Brake Flaring Tool

As its not something I use often, I usually borrow a mates when I need one. But I'm the kind of person who doesn't want to have to rely on someone else if possible, so thinking of buying one. His is an off vehicle one, but I would like one that does a good job on and off vehicle. Sykes Pickavant and Snap On (Blue Point) look good but expensive for occasional use. Might consider these if reasonable second hand. Can anyone recommend what I need firstly and what's worked for them. Cheers

I changed the lines on an old car I was fixing up, I think I just got a cheap flaring set from Toolstation, it was cheap but did the job. Took a couple of practices to get it right (bubble flares) but once you have the knack the rest were all perfect

No matter what or which flaring tool you get, the most important part of making a good flare is cutting the tube absolutely square and preferably without hacksaw filings. You'd be well advised to get a proper tube cutter at the same time and treat both tools, cutter and flaring tool as a kit. With a true end on the pipe, almost any flaring tool will produce acceptable results.

@brian47 @JimS Cheers for comments. Mates kit has a pipe cutter in it, so would defo get one as not expensive. I should have said, are any of the kits ok to flare the existing steel pipe as I would like to join the copper and steel pipe just inside the inner wing of my Disco.

Don't bothér with the ****e ones from halfords, laserline etc. They tend not to flare straight. ended up getting this one which has been excellent: Amazon product

I've got the one @Mingus has linked to. Works great, don't know if it will flare steel pipes though.

steel pipes require special collets and a lot of pressure, i doubt you do steel pipes with most cheaper tools

All this not flaring straight is bullsh!te I have used from the cheapest flaring kit available to snap on ones
& mine are perfect, if it flares squint you have too much pipe sticking out the end of the press & therefor it bends...........

After you have cut your pipe chamfer the end before flaring, just take the corner off it this will give you
a nice round flare every time

Mingus said:

Don't bothér with the ****e ones from halfords, laserline etc. They tend not to flare straight. ended up getting this one which has been excellent: Amazon product

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Ordered one of these earlier today. I'll let you know how it goes. Cheers.

kevstar said:

All this not flaring straight is bullsh!te I have used from the cheapest flaring kit available to snap on ones
& mine are perfect, if it flares squint you have too much pipe sticking out the end of the press & therefor it bends...........

After you have cut your pipe chamfer the end before flaring, just take the corner off it this will give you
a nice round flare every time

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How do you chamfer it? With a file or what. Inside dia or outside dia ?

meego said:

How do you chamfer it? With a file or what. Inside dia or outside dia ?

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just use a pipe cutter

jamesmartin said:

just use a pipe cutter

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Cheers James. Got one of those ordered too.

meego said:

Cheers James. Got one of those ordered too.

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thats all you need

jamesmartin said:

just use a pipe cutter

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+1 ^^^^^

As I said in post #3, use a tube or pipe cutter. That way you get an accurate square end, a slight chamfer on the outside of the end of the pipe and no metal filings like if you'd used a hacksaw or Dremel. After that it's just a case of setting the flaring tool correctly as @kevstar said in post #8.
The more you try to remove the very slight burr from the inside of the pipe after cutting, the more bits of swarf and filings you'll have to try to clean out before you use the pipe. The burr is so slight it won't affect anything if it's left alone.

I just use the cheap £10 one from ching Chong too

Worked for years with no issues

brian47 said:

+1 ^^^^^
The more you try to remove the very slight burr from the inside of the pipe after cutting, the more bits of swarf and filings you'll have to try to clean out before you use the pipe. The burr is so slight it won't affect anything if it's left alone.

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Pinch the hoover & use with the crevice tool.
I have a 'Henry' which is for garage use & bodywork (use it with Mirka abranet for sanding filler) so don't need to wait until Mrs R is out

Ratae said:

Pinch the hoover & use with the crevice tool.
I have a 'Henry' which is for garage use & bodywork (use it with Mirka abranet for sanding filler) so don't need to wait until Mrs R is out

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That's OK for a new, clean, dry pipe, but what happens when you're flaring an existing pipe which has the residue of fluid in it, such as when making a repair by cutting in a new piece to replace a damaged length?

'I have a 'Henry' which is for garage use'.
Minor amounts of liquid have never bothered it.
The amount you're going to get out for a quick pass over the end is negligible. By the time you've finished cutting & flaring there's never much fluid left anyway. If you're really bothered then use a piece of cloth over the end of the crevice tool to absorb whatever's left. A Henry will easily suck through a bit of cloth.

Ratae said:

'I have a 'Henry' which is for garage use'.
Minor amounts of liquid have never bothered it.
The amount you're going to get out for a quick pass over the end is negligible. By the time you've finished cutting & flaring there's never much fluid left anyway. If you're really bothered then use a piece of cloth over the end of the crevice tool to absorb whatever's left. A Henry will easily suck through a bit of cloth.

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I wasn't worried about sucking out any fluid, I was more worried about filings and swarf being stuck in the fluid residue and being unable to clean it out after cutting. The last thing you would want is bits of metal working their way into a slave cylinder and damaging either the seals or worse still scratching the bore.

brian47 said:

That's OK for a new, clean, dry pipe, but what happens when you're flaring an existing pipe which has the residue of fluid in it, such as when making a repair by cutting in a new piece to replace a damaged length?

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I don't bother, for the time it takes you might as well run a while new line and be sure, original pipes will be steel and if rotten/damaged the DIY kit isn't really strong enough to do ought, if it's a damaged cupronickel line then the small pipe cutter will make it clean cut and bevelled enough to get a decent flare on it under there.