Thorstone Single Flaring Tool & Swaging Tool Kit

I use it frequently, did a whole car with it without issues. I'd buy this kit again.

This kit works as advertised and did a great job of double flaring my brake lines. No leaks when assembled. This set is not professional grade, but definitely good enough for the occasional user. No complaints.

This style of tool is far more difficult to use than the in-line variety (e.g. OEMTOOLS 24364 In-Line Flaring Tool Kit, currently unavailable), but is also much cheaper. I took off one star because of the style of the tool, even though this is a well made example of that style. Tips, for 5/16" NiCu tubing double flare: 1) extend the tube beyond the clamp a little farther than recommended to provide more metal for the bulge, about 30% extra worked well for me. 2) for the first compression use high force to screw the adapter down so it is completely flat on the flaring bar. During the first compression the adapter will usually tilt askew, but forcing it all the way down will even it out. 3) for the second compression do not force the flaring cone all the way down, instead screw it down until it touches the tubing, then tighten it a little at a time, each time retracting the flaring cone so you can see what the flare looks like. Continue until the flare looks right. 4) some have said the grooves on the flaring bar wear out after as little as 10 uses. a possible fix, which I have not tried, is to wrap the tubing in fine grit sandpaper with the abrasive side touching the tubing.

I used this tool to make a brake line to connect my master cylinder to the proportioning valve. I don't know if it was me or the previous owner who damaged the 7/16 - 24 tube nut. The damaged thread made installing the brake line to the master cylinder difficult. The undamaged 3/16 - 24 tube nut went on in seconds. I bought a 3/16" brass tube from a hobby shop and placed one end in the tool. There were no instructions to indicate how much of the tube should be above the tool. I tried two different heights with unuseable double flares. On my third attempt I got a nicely formed double flare. It fit perfectly on the tube nut. My fourth try also produced a nicely formed double flare. All I have to do now is bend the tube in the approximate shape of the existing brake line. After double flaring brass tubes, I bought a stainless steel tube with .028 wall thickness. I placed the stainless steel tube in the flaring bar and was able to make a nice double flare. I placed the other end of the tube in the flaring bar and turned the handle. This time there was no bubble. I removed the adapter and tried to flare the tube. There was no flare on the tube and the end of the tube was below the surface of the flaring bar. I removed the tube from the flaring bar and tried again. Same results. I discovered that the flaring bar was no longer holding the tube in place. It turns out the stainless steel tube wore down the threads that hold the tubes in place. This tool will not work with stainless steel more than one time.

This thing is horrible. It wouldn’t clamp onto 3/16 brake line tight enough so you can’t flare it because it keeps sliding. One of the wing nuts was broke when I got it, and the pin fell out of the other one. Harbor freight has a flaring kit for $19.99 that’s way better than this and actually works.

As a single woman, working on my 1948 GMC Pickup Truck complete restoration and maintenance of my 1941 Chevrolet 2 door coupe - brake lines were missing in a few spots as well as rusted-out fuel lines being a problem. This kit did the job. I would have never believed that I would be able to make my own quality brake (and fuel) lines. Saved hundreds of dollars, while having complete control over exactly how I wanted to route any new hydraulic lines in and around frame and body parts. It took me a couple of "practice" flares before I mastered the "double flare" technique - but now I can do it with my eyes closed. Have already made a few lines from male-friends of mine in our vintage car club.

One of the lockdown bolts on the die stripped on the fourth flare. The tightening bar is small diameter & short, impossible to over tighten. I was able to find a bolt in my shop that matched the threads and allow me to finish the flare I was making. But I ordered a higher quality tool to finish the job. I don’t flare a lot of fittings, was hoping that I could get by with this tool. Maybe the threads in the tool I got were just a quality control failure, the rest of the tool seems OK. But it still cost me in the end.

After borrowing a flare tool for years i took a gamble and bought a no-name cheapo. It works just as well as the big name ones. Dont waste your money on premade lines, or hard to find replacements. Make your own. Its as easy as tying shoes. Save money, and fix your cars!

Thorstone Juego de herramientas - cortador de tubo y avellanador. Buen producto caserp, no es profesional. Pero cumple con su función. El kit llegó completo y en tiempo sin contratiempos.

ممتاز جدا

A ne pas utiliser sur le tuyau d'acier dur

Works well

If it goes missing, you'll have to start the process all over again.