Which brake pipe flare?

[davepoth]

I bought a cheap one, and it's completely useless. That'll teach me for buying cheap. What's a good kit to buy for around £20-30?

[MattYorke]

FWIW, I think the cheap ones produced by Laser, Sealey, etc are not only not fit for the job - they're dangerous - ones like this. The consistency and repeatablity of them is exceptionally poor, and unless you know better, casual DIYers might not realise how bad they are. (Yup, I'm making a big statement here. DO NOT use this type)

The one I bought many years ago is not a full hydraulic "pro" job - but pretty damn good and gives me good quality flares every time. Can't find the exact model now, but it looks very similar to the - draper expert one - if I had to replace mine, this is what I'd be looking at, short of going for a full pro hydraulic jobbie. (My link is to the imperial version. They also do a metric - make sure you have the right one. )

[steveo3002]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BRAKE-PIPE-FLARING-TOOL-...

ive got nothing but praise for this style of flarer , makes nice flares every time and no nasty teeth marks in the pipe

can be used on the car or in a vice

[ShiningWit]

^^ No good for putting a flare on steel pipe to joint to though I found, it just slid off.

[davepoth]

Thanks guys. I'm doing the pipes in kunifer which is nice and soft, so this type will do the job.

[ch427]

I think you may have that the wrong way round, kunifer (cupro nickel) is hard and copper is soft. I dont know of a cheap tool that will flare the cupro nickel, its hard to work with.

[steveo3002]

the style i linked works great with cupro nickel /kunifer , ive done 3 whole cars with mine so far and its not slipped once

[garagewidow]

I bought a similar version of one of these.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/190294673533?limghl...

around 140 quid if I remember,british made and good quality,will do thin wall steel pipe up to 3/8" too.(tried all the flares with different materials)

when it comes to brakes take no risks.ok it's dearer but you have it for life.

[Auntieroll]

+1,

I' ve had a SP cam action one for thirty years, hundreds of brake pipes swaged with it, the only bad thing about it is the initial cost, but what price safety?

[garagewidow]

here's the one I bought,....

http://www.jhmbuttco.com/acatalog/Shop_Flaring_Too...

[Pesty]

davepoth said:

Thanks guys. I'm doing the pipes in kunifer which is nice and soft, so this type will do the job.

Kunifer isn't that soft. I got three good ISO flairs out of mine then it just wouldn't play any more. ( same as £33 eBay link above) then but the bullet and bought a decent one.

Actually got it second hand from eBay and it's awesome.

Edited by Pesty on Friday 20th March 16:47

[lufbramatt]

When I replaced all the hard lines on my passat I got hold of a sealey pft08 flare tool. Every flare sealed perfectly and they all worked first time. I used cunifer tubing. Not the cheapest but very easy to use.