Hi all,

Been having a go at flaring up some brake pipes today, but I haven't had much luck forming nice flares.

All the flares I've made have had a ridge on them as shown in the photo below. Any ideas what might be causing this? I'm using a (rather old) Sykes Pickavant cam action tool I've borrowed.



I've tried sanding and de burring the end of the pipe, have cut it as square as I can get and have made sure the correct amount of pipe is sticking out towards the die (enough to be flush with the end of the pipe clamp), but I keep getting the same result :-(

Jek

Have you tried slightly less pipe through the clamp?

I tried using a little less so that the pipe is inset inside the clamp slightly, but I got pretty much the same result unfortunately.

Probably the tool you are using... I had a clark one and couldn't get it to work very well. Borrowed a bench mounted one in the end and it worked like a charm..

I'm also using a bench mounted one, I think its a good quality one too, or at least it was when new!

I'm wandering whether the dies are now past their best though.

hi have you tried useing the female end after you have done the male (dont compress the female as much ) that normaly gets rid of the edge

I would say that was just about perfect. Try compressing a sample in a female fitting to see how it seals!

im pretty sure that when you fit that flare up to the union and do it up tight it will seal nicely, the copper is soft and will smooth out as it gets deformed between the two unions, ive made some shocking looking flares before,(offcentre, ridged etc), a lot of times i doubted they would seal but they always have. maybe just gently smooth the flare with some 400 grit paper. but obviously make sure its cleaned well before you assemble

Hi guys, thanks for the encouraging advice, I'll have another go tomorrow. I tried making a double flare and it came out looking good so looks like it will be ok.

Cheers,
Jek

Are you using the correct punch with the correct die? Metric items for op1 are different from imperial as are the dies. Have seen worse flares seal with no problems

I think I'm using the correct die for the punch, I've only got the one die, but it seems to be a good fit for the pipe?

Just to go slightly off topic, I don't have a pipe cutter, so I've just been using a mini hacksaw and file to cut the pipe - I thought this was fine before I started to worry about swarf falling into the pipe during sawing/filing. Is this method a bad idea?

Are you cutting the pipe with a proper cutter and reaming the end before flaring ?

as already said looks spot on to me, neater than some i have made and are still sealed after a couple of years!

Another vote for ok.
Mine, (also an old SP) does the same and have done a few hundred flares with no failures.

[Edited on 20/2/10 by NigeEss]

I'll give more support to the positive side, I think they're spot on, very tidy & symetrical. they'll finish forming perfectly when tightened into the union.
Could you come & teach the boy at work how to do them?!

Glad to hear it, I must have done about 20 flares today trying to get it to remove that small ridge haha!

Still not sure if its ok to be using a hacksaw and a file to cut the pipe though? It occurred to me that I might be getting filings falling inside the pipe which might not be a good idea?

Jek

[Edited on 20/2/10 by JekRankin]

When you cut, angle the pipe slightly down and after shake any filings out. A quick dress with
file on the outside and the tip of a stanley on the inner.

[Edited on 20/2/10 by NigeEss]

quote:

---

Originally posted by hillbillyracer
Could you come & teach the boy at work how to do them?!

---

A pipe cutter is cheap and saves a lot of time as well as giving neat cuts.
Go on - treat yourself

you'll be fine with that as-is, just make sure you pressure test the system before you use it on the road. Stand on the pedal as hard as you can and get somebody else to go over every connection with a lamp and see that there are no weeps anywhere.

PS blow all your pipes out with clean compressed air before you fit them, no swarf worries then

Ps ps, pipe cutters can be more trouble than they are worth. Yes they cut symmetrically, but they also burr the inner wall of the pipe inwards, which is a pain to ream off, and if any is left in there the punch shears it off and leaves it in the pipe when you flare it.