help flaring nickel-copper lines

are you putting them in the holder part properly?

Far as I can tell. I've used two types of tools. One has two thumbscrews. The tube slips if they are only finger-tight, so I've used a screwdriver to tighten them. To set the height you are supposed to have the tube stick out the same distance as the thickness of the base of the adapter. The other tool I've tried has a pliers-type handle that uses a cam to squeeze the two parts together, so it's always the same tightness. On that one you set the height using a notch cut out of the bar that holds all the adapters.