $20 deposit he'd left at Auto
Zone stopped me.

When I eyeballed the serrations in the tool's clamp hole they looked lousy
and were hardly file tooth sharp. They looked more like I'd expect to see
on a tool that already had lots of flares under its belt.

I think I probably should have tacked this message on as a reply to one of
the "Are HF tools any good?" threads, cause it sure seems like it had to
be the tool, not me, that defeated me last night.

Did I miss anyting? Is there something particularly difficult about using
a double flare tool on 3/16' steel tubing, or some trick which has to be
used to keep the tubing from slipping through the clamp.

Or, am I correct in blaming my abject failure on a cheap copy of a
traditional tool design, which when made with proper materials and
techniques, has stood the test of time.

I told the kid to bite the bullet and buy a brand new preformed brake line
from a Honda dealer or see if he can get lucky at an auto recycler. The
original Honda tubing has a pretty heavy plastic sheathing on it too,
which looks like it's there to help avoid corrosion, so it might be best
to use that instead of naked steel anyway.

Thanks guys,

Jeff
--
Jeffry Wisnia

(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)

"Truth exists; only falsehood has to be invented."


I had to use one of these imported POS flaring tools to make several double
flares and I had the same problem with the tubing not being clamped
properly. In desperation I used a Vicegrip pliers to assist in clamping the
tube. It worked but what a pain in the a**. Try as I might to find an
American made or other quality flaring tool in our town of three hardware
and three auto part stores was to no avail. I was told that no one would buy
them if they would stock a quality tool.
Steve