Steel brake pipe flaring tool

[Wedg1e]

not in a pipe thats sealed , never had a bother with it at all ,, few drops that leak out , but they fall on the floor ,,, it certainly does not burn easier than petrol more like oil and without the oxygen its grand. I keep a wet rag to hand in case though ,,, now if your vaporizing it on a hot manifold things may be different .

I presumed you were talking about annealing old pipe at a cut end to make it easier to flare; of course it wouldn't ignite in a sealed pipe.
It went up like bu99ery off the manifold! When I've spilled petrol on a hot manifold it usually just boils off and hisses a bit.

 

[tom2207]

I presumed you were talking about annealing old pipe at a cut end to make it easier to flare; of course it wouldn't ignite in a sealed pipe.
It went up like bu99ery off the manifold! When I've spilled petrol on a hot manifold it usually just boils off and hisses a bit.

yep annealing the cut end ,,, you cant flare a sealed pipe ,,, Ive cut up dozens of land rovers for scrap with the oxy acet , never yet have I had a brake fluid fire ,,, but no harm being cautious. With a damp rag to hand I have no reservations about heating the open end of a brake pipe , it really shouldnt make a difference , but it seems to.

 

[doubleboost]

I've used this type of generic hand held thingy for the steel pipes in situ under a land rover.
It worked fine, and on the kunifer that replaced the steel.
They can be had much cheaper than the one linked.

use this type for steel all the time

 

[JohnH]

DIN/ISO is the only one I use.

Making up a Cupro Nickle pipe with Sealey ISO pipe fittings

Steel pipe on the car. Works beautifully.

I do have a SP bench/vice one somewhere but never use it.

 

[MetalMonkey]

I've not had good luck with those hand held ones at all, greased up and used carefully on kunifer and the threads just rip right out of the sintered block after a handful of uses. Had it replaced, replacement did the same thing.
Got another one for DIN which I barely used and that is starting to go too. Maybe they have improved the material.

Gave up on them and invested in SP, bench mounted and a bargain Flaremaster 2 instead.

 

[Erie Fred]

I keep a few rolls in stock, and simply replace the whole run.
flare the one end on the bench, remember to slip the nut on first, when done, tape
the nut to the end, and cover the end.
Start fishing it from front to back, and then cut and flare the other end under the car.
The tape keeps the nut from sliding away from the joint, and keeps the dirt out as I'm threading/fishing it thru
the frame.

 

[JohnH]

I keep a few rolls in stock, and simply replace the whole run.
flare the one end on the bench, remember to slip the nut on first, when done, tape
the nut to the end, and cover the end.
Start fishing it from front to back, and then cut and flare the other end under the car.
The tape keeps the nut from sliding away from the joint, and keeps the dirt out as I'm threading/fishing it thru
the frame.

So do I, but in this case a MINI R50 it meant removing the exhaust and heat shields and to be honest I didn't want to do that. The important point is that sometimes you need to work the pipe on the car and that particular flaring tool is ideal for that.

 

[Erie Fred]

So do I, but in this case a MINI R50 it meant removing the exhaust and heat shields and to be honest I didn't want to do that. The important point is that sometimes you need to work the pipe on the car and that particular flaring tool is ideal for that.

I have pre-assembled the whole run, but it involves taking it out/in a few times.
I find that trying to put in a splice, you keep cutting back to find good steel, and never do.

 

[tom2207]

some of the brake pipes round engine bays would be days of work if you cant join them . I can think of some that are installed on bodies before engine and chassis go together and then the whole lots bolted together ,, then shields , guards and tanks , even old mondeos were grim and they came with pension books not log books,

 

[doubleboost]

Most cars now have plastic coated pipes .
Only the last few inches corrode .
It is very common practice to cut re flare and join steel pipe to copper.
I use a opp1 into a male male connector.
You can use a opp1 on the steel and a opp 2 on the copper .
I warm the pipe to melt the plastic and then wipe it off with
a bit of rag.
To put full pipes on some cars would be a monumental tasc .
As long as the pipe is nicely cut (pipe cutter not hack saw)
Debured clean and dry it will flare very nicely i put CV grease on the former .

 

[graffian]

I did a lot of steel to copper pipes, probably a few most days at one time.
I have a pipe squasher from the snap-on man, I hadn't a clue about pipe flares
when I bought it, it's pretty bad and I had to redo flares loads of times on steel pipes.
Then I acquired the cheap thing in the photo below.

The problem with the crappy tool[snap-on] was if the pipe slipped you had to
chop 3/4" inch of pipe off and have another go. I felt pretty lucky if I got a decent
flare and the pipe didn't slip again.

The cheap tool puts a nice flare on steel underneath a car almost every time, the
slip problem is a rare problem. I don't think it's slipped on copper or kunifer.

Pip broken off the die has never been a problem.

 

[malcolm]

Thanks for the replies. The new Flaremaster 2 arrived and I've been playing with it this morning. It makes nice flares in steel so I should be good to finish the job.

The lines are plastic coated and look brand new apart from on a bend above the fuel tank where one had corroded. Not like the old days of steel pipes on Renault 4s where the whole pipe is rusty.

 

[armalites]

The Flaremaster 2 is an excellent tool, makes perfect flares every time effortlessly. It's a shame they don't do a die for 1/4 pipe, I'm sure it would flare it no problem especially in kunifer or copper.

I've got the full Sykes vice mounted kit too and that is excellent too, you can make a double flare literally in seconds.

 

[armalites]

Thanks for the replies. The new Flaremaster 2 arrived and I've been playing with it this morning. It makes nice flares in steel so I should be good to finish the job.

The lines are plastic coated and look brand new apart from on a bend above the fuel tank where one had corroded. Not like the old days of steel pipes on Renault 4s where the whole pipe is rusty.

Did you get the full kit with the cutter and bender?

 

[malcolm]

Did you get the full kit with the cutter and bender?

I've got the cutter and bender already so just went for the basic kit.

 

[armalites]

The Flaremaster 2 and bench/vise mounted Sykes are so nice to use I sometimes make a flare just for joy of doing it when I haven't made one for a while....

Almost as big a grin is generated by using the Kwix pipe straightener

I know I'm a saddo