# Brake Line/tubing Straightener



## astroracer (Dec 21, 2015)

Using NiCop coiled brake line is a pain only in trying to get it straight. I couldn't make myself spend 200 dollars on a 5 roller tubing straightener so I designed one in 3D CAD and built it in the shop.
 I turned the rollers with a Vee Groove which will work with any size tubing up to 5/8th's of an inch. It works especially well with 3/16th's to 3/8th line.
 This is the business side of the rig showing the five rollers.


I still need to weld up the top plate but I did a proof of design and it works great!
 Here is the back showing the adjustment block which carries the two upper rollers on some shoulder bolts.


 Once I finish the welding this bolt will get cut down and the tensioning knob will be attached to it.


 Turn the knob to raise or lower the rollers to fit the tube you are straightening and to set the tension on the tube as you straighten it.
 This is a pic of some of the pieces. The five rollers, tensinong knob and block and the trunnion I made so the aluminum block wouldn't have to be threaded. The trunnion carries all of the tensioning loads.


I'll post up pics after i get it welded and painted.

After working on other things most of the summer I FINALLY got around to finishing up the Straightener! I got it all welded together and painted over this past weekend and assembled it last night.
 Getting some bright red paint. This is rattlecan Rustoleum Bright Red over their grey primer.


 I had to finish up a couple of other items to get this done. One was drilling and tapping the tensioning knob for a set screw to lock it to the tensioning rod.


 I made the tensioning rod out of a piece of 3/8-16 all thread. Here you can see it installed in the roller block. I used a cheap drill bit depth stop collar to trap the rod so the block will move up and down as the knob is turned.



Looks pretty good with everything assembled.



I kinked up a piece of tubing to try it out.



After a few runs through the straightener this was like an arrow again. 


I'm very happy with the results! the straightener works great!


Mark


----------



## kd4gij (Dec 21, 2015)

Nice job.


----------



## Sharky (Dec 21, 2015)

Nice and simple,  going to have to steal your design.....


----------



## David VanNorman (Dec 21, 2015)

That does the job really well . I like it.


----------



## Silverbullet (Dec 21, 2015)

Hmm yupp me too. Here's another project to put in the todo book.


----------



## buddy3223 (Dec 22, 2015)

That really is  a nice piece.  This is a timely post as I am getting ready to run brake lines on my 29 Ford Highboy.  I think I will use your idea to construct one for my use.  You are correct about coiled brake line being a pain to work with and commercial straighters are very expensive.  You must be working on or building a car.


----------



## astroracer (Dec 22, 2015)

Thanks for the complements guys! I appreciate your opinions very much.
I am working on a set of plans to build one of these. If you want to wait a bit I hope to have them done early next year. I designed this initially in 3D CAD so the drawings will be accurate and readable with photos of the straightener as I was building it.
The frame on mine is different from the CAD only because I repurposed another fixture I built years ago and had stopped using it.


----------

