I've watched a bunch of YouTube vids, bought the right tools (or at least I think so), and made a bunch of practice pieces, but I still can't get a satisfactory flare. I'm at a bit of a loss. 3/16" nicopp, bubble flares
Here are the worst of them. Oblong, rough openings, and just generally ugly. Am I deburring too much? Not enough? Too much pressure? Too little?
And the tools for reference
Nothing personal, but wow those are bad!
I would go back over the instruction sheet to find out what step you are doing is wrong.
In reply to Noddaz :
Trust me, no offense taken! That's the thing, though. I'm pretty confident I'm not missing any steps. Maybe deburring incorrectly? I think im going to try to find a small round file and ditch my current deburring tool
Is the tool new? Maybe it's the picture but the 3/16 die looks wonky as all get out.
In reply to paddygarcia :
Yep. Brand new tool. I hadn't noticed that in the 3/16 die. I'm pretty sure that's just a shadow, but I'll have to check it out. That'd definitely explain things
Especially with nicopp you should get lovely results with square cuts and a little deburring. Are you going slow with the tubing cutter? Lots of turns, not much pressure on the cutting wheel.
I came in expecting to find you were using the cheap FLAPs flare kits which at best can be described as terrible. But that tool, at least that style is an excellent one and I've found it to make great flares. However the specific brand is one I've never heard of. Its a copy of the one that Easwood sells which is what I use with great success. So if its the tool then its a manufacturing issue with the tool. Otherwise Im not sure what to say, those are some terrible flares.
How are you cutting the tube? Pipe cutter? Anything else won't work.
Which side of the clamping die are you using?
The tapered side is different than the square side and they are labeled DIN and SAE respectively for the type of flare
I am a big proponent of that style tool. I've been using an eastwood version weekly for a decade now.
The only time I have had similar issues is when the purchasing department decided to "save" money and bought the cheapest brake line Amazon had to offer. Super flimsy stuff that bent in odd ways.
The spools of nicopp from the hydraulics supplier fixed the issue right away
They really are awful, aren't they? Lol
As far as tools go, I do have a tube cutter, and I've probably been a little too aggressive with it based on these comments. I'm also pretty sure I've been overdoing it with the deburring tool as well. I got this setup after watching a superfastmatt YouTube video. I figured if they worked for his land speed car, they'd be alright for my junk. It's an Amazon copy of the Eastwood tool, but it was still nearly $200. If I could do it over again, I'd probably spring for the Eastwood, but it's too late for that now.
The line's also an Amazon special. Again, not the bottom of the barrel, at least based on price, but I guess that doesn't really mean anything. I'll keep trying practice pieces with this line while I try to find a more reputable source for higher quality 3/16" nicopp
And again, thanks for all the help and feedback, guys. I feel pretty stupid struggling with this stuff, especially with all the wild projects going on here.
I may be doing it wrong, but I don't normally debur at all if I use a sharp tubing cutter.
Maybe try one without deburring?
Figured I'd make a follow up post-success! 6 perfect flares. Seems like bad material was the culprit. I ended up ordering a new roll from a different supplier (thestopshop on Amazon). The difference is pretty drastic.
Embarrassingly, it only cost about $1.50 more than the original roll I bought. By trying to save $1.50, I put myself out $30. It could be worse, I guess lol
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