That little thing is quite a feat. I like that it uses an O-ring, as one of the biggest flaws with a Zippo lighter design is with the evaporation of the fluid. The worst part about something like this is the reaction it will get: "You made this? Oh... neat." ...eh. But to those of us who know better, that lighter is a thing of beauty.
Thanks! I ended up giving the lighter to a friend, sort of in return for giving me a Sega Game Gear for my birthday (still not sure what to do with it), and was pleased to see him actually put it on his keychain. I was expecting it to disappear into the bottom of a drawer or something.
The slitting saw in time 6:26 has to high revolution to make groove in the striker of steel hence the teeth is worned out by heat of work. Set to lower revolution to make groove in steel. Nice work of the peanut lighter.
machine milling a lighter is no small task ! you did an excellent job . i purchased a countycomm peanut but returned it because the inside chamber would not separate from the outside [ i couldnt fill it with fuel ] i was disappointed . i ended up purchasing a disposable .
I made almost the exact same lighter as you, I have a lathe, but I used 1/2" stainless steel pipe and made the end caps out of brass. I made my own wheel out of silver steel and cut the teeth on my lathe just like you made the grooves on your fuel body before hardening it. My lighter throws plenty of sparks but does not light very well, also the o ring seems to perish very soon due to the petrol. Put side by side to yours it looks just like yours.
i wish i had a press, you could make similar lighter punching brass sheet with dies quite easily. only soldering the flicker tube on it later to fishish it off.
I restore Dunhill lighters, including re-plating the gold or silver coating. If I was lucky enough to be given one of these handmade beauties, I'd put it to the polishing wheel and give it a mirror finish, then I'd give it a good thick coat of 24k gold and cherish it for he treasure it is, a one of a kind lighter that no one else has or ever will have!
I love it. I think in the future I will make a lighter like this. But my question is how many grams does this lighter you built weigh? Isn't it a little to heavy to carry around?
Oh, I forgot to say. It's 303 grade. In my (limited) experience, stainless is always funny to machine because it's either a mess of chatter or you get a beautiful finish, and rarely anything in between. I did have trouble with chip welding though and was stoning the tool pretty regularly.
Simon Heslop Well it looks great. To my knowledge I think I have only used 314 and unless I use carbide I have had a terrible time working with it, especially drilling. Tend to avoid SS whenever I can. Might have to grab some 303 and see the difference though.
oh, terrible. thanks for letting me know. this craps so old im not sure if i'd still have the files for it to try reupload it though so i guess ill just kill the link
How much were you thinking of paying? Honestly I think with shipping to the US a better bet would be to find a more local machinist. A job like this should be fairly easy for someone properly set up.
Would it be difficult to have the internal area completely open with just a long wick from the top to the bottom of the inside to use it as a type of oil lantern instead of zippo style? Good SHTF lighter if we can use anything that ignites to create a flame. Or would that leak out through the flint part?
There's alot of hidden costs in something like this. Like it'd cost me about £20 in fuel to go buy the metal required, and there'd be a fair amount of time spent thinking about how to do each step for a one off thing. I don't think it'd be a very quick or easy job. Stainless steel isn't the most forgiving material to work with so drilling a 6 inch hole could be a challenge for starters. I don't think it's the ideal sort of lighter for what you want either though. They're not very wind proof and don't carry that big a fuel capacity, and yeah if you replaced the stuffed cotton it'd just leak out through the wick. I think their main interest to survivalists is that they're very small and with a good seal should hold fuel for a long time. But myself I still don't think you can beat a mini-bic.
That little thing is quite a feat. I like that it uses an O-ring, as one of the biggest flaws with a Zippo lighter design is with the evaporation of the fluid. The worst part about something like this is the reaction it will get: "You made this? Oh... neat."
...eh. But to those of us who know better, that lighter is a thing of beauty.
Thanks!
I ended up giving the lighter to a friend, sort of in return for giving me a Sega Game Gear for my birthday (still not sure what to do with it), and was pleased to see him actually put it on his keychain. I was expecting it to disappear into the bottom of a drawer or something.
would be nice is you made a mini wind shield for a small windproofing.
Beautiful lighter. Thanks for sharing the metal turning and work!
The slitting saw in time 6:26 has to high revolution to make groove in the striker of steel hence the teeth is worned out by heat of work. Set to lower revolution to make groove in steel. Nice work of the peanut lighter.
machine milling a lighter is no small task ! you did an excellent job . i purchased a countycomm peanut but returned it because the inside chamber would not separate from the outside [ i couldnt fill it with fuel ] i was disappointed . i ended up purchasing a disposable .
