Zippo lighter restoration US Army lighter brought back to life
I will restore this Zippo lighter someone had found from the ground. It was most likely lost by an US army man years ago, but I dont think it has been in any war. The lighter is very oxidized and most of the old plating is gone. The insert is in much better condition but it also need a little restoration. Luckily the hinge is not broken so I dont have to repair it. That is not easy. I started the restoration with disassembly. The lighter doesnt have many parts so this was easy to do. I used a miniature propane torch to loosen the emblem. I decided to use rust remover for the steel insert and ketchup for the brass shell to remove oxidation. After oxidation was removed, I needed to sand off the remaining old plating from the shell. If I didnt it would be really hard to get a good finish on the piece. After sanding the plating off I polished the parts with wool buffing wheel and metal polishing compound.
|
|