i finally bought a kit and made a line. then i'll post the results

He's double flairing, its hard line.

well the $33 kit from advance auto was junk. the anvils (which go inside the line) where aluminum and bent the first use making the flared ends offset then broke on the third line ( sixth flare).
so i went to sears and got a craftsman kit for $65 which has steel anvils. the anvil stays straight and makes a perfect brake line.

now i might have to redo the lines i made with the old kit.
I'm very happy with this setup. coated 3/16" line is roughly $1 per foot and ends are around 40 cents each.
the best part is i can use the correct ends so there's no need for multiple lines and couplers.

My craftsman clamp striped out on the 3/16 line and wont hold the line.  I found another set at an estate sale that I use the clamp out of and works great.  Superduty has a different craftsman set than I do, I bought mine over 10 years ago and it doesn't look like that.  I tried to take it back and they refused it because it actually says "Sears" on it so it's not under warranty.  I see that one actually says craftsman.

I thought that I had stripped mine out as well, but the local shop guy said that you just need to really get them tight, he used a long screwdriver wedged in there to get it really good.

well i made a bad one that leaks.
sorry biff. i'll redo that end.