Several years back I bit the bullet and purchased a brake line flaring tool from Eastwood. We are talking the $160 version. I previously used the cheap hand twist with the 'lay the die on the tube' feature when I rebuilt my 1959 Austin Healey 100-6. Some of the initial attempts could have been used in a dictionary along side of the word ugly. I was successful in getting a decent flare, but I was never really happy with them. When I was rebuilding the brake system on my '56 T-Bird (it sat for 12 years), I decided I really shouldn't have to work that hard at making a flare, so I bought the tool. I later bought the 37-degree die so I could do aircraft flares so much easier. An aircraft mechanic believes that someday - no matter how deep in the aircraft it is located - someone - someday - will see your work and state "What a lousy flare." The other professional look that I like is shrink tubing over a crimp connector. I pull the colored plastic off of the connector, crimp and solder it, and slide the shrink tube over the wire connection. For me - looking under the hood at cars shows and seeing blue, red and yellow crimps seems to say "Well - it works."
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