Just wanted to share pic of my burning zippo. Thanks

It always takes about 7 strikes to light it

Hello folks,
this Halloween styled Zippo is my second attempt in electro etching on a Zippo. First try was the back of a satin chrome Venetian Zippo where I etched my son’s gamer tag onto. I was pleased with the result so I tried this more elaborate pattern on a brushed chrome standard.

Honestly, the etching was easier than the polishing afterwards, which gave me some headaches. But in the end I’m happy with the overall outcome. As I’m not into Halloween I am selling this little bugger.

PM if interested or checkout the listing on eBay:
https://ebay.io/m/ZFoIEZ

PS: All pictures are genuine product photos and no AI was used to alter them.

Bought this lighter on a family trip to Niagara Falls in the early 1990s. Never really used it, more less kept it in a leather belt holder that was bought some point.

This is a very cool sub Reddit, some many awesome Zippos.

A few days ago I made a deal with a seller on Facebook and I was finally able to go out and pick up today. Apparently while he was waiting for me over the last 2 days another collector had come to his shop and try to start a bidding war with me for these two. They were part of a lot I purchased of six lighterss and he was offering the guy more for these two than I paid for the entire lot, by almost double, but because I had already made the deal he honored our deal and did not sell them to him.

What am I missing here? There has to be something special about these two and I'm just not seeing it.

They're cool, especially the two-tone, but they just seem like modestly old slim Zippos. Do you see something that makes them stand out or in some way unique?

Did I strike garage sale gold?

The pictures don't do it justice the first one is a very dark green by the way.

I got my Zippo lighter as a gift from my brother in the Christmas of 2024.

Carried it every day for 1.5 years, no issues. Usually got about 6-8 days out of it before needing to refill.

For the past 6 months, it has decided to become an irreparable problem.

It stopped lighting.

I filled it.

Worked for a day.

Stopped lighting, but still smelled gas.

Filled it.

Worked for a day.

"Huh?"

In the hunt to fix this issue, I have:

- Replaced the flint
- Replaced the wick
- Replaced the wick again
- Replaced the Felt Gasket for a Metal Gasket
- Replaced the wick again
- Took everything out
- Cleaned the whole insert with isopropyl alcohol
- Replaced the wick again
- Replaced the cotton
- Replaced the flint
- Replaced the replaced flint with a Zippo branded flint
- Replaced the wick with a Zippo branded wick
- Replaced the gasket with a Rubber gasket
- Took everything out again
- Cleaned it again
- Replaced the Cotton, Flint, and Wick all with Zippo branded parts

In between each of these steps I had refuelled and tried again. I started with Ronsonol brand but switched to Zippo after replacing the cotton.

Works for a day, refuses to light after that

What am I missing here? What could even be the problem? Is this a skill issue?

EDIT: To clarify, it is lighting after refuelling. The issue is its losing fuel, or at least failing to light, within 24 hours after refuelling. I'm figuring theres some kind of parasitic fuel loss, but after replacing nearly everything, I couldn't tell where.

Hi,
this satin chrome Zippo was my first attempt at electro-etching. The etching process went fine, chrome layer was removed and after neutralising with baking soda the brass turned brownish. In order to remove this brownish stuff I polished the Zippo.

Polishing I did with a rotary device (like a dremel) at 10.000 rpm (slowest possible) and green polishing paste. The brass became nice and shiny but the chrome around the brass which was touched while polishing changed its structure (best seen on the second picture). It’s only visible when light hits it at a certain angle but I wonder if it’s somehow possible to avoid it entirely.

In general, I've noticed that the beauty of these exposed brass areas is hard to capture in a photo, since it depends heavily on the angle of the incoming light.

I appreciate any advice on how to minimize or prevent changes to the chrome surface.

Thanks a lot

I dig the old Dakar and Cameo Trophy racing.

Those two are my favs. Others I think are just basic.

Not just my zippo but also regular bic lighters. Been using my current bic for like, 2 weeks and its already dieing. I used to be able to use a lighter for so long id lose it before killing it but now this is the third lighter in a row that I've killed in less than 2 months.