Crimping hydraulic hoses at home?

[MTGreen]

I haven't tried it but I wonder if one of the mini cutoff saws would work to cleanly cut through hose? It doesn't have abrasive media to add to the kerf 2 in. Mini Benchtop Cut-Off Saw

 

[MTGreen]

When I was having some automotive hydraulic brake hoses made up a number of years ago, I was told by the shop owner that the crimping tools for making them actually embossed a small identifier into the fitting so that if it failed it could be traced back to the machine that made it which was required to be registered in a database.
From a safety perspective, I have seen heavily loaded lifting hydraulics fail catastrophically and drop the load like a rock. Quite the puckering experience let me assure you.

Crimping one's own fittings may be viable with a press and some machining for use with say a log splitter which if the hose blows it's not a huge safety risk, but I for one definitely will be using commercially crimped fittings for things like brakes and loader cylinders -they are a lot cheaper than the potential consequences here

 

[MTGreen]

etpm: if you're looking to fab up a crimper, I wonder if something like a Jacobs type rubber flex collet would work forced into a mating taper?
Not sure you would get enough travel or if they would hold up but they are hardened, rated to exert substantial pressure, and are readily available in many sizes. You even could do staged crimping moving to progressively smaller collets with the same number of teeth

 

[3Ts]

Wonder if the creator in the first YT video is still alive? He's on borrowed time from what I can see. You don't EVER use sweated copper fittings for compressed air lines, a bomb waiting to go off and kill you. Air lines, especially over 135 psi, MUST be run in threaded pipe, always, unless you have a death wish.

My shop is 100% in threaded black pipe with WOG valves on the drops, all of them. You'll never find anything else in an industrial setting.

I'll have to agree with bnold in post #28. Ummm, nope.

I was in a robotics plant that built the robots for the manufacturing assembly lines like you see on the automotive assembly lines, although I don't know the destination for the ones being built. It was many years ago, but still the information about PVC air lines was known, and they were using PVC to extend the shop air beyond the original drops. Made me uncomfortable to be in the shop but, you'll find just about everything being used.

 

[jgmo]

I was a field mechanic for a paving contractor for years. Dozers, scrapers, blades, cranes up to 100 tons. We used reusable hydraulic fittings for everything except in very rare, special circumstances. Quick, easy and almost zero headaches or leaks.

The local jobber provided a complimentary power crimper for our regional yard but everyone in the field used the reusable screw together hose and fittings. They work bitchin.

 

[GrumpyL5030]

Can hydraulic hoses be crimped at home using a vise or something similar and dies? I would really like to crimp my own fittings on 1/4 one wire hydraulic hose. I looked but did not find an inexpensive way to do this. But with all the DIY knowledge on this site I am hoping someone here knows how to do this.
Thanks,
Eric

 

[GrumpyL5030]

Can hydraulic hoses be crimped at home using a vise or something similar and dies? I would really like to crimp my own fittings on 1/4 one wire hydraulic hose. I looked but did not find an inexpensive way to do this. But with all the DIY knowledge on this site I am hoping someone here knows how to do this.
Thanks,
Eric

I've always used aeroquip re-usable ends with the rubber cased steel braided hose. It's usually a quick fix that just needs a couple wrenches. If you have a chop saw, you can make your own hoses easily.

 

[billypumper]

I myself just use the fittings that screw in, pretty pricey buying all the dies and crimping machine, when I have something odd or special I call Pirtek, they can make up most hoses and can do steel lines also on your job site or local area
don't know where your at but they're locations everywhere if they didn't call it quits

 

[Tinhack]

Reusable ends are great if you're on somebody else's budget. Typically, a single end will cost more than a premade/ordered hose. I buy premade hoses from Surplus Center. They have great hose, and I can get it in less than a week. The shipping is reasonable as well.

 

[77cruiser]

Does anybody have a good method for cutting hydraulic hose without contaminating the inside of the hose with debris?

Believe it or not an axe works great if you have something solid to lay the hose.