Old Mining Tech: Carbide Lamp Restoration - ElementalMaker
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- čas přidán 23. 07. 2024
- Bringing an old miners carbide lamp back to life! And playing with some Calcium Carbide of course.
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I inherited grandad's, mostly Justrite, carbide lamps he used from the 1920s up into at least the 1950s. Most of them still work. They made stuff right back then.
That they sure did! Wish they still made stuff half as well today. Heck even this cheapish Chinese one still works quite well!
They didn't bitch about grams and that meant that their products were designed to bend more than their own expectations of it.
I realise this is an old post, I have only just found it, but I thought you might like to know that the one I had back in the 1960s had what I would describe as a “duck billed” nozzle that gave a flat almost circular flame. And yes the nozzle was made of some sort of white ceramic material. Unfortunately in 1969 we had a house fire and everything was lost. When you got the flame right there was no visible smoke. Cheers, I enjoyed the trip down memory lane. All the best from NZ
I am very sorry you suffered through the loss of your home, but thank you for your comment. Cheers my friend
Nice job making a tip! I've seen lamps with a tip made from a .22 cartridge case with a needle hole punched in the end.
lol head mounted flamethrower :D
Jeff that is a great way of putting it! Wish I thought of that line for the video
Cool vid man. After asking a few of the old boys from our local engineering group it seems that the original tips had a hole size of approximately 0.3mm to 0.4mm and they were indeed ceramic.
Awesome! Thank you so much Jon! I truly appreciate it. Now I can order some properly sized drill bits.
i had a feeling some gray-haired men somewhere knew about this, and it simply hadn't made it online yet.
Ah, so there is your answer, take a bristle from your toothbrush, make a tiny dab of clay around the tip of it, "glue" it to the old tip, then pull the bristle out and let it dry. After a bit of use, it should become ceramic.
@@ElementalMaker Have you made a follow up video with the correct sized hole to see if it is better?
@@superdupergrover9857 it's old to us here in eastern Kentucky where most of Kentucky's mines were, are.
I remember my dad telling me about mixing the lamp goodies for his early Harley. I have a picture of he and my mom on the big headlight ride. This brings up all kinds of memories for me. Thanks bud.
Wow I never knew the old Harley's used carbide lamps! Absolutely awesome. Glad it brought you back some good memories.
Pretty cool. I remember as a child playing with one my dad had. I was amazed putting water on something could make fire.
Without going into details, I too have also uttered the line at 9:40...but that was back in college.
Your comment wins the internet for today.
A popular technique for lighting these Cap Lamps was to cup your hand over the reflector for a few moments to allow the acetylene to build up. With the heel of your hand pressing on the flint wheel, you drag your hand smartly over the wheel. The sparks produced would ignite the acetylene/air mixture with a satisfying explosion. With luck this would also ignite the gas escaping from the jet. It worked better if the flint and wheel were dry.
Small quantities of Calcium Carbide can be made in an impromptu arc furnace constructed from high temperature insulation brick. The arc is struck between a pair of carbon gouging (or arc lamp) electrodes with power provided by a small welding transformer.
That sounds like a much more satisfying method of lighting the lamp! I will definitely be trying that
Many fond memories as a teen exploring the local caves with light from these lamps. I still have two of the Justrite lamps that still work! 1950's stuff, built to last.
I remember using one some 28 years ago (I was 12 or so) when visiting a non-commercially exploited cave in Austria. They didn't have the dripping system. On the way up to the cave we had to fill them with some water from a small waterfall we had to walk under. The guide actually had a head lamp on carbide. But these ones without dripping regulation, were just producing acethylene at full speed, building up the pressure. As the pressure got higher, the gas would not escape the water surface but instead go in solution in the water until enough gas was burnt to drop the pressure enough for new gas to escape the water (like CO2 bubbling up when opening a soda bottle). The advantages of such a system (in spite of a higher pressure buildup) were that the flame could not travel up the nozzle as there was no oxygen in the reaction chamber left by the time you shut the lid (which is not the case in your lamp, so yours actually has an explosion risk) and they were low heavy (while yours is probably top heavy with the water compartiment being up top) making them more stable when setting them on a ledge or on the floor.
I remember the guide explaining how they used the soot to mark the way to find the exit again, and in larger areas, you could follow the smell. If you entered a hall where there was no bad smell associated with these lamps, then you knew you entered a hall where you had not been earlier. I think I have some pictures from inside the cave, and I suppose I was holding the lamp in them.
Anyway, I think if you can find some retro-style cave guides like that one, they will probably be able to tell you the proper nozzle width, or even hook you up with spare parts...
