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Originally Posted by Kobuchi
Does anyone else know of ways to flare or crimp tube?
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Sure. There's a tool called a "beader" which, erm... puts a bead on tubing. They're pretty expensive, so I don't own even one. I know a radiator shop (not too far from a place where I
used to work - now 40 mins out of my way
) that has a set (different ones for different diameter tubing) and is willing to "bead" tubing for me. Haven't taken advantage of the offer yet, so don't know how well this'd work on tubes already soldered into header tanks, how much side clearance needed, etc. ...
Then, there's something called a "flaring tool", which does just that. I have some for automotive brake lines, aircraft oil lines, and hydraulic equipment. The interesting thing about the automotive/aircraft is that, although some of the diameters are exactly the same, the flare angle is not - and fittings for the one will not work properly with the other.
There are sheet metal tools for crimping a sheet metal pipe (like stove pipe) but I've never seen one for tubing. I would guess that something like you describe would work. In theory something like a reverse flaring tool might do what you want - but I wonder how you'd get the inner form out afterwards.