im planning on picking up one from matco this week since they deliver.

 

Did you experience the same problem with the inability to properly align the die?! There's no easy way to make sure everything is level...



The tool should take care of itself -- the tolerance shouldn't be so high that it requires quickgrips and a vice to make sure everything is level.



I'll see if I can locate a Snap-On tool to do the job...

 

Yeah. That and the actual flare always ended up too big or the fold was irregular. I think at first i was tightening too much?



Cutting it perfectly straight helps and doing a good gob deburring, take your time there, although its kinda hard to mess that up...





Also, the summit line clamp thingy made ulgy imprints in the tube. The Snapon one didnt leave a mark at all.



I really think the more you do it, the better they will get. Like i said, i can use the summit one that I own now (had to reroute a line) if you are super careful. Get some scrap and flare....you'll get it.

 

It DOES leave a nasty mark! I filed the ends as much as possible, but I didn't actually do anything to the inside of the tubing. It doesn't look at all rough to the naked eye, but I guess that could be one point of failure in the flaring process.



I'm going to wrestle with it tonight and see. I'll pick up something that I can use to deburr the inside of the tubing...

 

Cut the tubing with a dremel cut off wheel. That way it leave a clean cut

 

That's an idea. I've been using a standard tubing cutter. I'll try that as well.