This particular cave I visited was called the Schneckenlochhöle (Slug's Hole Cave) in the tiny high alp hamlet of Schönebach in the Vorarlberg province, kanton Bregenzerwald. In case you'd like to look up the guides that used those lamps. I remember them (there were 2 guides for a group of about 20 people I believe) not being very old so they're probably still around.
That analogy with soda bottles made me think of something: would dry ice stay solid longer if it was submerged in carbonated water inside a closed PET bottle? (I know, that's a pretty random jump of a cluttered mind, but that's where cool videos originate, don't they?) Care to test that? Or is that something I should suggest to Cody ('s Lab)?
Having quite a bit of experience with dry ice in bottles with water, I believe it would just blow the bottle to shreds. Very cool story with the caving experience you had. I would love to do something like that myself. Pretty amazing that the water - carbide reaction was unregulated. Learn something new every day.
Haha, it actually scared me (as I was just a kid, and in my interpretation, we were just making a gas bomb, but in a container that I deemed way too weak to be holding a pressurized flamable gas) but my dad (engineer) explained it to me with the analogy of the soda bottle. At least, that's how I remember it. But I'm positive about the absence of water regulation. We held the container with the little rocks directly under the waterfall to fill them up about halfway.
It's amazing how many (relatively) useless anecdotes are in my head, while I can't seem to properly remember important appointments or payment due dates... XD
Don't forget Acetylene will randomly decompose, and release massive amounts of extra pressure if its under too much pressure, unless its dissolved in acetone.
So, his dissolved in water method was not any safer as far as explosion risks go.
I would be afraid of the lights. Acetylene explodes when compressed above 2.5 bar. Acetylene explodes in 98% air and also in 2% air.
Sidenote, the soot coming off that is super valuable for very conductive paint, polymer, and elastomers. It creates way more nano networks in plastics for conductivity than any other carbon black🤓 sweet vids man
Im speechless...this is great
This is awesome. I have been looking for trinkets such as this, tools of the old days, toys, things you might show off in the 1920's. Thank you for uploading this video, one of the many things I have never seen.
Glad to hear you enjoyed it Ron! Thanks for dropping the comment!
I have used them and I can tell you the first hole was perfect. They can have a really long flame.
Never knew how these worked. Pretty neat.
Great Video!
I enjoyed watching it very much. I have never seen a carbide lamp in action, thanks for showing me :)
It is really giving of more light then I expected.
I liked your idea with the centerpunch to reduce the diameter of the hole.
Flederratte glad you enjoyed! This was also my first time seeing one in operation, and was really surprised by the amount of light it gave off. Such neat devices!
If ethyne would not be so dangerous in the right mixture with air, I might even try to build my own carbide-lamp. However I have enough less dangerous projects so I will not try this. Maybe I find one of those cool lamps for sale one day ;)
My best friend in grade school, used to put carbide and a little water into a milk can with a touch hole and sit on it, it blew him a few feet into the air.
How cool,heard about these 30 years back but never followed it threw.
Very interesting. I always wondered how those worked.. and now i know.Thanks
Great vid. I'm fascinated by Calcium Carbide. I discovered it when I learned that in poorer tropical countries, which rely on locally grown produce more than industrial farms, locals use carbide stones to ripen fruit. Especially bananas. On discovering that I went down a rabbit hole about how modern industrially produced bananas are picked green, shipped internationally, and bathed in a low concentration of acetylene when near the destination to trigger the ripening process.
really interesting video, i like how you explain a little history on the device ect
TheTezla69 glad you enjoyed!
Very very interesting..
Awesome stuff , I see a rabbit hole adventure on its way haha
We used these on the USMC shooting team to blacken the front post sight on our rifles for better contrast. Good video.
Love this kind of history! I will mention this in the follow up video! Any idea what year they did this till?
1976 USMC Pacific Division matches held at camp Smith Hawaii. I was stationed at Kaneohe Bay.
Very interesting stuff. Thanks for the video.
Thank you, glad you enjoyed!
I made a miners lamp in my high school metal shop, it worked great for about two minutes, then not so good, fortunately my teacher knew to be carful and it wasn’t bad it just popped. Lots of fun 🤪😆😝
Glad she didn't kaboom on you! LOL
@@ElementalMaker yes just my pride, one of the brazed seams blew and there was a little noise, my instructor gave me an A for the project, saying because it did work and it was by far more complicated than the intended project he thought it was worthy of an A. I believe my port/ jet got clogged and that is why it blew. I fixed it and put a screen in it to prevent particles getting into the port/jet and it worked great after that.
I smiled through the whole video. Thanks for sharing. -Will
Debtfreehomesteaders glad you enjoyed Will! Thanks for checking out my channel!
