- Joined
- Oct 8, 2019
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- 535
Spent the last couple weekends bending brake and fuel lines and being new at it I made some mental notes I thought I would share for anyone planning to give it a try.
My only experience is with Nicopp, and the only tip I have there is spend a little extra and get decent quality. I’ve read that some of the stuff on eBay and Amazon is fake and is actually steel core. I used some from The Stop Shop on Amazon my 3/16 came from AutoZone, all was real Nicopp.
Flaring:
Put the nut on the tube before you flare it! This should go without saying, but I’m sure everyone forgets once in a while. I did it once last weekend and again today.
Clean up any burrs in the tubing, and square the ends. I used a burr removal tool for the inside and 400 grit sandpaper on a block for the ends and outside edges. On the smaller 3/16 tubing I used the tip on a paddle bit for the inside.
Make sure the die lines up properly with the tube. I’m using a Mastercool tool for flaring and generally it works really well. On one flare yesterday (at the end of my most complex bend) the die didn’t center correctly and when I pressed it put a divot in flare on the first press, then the cone press cracked it.
The Mastercool 37* flare dies are for double flare, AN fittings use single. In order to do the single flares you can skip the first step and just use the cone. When doing this you need to recess the tubing in from the normal position or the flare will be too big.
Bending:
Get a tubing straightener, it makes a huge difference if you want it to look good. I purchased 3/16, 5/16, and 3/8 straighteners on Amazon. The 3/16 is a Titan brand and worked better than the other 2 cheaper ones. If I could do over I’d get the better Titan brand in all 3 sizes. The others worked, just not as well.
Make templates with scrap pieces and use them to calculate where your bends should start and finish. If you mark your measurement on the tubing and put that mark on 0 on your bender, your going to be long. You get the idea, just figure out for each size tubing where you need to place the tubing in the bender.
Cut long until you’ve finished all your bends. I started at the hard end of a piece and worked my way to the other end. Once all the bends where done and everything lined up, I trim the end and flare to finish.
I used several benders depending on the tubing. The one with blue handles is the nicest, but although it claims to do 3/16 (in a 1/4” slot) it doesn’t without flattening. Make sure the bender has the correct size grooves for the tubing you’re bending.
Bending pliers come in handy for small bends, especially on short pieces. I used these in several places where I couldn’t fit the other benders.
You can use pipe, buckets, or anything round (I used a Can Cooker for one bend) to bend larger curves around. I’ve seen videos where guys used pipe to make coils in Nicopp.
Hopefully this will be helpful to someone and if others have tips please post them.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
My only experience is with Nicopp, and the only tip I have there is spend a little extra and get decent quality. I’ve read that some of the stuff on eBay and Amazon is fake and is actually steel core. I used some from The Stop Shop on Amazon my 3/16 came from AutoZone, all was real Nicopp.
Flaring:
Put the nut on the tube before you flare it! This should go without saying, but I’m sure everyone forgets once in a while. I did it once last weekend and again today.
Clean up any burrs in the tubing, and square the ends. I used a burr removal tool for the inside and 400 grit sandpaper on a block for the ends and outside edges. On the smaller 3/16 tubing I used the tip on a paddle bit for the inside.
Make sure the die lines up properly with the tube. I’m using a Mastercool tool for flaring and generally it works really well. On one flare yesterday (at the end of my most complex bend) the die didn’t center correctly and when I pressed it put a divot in flare on the first press, then the cone press cracked it.
The Mastercool 37* flare dies are for double flare, AN fittings use single. In order to do the single flares you can skip the first step and just use the cone. When doing this you need to recess the tubing in from the normal position or the flare will be too big.
Bending:
Get a tubing straightener, it makes a huge difference if you want it to look good. I purchased 3/16, 5/16, and 3/8 straighteners on Amazon. The 3/16 is a Titan brand and worked better than the other 2 cheaper ones. If I could do over I’d get the better Titan brand in all 3 sizes. The others worked, just not as well.
Make templates with scrap pieces and use them to calculate where your bends should start and finish. If you mark your measurement on the tubing and put that mark on 0 on your bender, your going to be long. You get the idea, just figure out for each size tubing where you need to place the tubing in the bender.
Cut long until you’ve finished all your bends. I started at the hard end of a piece and worked my way to the other end. Once all the bends where done and everything lined up, I trim the end and flare to finish.
I used several benders depending on the tubing. The one with blue handles is the nicest, but although it claims to do 3/16 (in a 1/4” slot) it doesn’t without flattening. Make sure the bender has the correct size grooves for the tubing you’re bending.
Bending pliers come in handy for small bends, especially on short pieces. I used these in several places where I couldn’t fit the other benders.
You can use pipe, buckets, or anything round (I used a Can Cooker for one bend) to bend larger curves around. I’ve seen videos where guys used pipe to make coils in Nicopp.
Hopefully this will be helpful to someone and if others have tips please post them.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
