instructables
Make a Trench Lighter
by lonesoulsurfer
Trench lighters have been around since WW1.
Solders would sometimes make their own out of used
ammunition shells and whatever else that they had
around them. I was lucky enough to have a bunch of
tools at my disposal; I have no idea how a solder
managed to make one of these sitting in a muddy
trench with virtually no tools.
The lighter uses zippo lighter fuel as an accelerate
and works in pretty much the same way. It also
utilizes an old Bic lighter and some copper and brass
tubing. I made a few different types until I found the
one that I was really happy with. The hardest part is
to decide what type of cap you are going to use for
the wick. For my first couple I made a small cap out of
brass tubing which worked fine. The only problem is
Make a Trench Lighter: Page 1
they can become loose and could easily be lost. I
then added a chain to one which ensured it at least
wouldn’t be lost if it fell off. In my latest version, I
added a dome nut which is more secure and screws
into place.
There are some tricky sections to make in this trench
lighter. if you are a novice at soldering, then I would
probably brush up on my skills before I attempted to
make one. However, if you are willing to take the
plunge, then hopefully this ible’ will be of some
benefit.
So without further ado – let’s get cracking
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kukS5_CubUM

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Step 1: Parts and Tools

Parts: 8. Domed nut (M5) - Hardware store or eBay

1. Old lighter x 2. Try and make it the larger kind as
the sparkwheel is larger and so is the flint.
2. 2 x 15mm copper caps. Hardware store or eBay.
Cheaper from the hardware store
3. 12.7mm (1/2") copper tube. You can find this in the
plumbing section at your hardware store. This tube
will fit inside the 15mm caps
9. Bolt M5 - Hardware Store or eBay
Tools:
1. Pliers. Needle nose, small and large ones. Just
use whatever you have
2. Blow torch. I used a mini one and a larger one to
solder the larger copper piping together.

4. 4mm brass or copper tube. Hobby shop or eBay . If 3. Solder

you are using a small Bic lighter sparkwheel and
spring, you can probably use 3mm tube 4. Dremel (always comes in handy)

5. Brass strip. Hobby shop. Don't get it too thick or 5. Grinder

you will never be able to bend it. Same goes with too
thin! This is used as a bracket for the sparkwheel 6. Files

6. Brass rectangular tube. 7. Drill

7. 2 x small screws. The screw needs to be slightly 8. Metal Polish

smaller than the small brass tube (4mm). These are
used to hold the spring into place

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Step 2: Pull Apart Your Lighter

Steps:

1. First remove the metal guard.

2. Next, carefully remove the sparkwheel making sure that the spring doesn't fly off.

3. Put aside the sparkwheel, flint and spring

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Step 3: Making the Sparkwheel Section - Tube for Spring
Steps:
1. Put the spring next to the tube. You will want to cut
the tube the same length as the spring.
2. Cut the tube. I used a dremel with a cutting wheel
3. File the end and make it smooth. Also, de-burr the
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inside. You can see in the last image that once the
flint is in the tube there is about 10-15mm of the
spring sticking out. The more pressure you have the
spring under, the more spark you'll get. However, it
will mean that putting the screw in place to hold the
spring will mean it is under pressure and could make
the job hard.
Step 4: Making the Sparkwheel Section - Bracket for Sparkwheel

This can be a little tricky. You want to make the
bracket so the spark wheel fits correctly.
Steps:
1. Make a 90 degree bend in the copper strip.
2. Next, grab the spark wheel and use this to work out
where to make the next bend. You want to have it so
when bent into a "U" shape, the 2 pins on the spark
wheel rest on the copper strip.
3. Cut and trim the bracket and lastly, round off the
edges. I used a sanding drum on my dremel but you
could also use a file.
5. Next drill a hole into the bottom of the bracket.
Mark the centre and make a hole. The hole should be
the same size as the tube for the spring. You want
this fit to be as tight as possible so start with a drill bit
slightly smaller than the tube and work your way up.

