I always hated having to install the Insinkerator drain flange because of the difficulty in putting on the snap/retention ring.

First I put a rope of plumbers putty on the underside of the drain flange, press it hard into the sink's drain hole, than I go below to put on the fiberglass washer, the two piece mounting flange, and somehow you need to keep the pieces from falling off with one hand by pushing up, yet if you push up it could lift the drain flange off the sink's bottom unless you put something like a box of bricks above to hold it down, and with the other hand push the snap ring open and put it in place.

Most of the time I would try at least half a dozen times before I can get it into place.

So today I found a youtube video that someone put together a gadget using two pieces of 1/4" copper tubing soldered into T shape to hold the snap ring open.

[www.youtube.com]

Do you think it's worth making one of these myself? Or is there another tool to do this? I think someone told me there is a snap ring tool once upon a time but it's been discontinued.

Yes, it is a bit of a hassle to get the snap ring in place. The only saving grace is that they do not take much force to slide them into place. I use the new disposer, in its box, to keep the flange in place and prevent it from lifting up.
I use an automotive scissor jack to lift the heavy disposers into place. Insinkerator has improved the design and now both hands can be used to lift up the disposer and twist it into place.

Hate Insinkerators. George's jack is better, but I use a milk crate and scraps of 1×12.

I don't love to install the drain and mounting flange but I do like the ability, once installed, you can swap out a new disposer in 10 minutes. This is a nice feature if you are replacing disposers at rentals often. I used to have a mixture of GE, Insinkerators and Waste King and I slowly moved them all to Insinkerators just because of the convenience...and I do not like the mounting mechanism of Waste King at all doesn't feel sturdy.

I also leave the ring in place when replacing the disposer, it works great.

Now that we're on a septic system that I maintain myself, no more garbage disposals.