Tube flaring bit - GIF

[mwmkravchenko]

If you are thinking of making this all you need for size is a female copper connector. That will give you the O.D. that will work best. A tight O.D. measurement of a piece of copper pie will end up biting you in the ass later.

It doesn't have to be anything exotic. A decent grade bolt is way more than you will ever need to hold up in soft copper.

[Jon]

In the video it appears that the pipe is handheld while being flared. I wonder if that is true? Seems as if the tool would generate a fierce torque on the tube.

Here's a guy making one, with a good dose of questionable handheld work:

Anyone ever try tying flies "held in hand"? It's much more challenging without a vise; somewhat of a dying art among old fly fishermen. This reminds me of that. But instead of a dying art, just dangerous.

[katy]

You can soften hard drawn copper by heating it up red hot and cooling it in water. I do it quite often when I am running pipes in weird places.

You can also soften hard drawn copper by heating it up red hot and just letting it air cool.

[mwmkravchenko]

You can also soften hard drawn copper by heating it up red hot and just letting it air cool.

Yep. I have done that in a pinch when I have all the house water off during a renovation. You make a bit of a mess when you burn off all the varnish or whatever the coating on the copper is. But it is indeed soft. Lets you do some interesting bends when you are in weird to work in areas.

I looked at the video above. He is missing the round part near the end of the swaging tool to keep everything concentric. The swage has to be pretty near the diameter of a 5/8ths inch bolt.

[mlochala]

I rarely use EMT for its intended purpose. However, I use it a LOT to make other lightweight things such as outdoor gear or miscellaneous tools. I was just thinking this would be really handy if it could be used to make swage ends for making a take down hunting blind or simple framework for other things.

[katy]

I rarely use EMT for its intended purpose. However, I use it a LOT to make other lightweight things such as outdoor gear or miscellaneous tools. I was just thinking this would be really handy if it could be used to make swage ends for making a take down hunting blind or simple framework for other things.

You may be able to swage EMT if you heat it red hot first.

FWIW, IIRC some EMT has a bit of a seam on the inside.