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”

Thorens Single and Double Claw Lighters, when functioning properly, are a thing of beauty, Vintage Petrol Lighters That Were Built to Last.

Tiny Machines

It is pretty comical, in comparison to most of what is available on the market today, to consider the craft and workmanship that went into the design, function and feel of the Thorens Single and Double Claw Semi-Automatic Petrol Lighters. They are true works of art and ingenuity and I never waste an opportunity to add another Thorens lighter to my Ebay store. Continue reading “Vintage Petrol Lighters That Were Built to Last: Thorens Semi-Automatic Single and Double Claw”

The Dunhill Rollalite petrol lighter has some advantages over your typical vintage cigarette lighter.

Historical Background

The iconic Dunhill name has a reputation for quality, well-made cigarette lighters and other smoking implements. The company’s origin can be traced to Alfred Dunhill opening his first tobacco shop in London in 1907. Over time, Dunhill was responsible for some of the finest petrol, as well as butane lighters in vogue with discerning smokers the world over. Continue reading “Dunhill Rollalite Petrol Lighter: An Elegant, Reliable Classic”

A basic understanding of flint/wick lighters.

This article was prompted by an EBay customer who wanted a refund on the 1930s era brass/glass lighter they purchased because they didn’t believe it was in “working order” when they unwrapped it and it would not light. They hadn’t considered you had to put fuel in it.)

Flip-Top Petrol “Zippo” Type Lighters

I’m writing this article from the standpoint of service on and repair of your basic flip-top Zippo/Ronsonol fuel(naphtha) petrol type lighters. I don’t have any complaint with Zippo, I love them. I am however, currently infatuated with Champ Austria, mainly because of the flip-up wind cage design. The same elementary mechanics are employed in most vintage lighter repair and service projects. If you can manage to work a screwdriver and Continue reading “Vintage Lighter Repair and Service: Wick/Flint Basics”

My first Beattie Jet Lighter will not be my last.

Back in the Day

I remember when I was a kid my dad telling me stories about the things he did during his time in the U.S. Army. These stories always had elements of difficulty: drinking ones own piss out of a boot, cross-country skiing , field stripping your service weapon blindfolded.

Now, he didn’t do all those things himself but if he didn’t do it he saw someone do it and while these things are all challenging, he told the stories with so much fondness and detail that I knew these Continue reading “Selling Vintage Lighters on Ebay: The Coolest I’ve Ever Seen”

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Review

In the last year, I have purchased no less than five new butane torch lighters. This article will review the pros and cons of these five lighters along with the price I paid and the place I bought each lighter. The links provided will take you to that product’s page on Amazon.com. By you clicking these links and purchasing, we will earn a commission. Your price will be the same whether you click our link or navigate to Amazon some other way. Continue reading “New Torch Lighter Review: Ronson, Ultimate Survival Technologies, Premium Spark”