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Step 5: Making the Sparkwheel Section - Soldering and adding Sparkwheel
Steps:
1. Push the bracket onto the tube for the spring. Only
have a small section of the tube sticking through the
bracket.
2. Next, secure in a vice and add some flux to where
the two parts meet
3. With a mini blow torch, heat up the section and add
some solder to the joint.
4. Lastly, you need to place a screw into the bottom
of the tube to hold the spring and flint into place. As
brass is soft, all you need to do is to screw it into the
tube with some force. Un-screw and screw it into the
tube until it's flush with the tube.
1. Use the spark wheel to determine where you need
to add the first hole. Once the first hole is drilled you
can use this to determine where the second needs to
go. If the holes aren't lined-up correctly, you can
adjust the arms on the bracket with a pair of pliers to
get the holes even
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2. Carefully drill the first hole. The drill piece you use
should be the same size as the pins on the spark
wheel. The hole can be off-centre so if it isn't in the
middle don't fret.
3. Drill the other hole and remove any burrs.
4. Here's what you need to do to get the wheel into
the bracket:
- Put the wheel on top of the arms of the bracket.
- Push down on the wheel and try and push it into the
bracket. If you can't, bend one of the bracket arms
slightly and push the sparkwheel into place.
- Once in the bracket, line-up the pins on the wheel to
the holes in the bracket. If you had to bend one of the
bracket arms, then use some pliers or a vice to
straighten and secure the wheel into place.
- Test to make sure that it spins freely
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Step 6: Making the Sparkwheel Section - Adding the Sparkwheel, Flint and Spring

Adding the Sparkwheel to the Bracket
In the images below I added the sparkwheel first
to the bracket. It's actually easier to solder on the
tube first.
1. Use the spark wheel to determine where you need
to add the first hole. Once the first hole is drilled you
can use this to determine where the second needs to
go. If the holes aren't lined-up correctly, you can
adjust the arms on the bracket with a pair of pliers to
get the holes even
2. Carefully drill the first hole. The drill piece you use
should be the same size as the pins on the spark
wheel. The hole can be off-centre so if it isn't in the
middle don't fret.
3. Drill the other hole and remove any burrs.
4. Here's what you need to do to get the wheel into
the bracket:
- Put the wheel on top of the arms of the bracket.
- Push down on the wheel and try and push it into the
bracket. If you can't, bend one of the bracket arms
slightly and push the sparkwheel into place.
- Once in the bracket, line-up the pins on the wheel to
the holes in the bracket. If you had to bend one of the
bracket arms, then use some pliers or a vice to
straighten and secure the wheel into place. - Test to
make sure that it spins freely
Fitting the Flint, Spring and Screw
1. Put the flint into the tube first. I used 2 pieces of
flint as the tube is quite long.

2. Next, stretch the spring a little and put into the tube once you have attached the sparkwheel to the
chamber
3. Lastly, put the screw into the bottom of the tube
and with a screwdriver, force it into the tube. Keep on
un-screwing and screwing it in until it is flush. If you
can’t get it flush, leave it where it is and try again

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Step 7: Making the Fuel Chamber Section - Cutting the Chamber to Size

Steps

1. Place the copper tube into a vice to hold it steady.

2. Next, work out how long you want your lighter. How long you make it will determine how much fuel you will be
able to have inside. Remember though the longer you have it, the longer the sparkwheel tube will need to be. Mine
one is aprox 50mm long.