In 1964-1965 I used a carbide lamp to black my rifle sights so they would not shine. I was firing on the USMC rifle team. Every one on the team had a carbide lamp in their gear box. All we done was to spit in the lamp and that gave us plenty of sight blacking.
Spit to run a carbide lamp! Now that's awesome! Thank you for your service Wyman. And very cool to hear your use of carbide lamps to soot sights.
I also used a carbide lamp to frog gigging. I wired it to an old hard hat and tgat was the trick.
Antique junk, little bit of chemistry, little bit of machining.... perfect!
My dad had one of these on his bike in the 1930s
Glad you enjoyed! Hope it brought back some good memories!
we used to use them when we speared fish in the spring. you could get the carbide down at the hardware store, as well as the lamps. wish i still had mine
Subbed because of the awesome ave vibes :) cool channel!
I have one made in the USA and it has a ceramic orifice. The hole seems very small. Maybe the size of a very small sewing needle. I can see light thru it. I don't have a drill bit small enough to go through the hole. Wish I could be of more help. Thanks for the video.
You make such interesting videos. I used a carbide lamp during my spelunking years in the 1960s and 70s. The tips were indeed ceramic set in a brass collar. The tip was slightly tapered. Friction held it in place. I never used toothpaste or any other adhesive to hold it in place nor knew anyone else who did. Thee was a felt filter that fit snuggly in the base of the water reservoir. It was as large in diameter as the reservoir and had a hole in the center through which the stem passed. We cavers always took spare carbide in water tight bottles, spare tips, spare felts (they tended to get waterlogged), and a tool to clean the carbon build up from the tip. The lamp is lit by placing one's hand over the reflector for 10 or 15 seconds to allow some acetylene to accumulate and, using the fleshy part of the palm, quickly rolled the friction wheel on the flint. With a little practice you can light it on the first attempt. If someone else in the group already had a lighted lamp, you'd say "Kiss me" which meant "Give me a light." Affluent spelunkers carried extra lamp bottoms, already fueled, with a screw on lid which made refueling easier. The cap was then put on the spent fuel container. Spent carbide fuel was NEVER dumped in the cave. I recall a time when my lamp fell off my hardhat into a stream of water on the cave floor. I had to disassemble, dry and clean the lamp, replace the felt and refuel in total absolute darkness. Good times.
Wow now that was an awesome comment! Thank you for the wealth of information. I would love to go spelunking some day. I imagine it has gotten easier with the advent of lithium ion batteries and LED lights. I couldn't imagine trying to do all that in total darkness, must have been quite a terrifying rush to experience that kind of darkness.
That is badass. I love mining so really enjoyed the video
jeff allen glad you enjoyed it! It's definitely an awesome piece of mining history, I'm pumped I was able to get it working again after probably sitting unused for many decades
Now that I am into 3d printing a usual nozzle tip is .4 mm although smaller tips are definitely available. I might go ahead an try them (they are made of brass although stainless steel are available also. I too have a lamp with no tip and now I am excited to try and get it working.
This was an awesome video. I was totally unaware, even though I had heard of carbide lamps.
I'm kind of amazed I never came across this before, seeing as how I'm and engineer/fitter, have used acetylene for cutting and welding for donkeys years, though it tends to be more propane these days. And I served my time down a fucking pit.
Everything was VERY strictly controlled due to the methane explosion possibility. Everything had to be either low voltage and intrinsically safe, being generally comm's, or anything more than the low voltage, had to be housed in massive cast flameproof cabinets, to prevent any explosions getting out of the cabinets, not the other way around. Even aluminium was contraband, due to it being able to produce a spark hot enough to ignite methane gas. All watches had to be mechanical too, no battery watches. Mobile phones were still well in the future then.
I have only ever seen a picture of a carbide lamp. I have two old miners safety lamps though from when I worked there. We don't have many pits left these days in the UK.
Great video's mate. Keep up the sterling work.
Glad you enjoyed! Stay safe fitting. I did that myself for a little while, but only got to work with FRP piping. Pretty cool stuff but I really wanted to weld!
It still exists this lamp. My father use it while working at night time. It was 10 year ago since then. My father brought it on local hardware store. If I remember that lamp was made in China.
That's awesome to hear some are still in use! Very cool!
@@ElementalMaker yeah but not I from USA. My origin from Sarawak,Malaysia. Now day nobody know it anymore cause alot people don't know about this lamp.
First time I went craving at Chilligo in Australia as a kid we used these and magnesium ribbon for for higher flame.
Now I understand how so many mine explosions happened!
Not much choice at the time, Once Batteries and sealed lamps became a thing, they switched to those.
@@toadman506 They are pretty great though aren't they? Surprising how bright and white the light is from such a small flame.
I recalled an old small carbide stove my grandpa had.
HD archives may be able to help out with your Quest.WOOHOO for you bud. Nice job !
