Brake Pipe Forming

I bought mine from Vehicle Wiring Products. It has a set of dies for all the common pipe sizes and flares. Works very well - but cost rather more than a tenner.

A decent quality flaring kit will be well over a hundred quid. Most vehicles you can just buy the pipes ready done at a reasonable cost. If it is something unusual then a good car shop should be able to match something, older type car shops would have a flaring set in house and would make a pipe to pattern.

When I make a brake pipe it is always using copper tubing (softer and easier) cut the pipe with a fine blade hacksaw (not a tube cutter) remove any fraze from the cut end, ensure that the peg on the mushroom former will go in the cut end easily, clamp the pipe in the former tools clamp, lubricate the mushroom former end, and then wind it up and create the flare, if it is a cup type flare then follow the first flaring operation with a second cup type former (you convert the mushroom into a cup)

Do not forget to put the nuts on the pipe before making both ends. Blow out any fragments that may be in the pipe before putting it into service. Test for leaks.

I got one of the cheap kits to do my steering pipes. I practiced on offcuts a few times first, then the main pipe came out fine. I think I just worked slowly and carefully.

(I was working on kunifer, not steel - I think steel is too hard for them)

I've read often that 'pure' copper isn't ideal for brake pipes as it can work harden. But that may be an old wife's tale, since it is sold for that purpose.

I used copper/nickel which is only slightly more expensive.

I can't see how it can work harden so long as it's not permitted to flex significantly, which if it's used correctly, it won't.

It's illegal in some parts of the world (Canada, some Australian states, possibly others) on the basis that its softness makes it more likely to be damaged by stones ect.

Chris

I can't help thinking there's some incompatibility between the die I'm using and the pipe. When the die is pegged into the tip of the pipe, there's a huge amount of slop. It's possible to wobble it maybe 25 degrees in every direction. When the cone is wound down, the die gets forced off-centre resulting in an asymmetric flare. I can't help thinking if the peg of the die were a nice, snug fit with the internal bore of the pipe, this wouldn't happen. Is it normal for the peg of the appropriate die to be *much* smaller than the bore of the appropriate pipe, can anyone tell me?

perhaps the kit is for 1/4 pipe rather than 3/16? or is for metric pipe? the kit I have is a very tight fit, even a tiny bit of crap will stop it fitting in easily, and make it seriously difficult to remove if you force it in anyway (which is why I mentioned it above)

That's very useful to know; thanks Mr. C! I did wonder if I have been trying to use metric dies with imperial pipe. It's difficult to say, as whilst the dies are clearly marked as metric, the pipe came with both metric and imperial measurements given on the wrapping. But what the heck, if it's supposed to be a snug fit then I need to address that issue somehow if I'm to have any hope of making this thing work. Maybe I could turn down the peg of the next die up in size on my lathe? I only paid ten quid for this lot so if I f*ck it up.... it's not the end of the world I guess.

Is that the same as cunifer (which I take to have a bit of iron from the fer)

I used this from a small workshop in Ardgour when the rusty Alfa rear brake pipe burst as I demonstrated the ABS ;-).

The owner was too busy so loaned me the use of his kit and gave me a length of cunifer which seemed easy to work.

AJH

Not iron; it's a copper-nickel alloy.

Chris

No, it has iron in it too.

Every source I reference refers to it as 90/10 copper/nickel.

Can you show a link to your source please?

Chris

A quick google shows:

Cunifer 1: 60% Cu, 20% Ni, i 20% Fe. Cunifer 2: 60% Cu, 20% Ni, 2,5% Co, i 17,5% Fe.

The material normally sold for brake pipes is Cunifer 10 however. The iron content of that is only 1-1.8% iron.

Chris