+ratrod diesels usually you just pull out the insert by pulling from the striker wheel.
I now have a new found respect for machinist....
I made almost the exact same lighter as you, I have a lathe, but I used 1/2" stainless steel pipe and made the end caps out of brass.
I made my own wheel out of silver steel and cut the teeth on my lathe just like you made the grooves on your fuel body before hardening it.
My lighter throws plenty of sparks but does not light very well, also the o ring seems to perish very soon due to the petrol.
Put side by side to yours it looks just like yours.
A lot of work went into that. Beautiful!
Cool big yin and a compliment from the pocket man ,that is extra cool ,all the best from a Scottish guy
Gorgeous final product!! Very impressive work.
Really nicely done - plus great lil walkthrough!
The lighter turned out great !
Skills mate. You got some great machines there too. Good job man.
i wish i had a press, you could make similar lighter punching brass sheet with dies quite easily. only soldering the flicker tube on it later to fishish it off.
Haha at the cigar face :-D great project, thanks for sharing.
I laughed. At first it seemed like he was going for that "like a boss" look, but it was more of a "this tastes like shit" look.
Does anyone know what material would be best to make a strike wheel. I've tried a chromium steel but it doesn't seem to strike.
Could you send another link to the technical drawing as I want to make one at college 😆 brilliant work!
I restore Dunhill lighters, including re-plating the gold or silver coating. If I was lucky enough to be given one of these handmade beauties, I'd put it to the polishing wheel and give it a mirror finish, then I'd give it a good thick coat of 24k gold and cherish it for he treasure it is, a one of a kind lighter that no one else has or ever will have!
Thanks very much. Unfortunately the guy I gave it to is in prison now, last I heard.
cut round file, aneel it. drill hole. harden, striker wheel ?
Have any spare iron or tungsten laying around? I'd like to use it in my forge
Man... That's really cool.
Beautiful lighter! Can it be possible that the link to the plans isnt working? Id like to download them
I love it.
I think in the future I will make a lighter like this.
But my question is how many grams does this lighter you built weigh?
Isn't it a little to heavy to carry around?
nice little lighter
would be nice is you made a mini wind shield for a small windproofing.
What grade of stainless is that? I have never had SS machine that cleanly.
Oh, I forgot to say. It's 303 grade.
In my (limited) experience, stainless is always funny to machine because it's either a mess of chatter or you get a beautiful finish, and rarely anything in between. I did have trouble with chip welding though and was stoning the tool pretty regularly.
Simon Heslop Well it looks great. To my knowledge I think I have only used 314 and unless I use carbide I have had a terrible time working with it, especially drilling. Tend to avoid SS whenever I can. Might have to grab some 303 and see the difference though.
nice work!
great project :D
I'll may steal it from you ;)
i hate cutting threads on the lathe its so finicky and easy to fuck up
The link to the plans is dead, just redirects to some scam now
oh, terrible. thanks for letting me know. this craps so old im not sure if i'd still have the files for it to try reupload it though so i guess ill just kill the link
dude, I'll pay for one if you can make one really long, like 6 inches long!!
How much were you thinking of paying? Honestly I think with shipping to the US a better bet would be to find a more local machinist. A job like this should be fairly easy for someone properly set up.
I don't know. How much does it cost to make one?
Would it be difficult to have the internal area completely open with just a long wick from the top to the bottom of the inside to use it as a type of oil lantern instead of zippo style? Good SHTF lighter if we can use anything that ignites to create a flame. Or would that leak out through the flint part?
There's alot of hidden costs in something like this. Like it'd cost me about £20 in fuel to go buy the metal required, and there'd be a fair amount of time spent thinking about how to do each step for a one off thing. I don't think it'd be a very quick or easy job. Stainless steel isn't the most forgiving material to work with so drilling a 6 inch hole could be a challenge for starters.
I don't think it's the ideal sort of lighter for what you want either though. They're not very wind proof and don't carry that big a fuel capacity, and yeah if you replaced the stuffed cotton it'd just leak out through the wick. I think their main interest to survivalists is that they're very small and with a good seal should hold fuel for a long time. But myself I still don't think you can beat a mini-bic.
Mint..................Cheers
i have one like that but its a ever strike
nice
boring af!