3. Cut the tube, file off the ends and remove any burrs

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Step 8: Making the Fuel Chamber Section - Wick Holder
I have made a few different versions of the wick
section. It’s a quite important part and you need to be
able to cap it so the fuel doesn’t dry out. You can see
in some of the images below, I initially went for a
piece of tube slightly larger than the wick holder
which slipped over it. I soldered a small piece of
brass on top to form a cap. This works fine and you
could just do this is you wanted to. However, I wanted
to have a screw on version so this ible’ will take you
through how I did that
Steps:
1. First, you need to make the wick holder. To do this
you will need to drill a hole through the middle of a
small bolt. It took me a few goes before I was happy
with the result as I’m sure it will for you too. You can
buy nut-serts which already have a thread on the
outside and are hollow. I made mine though.
2. Place the screw into a vice and carefully start to
drill into the top of it
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3. Take your time and remove any bits of metal that
come away from the bolt so the drill bit isn’t impeded.
4. You will need to drill about 10-15mm deep. Once
you are happy with the depth, you then need to cut
the section off the screw
5. I just used a dremel to cut away the section I
wanted
6. Next, drill a hole into one of the 15mm caps. Make
sure that this is off centre as per the images. The hole
should be the same size as the wick holder section
you just drilled.
7. Screw the wick holder into the hole and have 3-
5mm sticking out the top. You don’t want too much as
the wick will hit the top of the dome.
8. Lastly, screw on the dome nut to make sure
everything fits ok
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Step 9: Making the Fuel Chamber Section - Soldering
Once you have the wick holder secured into the brass
cap, you next have to solder a small tube to the
inside. The reason why you do is is to enable the fuel
chamber to be secured to the bottom cap. It's
probably the most difficult part as you need to solder
the tube to the inside of the top of the cap. I had to try
3 times before the solder took and the tube became
secure. At the same time you also solder the top cap
to the actual chamber.
Steps:
1. The tube that you need to solder to the inside of
the cap needs to be about 15mm longer than the
actual chamber section. You'll cut the extra length off
later. The extra length helps you to ensure the tube is
straight inside the chamber when you go to solder.
Cut the tube to length.
2. Next, grab some solder and wrap this around the
bottom of the tube. You need a fair bit as this is will
need to secure the tube to the cap. Add a generous
amount of flux as well.
3. As you will need to solder the top cap as well, as
some flux to the inside of the cap too.
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4. Next drill a hole into the bottom cap. This will need
to be off centre as the tube won't be directly in the
middle due to the wick holder.
5. Place the cap onto the end of the chamber with the
tube sticking out the end of it. This is why you have
the extra length for.
6. Use a blow torch to heat up the chamber and cap
to melt the solder. Keep the heat on for some time to
ensure the solder melts and the tube attaches to the
chamber. If it doesn't work the first time, add some
more solder and try again until it secures it in place.
Also add some solder around the cap to secure it to
the chamber.
7. Trim the tube flush with the chamber.
8. Lastly, you need to place a screw into the bottom
of the tube to hold the cap in place. As brass is soft,
all you need to do is to screw it into the tube with
some force. Un-screw and screw it into the tube until
it's flush with the cap.
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Step 10: Attaching the Sparkwheel to the Chamber
To attach the sparkwheel to the body of the chamber,
you need to modify come brass channel. You could
possibly just solder the sparkwheel section to the top
cap but it would make it a little hard to remove the
bottom one when re-fueling.
Steps:
1. Grab a length of the brass channel and place it into
a vice.
2. Next start grinding the top section to turn it into "C"
channel. This will become the bracket that will be
between the sparkwheel and the chamber.
3. File down to make it even and remove the burrs.
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Cut to size
4. Add some flux to the flat section of the bracket and
place it on top of the chamber. Do the same to the
sparkwheel tube and place this onto the "C" section
of the bracket.
5. Secure the lighter in a vice and with a mini blow
torch, heat-up the area. Add some solder to the joins.
This is quite a tricky process as it's hard to line-up the
sparkwheel, bracket and chamber just right. Take
your time and ensure that everything is straight before
you solder.
6. Lastly, give everything a good polish
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Step 11: Adding the Wick, Cotton and Fuel
Now that you have your lighter built, it's time to add
the wick, cotton and fuel.
Steps:
1. Thread the wick through the wick holder. Leave a
little at the top.
2. Next, pull off small pieces of cotton, roll them up,
and push them into the chamber. It's important that
the cotton is spread evenly through the chamber so
make sure you also put it around the tube in the
inside.
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3. As you are putting the cotton in, try and weave the
wick through the cotton. This will ensure that the wick
will absorb the fuel better.
4. I also added a little bit of felt to the bottom as this is
similar to what you will find inside a zippo. It will help
keep the cotton in place.
5. Lastly, add some zippo fuel and attach the cap to
the bottom of the chamber.
Spin the sparkwheel and light the wick. Congrats -
you have just made your own lighter!
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Step 12: What I Would do Dfferently

Actually there isn't much I would change on this
version. You can see a couple of the others I made,
one with the sparkwheel tube actually inside the
chamber (makes it easier to secure it together), and
another similar to the one in this ible'.
that the traditional trench lighter uses but this was just
too hard to do, not impossible though. The wind
breaker on the traditional trench lighter also has a cap
for the wick so this would solve the issue of having to
come up with a way to cover the wick.

I would have liked to have included a wind breaker

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