Now you can see the nickel coming off and revealing the beautiful naked brass underneath, needless to say I went over the brass with progressively finer sandpaper up to 7000 grit which gave it a nice mirror finish, not perfect but it didn’t need to be.
Later I’ll post a picture of the final result which already lost its shine and is getting close the Zippo’s patina
Swosh, I’m not very techie savvy and you are and I still haven’t figured out how to post pictures here so email me at genesederholm@yahoo.com and I’ll send you pictures of the insert.
I solved the ignition problem when opening the lighter by carefully stretching the flint spring a bit and now the lighter lights every time.
Not sure what temperatures you get in Miami FL but out here we get –20*C (thats –4F for you Yanks) on regular basics during winter and at that temperatures most butane lighters don’t work well or don’t work at all. One thing if you’re a casual smoker minding his own business and a whole different story if you’re trying to light a fire outdoors at freezing temperatures and crappy weather. I use petrol lighters because they work and a nice o-ringed petrol lighter is a thing of beauty.
I can’t argue with your main point, as pressure in butane lighters does decrease with temperature, but that being said, most of us don’t live in –20* temperatures and petrol lighters still suck if you’re a smoker. Even crack heads don’t use them.
I’d venture to guess that most people carrying around lighters in their pockets, aren’t waiting to start a fire with them?
AHAHAHAHAH Florida Man! Are we being elitist on which kind of cancer makes you look better in the coffin?
Because throat cancer (Cigar) and tongue cancer (Pipe) are so much better than lung cancer (cigarettes)!
Is that your basis for your “Smoker tier”?
I swear this bullshit about the “Hurr Durr Naphta Smell” should go back to the 50s where it belongs…
I use my Zorro, my vintage Dunhill, my Armor Zippo with a jetflame insert, and any bic/clipper lighter that is within reach and there is absolutely 0 difference when smoking cigarettes and cigars.
As far as cigars are concerned Zippo style lighters are just bad from a flame consistency point of view, provided you are not smoking some sort of cigarette sized cigarillos, in which case again 0 difference, we are talking about burning tobacco are we not?
Don’t even get me started on Toscano cigars whose taste is so strong (and good) you could light them using a burning tire and not notice any difference!
In all fairness I did notice a slight aftertaste on the 1st drag those few times I recharged my Zippo by dipping into the petrol tank of my buddy’s motorcycle
Unless you plan on smoking you whole cigar/cigarette with a lit lighter in front of it there should be no issue even for you
Btw apparently you haven’t noticed that no one here has even mentioned the specific usage of said lighter, aside for the ones correctly pointing out that if you wanna light anything in sub zero temperatures, which are quite common in most places, tropics aside, butane is a non starter.
The whole discussion was regarding the build quality of the lighter’s body and the insert wasn’t even part of the conversation, a keen observer would have also noticed that in the first post of this thread is present both a standard insert and a butane one, but I suppose reading an illustrated book is considerable multitasking for some people
4/10 would not bang
Try again Florida Man, fail again, fail better
I have a question for you, how do the batteries in those arc lighters hold up?
Also are they replaceable?
I personally like maintenance friendly lighter myself which is also why I was fairly disappointed with the butane inserts for Zippos, how is your experience with more modern stuff?
I am intrigued but dubious at the same time
usb rechargeable. Probably a LiPo packet, so dunno how “replaceable” it might be without finding one in just the right size and worth it to buy/ship a replacement, vs just ordering a whole new lighter for 10bux.
Usually LiPo cells, they hold up quite well in my experience, the plasma x lighter in OP still works perfectly after a few years, though I potted that with silicone. 600mAh cell in that one.
I’ve also had a few zippo type arc inserts, seem good too. 200-300mAh in those.
The gas versions are not so good/ small gas tanks.
It is usually just a single screw to open them up but the battery wires are soldered, easy enough if you can solder small simple stuff.
I’ve used ‘Honest’ brand jet lighters for years, the same two that I use only for soldering/ reflowing, one double jet, one single but they have never failed though with most piezo spark ignitions they need to be kept clean. They have some interesting designs in metal, some with visible fuel tanks etc last time I looked.
Petrol smell, over here it depends on what brand you use, some really stink like clipper, swan, but some have next to no obnoxious smell such as perma fluid.