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There aren’t a ton of options available when it comes to replacing the wick in your vintage cigarette lighter. That doesn’t mean you won’t have a decision to make nor does it preclude you feeling bloody and beaten, confused and forsaken by all the advice you can expose yourself to online. Here are just a few considerations I posit as useful to me as I have come to experience the world of vintage petrol lighters from the wrong end of history regarding convenience but the perfect time to salvage them from the heap.

What Would You Like Your Wick To Do Or How Would You Like It To Treat You?

Some folks simply need to click the file wheel and graze a flame with their cigarette. Easy, peazy put that lighter away. Pipe or cigar smokers, on the other hand, may require a more robust flame to ignite what they intend to combust. So, what kind of wick should I use on my vintage petrol lighter? Continue reading “What Kind Of Wick Should I Use In My Vintage Petrol Lighter?”

Making a YouTube video for one of the last items I still own from the best collection I have purchased to date not only made me dig a little deeper into the name highlighted on several of the lighters but also caused me to consider the prominence some military lighters enjoy over others and whether that position is justified.

Admiral Joseph James “Jocko” Clark

In the summer of 2018, I purchased a lighter collection in an online estate sale that included twenty-eight total items: 18 lighters, 9 cigar or cigarillo cutters and a piercer. Several of the Continue reading “Military Presentation Lighters, Authentic Vietnam Zippos and Other Worthwhile Collectables”

If you are gathering up the tools necessary for vintage cigarette lighter repair, it would be difficult to overstate the importance of a quality, rechargeable drill if you plan to have much success. Simple jobs may require basic tools but does a daunting task necessitate more precise equipment? In this article we will sort through these and other questions to make sure that you purchase the right tool for the job you have before you.

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(As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.) Continue reading “Best Cordless Rechargeable Drills On Amazon For Vintage Lighter Repair”

Whether you have inherited a family heirloom, hit the jackpot at the flea market or perhaps landed that lighter of a lifetime on Ebay, if it won’t spark you may have your work cut out for you before you are able to light your bowl with it. In this article, I will cover the main issues associated with vintage petrol lighters that fail to ignite and a few common techniques that will help to get most lighters functioning again.

(Full Disclosure: clearing old, degraded, sometimes petrified flint from old lighters is without question my least favorite part of the job. Some of these techniques I learned elsewhere and some I developed on my own. None of them are foolproof and I have encountered more obstructed flint tubes than I care to recall that forced me to admit defeat.) Continue reading “How To Repair Vintage Cigarette Lighters That Won’t Spark”

Nothing can dampen the thrill of finding a cool old cigarette lighter like a disintegrating or contaminated wick. While it can seem like a daunting task to the uninitiated, with a little bit of knowledge and a few common tools, just about anyone is capable of rewicking a petrol lighter.

Does My Lighter Need A New Wick?

There’s really only one reason you need to change the wick in a petrol lighter and that is it’s not lighting properly in one way or another.

You might want to change it if you’re going to sell the lighter simply so it looks cleaner. Sort of like checking under the hood of an automobile you are interested in buying, you may not know everything but if it looks clean you will probably feel better about the purchase. Your customer is the same way. Continue reading “How To Replace The Wick In Any Petrol Lighter”