Thanks for the suggestion, I will look them up and shoot them a message. Appreciate the help!
You and I could be best friends. I think I've spent the last day watching all of your videos. Great stuff.
Thanks Ryan! I'm sure we would! I appreciate you dropping a comment!
You just make cool shit, I respect that, keep em coming!
Appreciate it! Thanks for the support!
Great video.
Thanks Adam! Glad you enjoyed it!
Good show!
Thank you sir!
Very cool
I have one of these lamps I got when my father passed away the jet in in it could not find my micro drills but the ballpark size 26 awg wire is loose and a 30 awg will not fit so it would be the 27 or 28 awg size and you are right there is a ceramic liner in the jet hope I helped you get close
That was cool. Always wondered how those worked
Glad you enjoyed! Thanks for checking out my channel!
I remember the toy Carbide Cannon my dad had as a child. It was loud.
I have always wanted one of those! I need to build one.
peen it closed a bit and use torch tip cleaners to size it open until you get a proper flame. great video man.
Very Cool!!!
That is pretty neat
Thanks!
Just saying...I loved this video.
Glad you enjoyed! Thanks for dropping a comment!
Thanks for this video. I have always wondered how those old carbide lamps worked. I think a smaller orifice would help control the soot. Smaller orifice with more pressure behind it causes a stronger venturi effect and draws more air into the flame. Another thing I would like to see is if you could make a mini version of the old lighthouse limestone lamps. They used some kind of gas to heat a block of limestone to yellow-white hot. That kind of lamp was also used as a theater light before electric lights came on the scene. This is where they get the phrase "being in the limelight", meaning an actor has a prominent role.
I want one, so cool.
My grandfather had one of those carbide lamps in the late 60's. It looked a little different than yours but I'm sure they had basically the same specs. He kept the orifice clean using an acetylene torch tip file of 23 gauge. have no idea what the tip was made of but it felt like plastic but obviously wasn't. Hope this helped!
Use a torch tip from an old butane lighter. Not a soft flame orifice tube. It will usually just pull out of the lighter. Should be brighter with less smoking.
Man awesome idea! I never would have though of that.
If I remember right, the grade of carbide for these lamps is 14ND my grandpa had a couple and they were marked to use 14ND. This is the same grade that my dads acetylene generator used. The carbide you have may work but it has much larger grain size. 14ND has about a 1.5 mm grain. Kind of like course sand.
Your face was reflected from the lantern!
Насправді досить небезпечна річ...але гарна.Відображає рівень технологій і виробничої естетики свого часу.Якісь ,,високі технології,, зазвичай показують опережаючі прориви ,а от саме побутові,загальнодоступні речі характеризують епоху.Дякую.Отримав задоволення від перегляду.
Glad you enjoyed Sergey, thank you.
Back in the late 60s I hitch-hiked across the country with a friend before going to boot camp in prep for Vietnam . We worked in a coal mine in Kentucky for a couple of days as temporary labor. Believe me you do not want to work in a coal mine. I saw a few of those lamps on an old makeshift table which was labeled "Emergency Use Only". When asked an older gentleman remarked those were the same lamps he used when he was in his early teens. We just put them there to scare the new boys ... some joke huh ?
Cool!
Harbor freight sells micro drill bits. I use them for clearing my nozzle on my 3d printer. They're not too bad. Just gotta go slow with em, they break easy, but even better quality will break easy when they get that small.
Didn't know HF sold them. Awesome! Thanks for sharing! I'll have to pick up a set and test some new tips.
Years ago (1982?) I picked up an old brass gasoline blow torch for about $5. I'd like to get that thing working sometime.
Idea, recycle an old absorption refrigerator and strip it out and put it in a cooler. Design a canister that olds calcium carbide with a pressure valve that allows water to drip into canister that shut off the water ounce the gas built up presure in the canister. With another presure valve to allow a steady flow of gas though a hose down to a burner that operates the absorption refrigeration system. A SHTF cooler to keep food and medications that you can keep in the bed of your trunk or on the tung of a trailer? 😊😉
The only issue is pressurized Acetylene can explosively decompose, even without oxygen present. Acetylene tanks are filled with diatomaceous earth and acetone (to keep the acetylene dissolved). Its some nasty stuff when pressurized! Thanks for the comment! Very cool idea nonE-the-less!
Well since it burns so hot any way just model one after one of those miners lamp to operate the burner to run an absorption refrigeration system? Wild idea make a heater that runs off urine its mostly water has the heater dries out and sterilizes the sticky stuff into rich top soil and cook off the rest of the urine and make crystallized rich plant food? A neat way to process waste rather then just just makes a brown slurpee abd dumps it down pipes out of sight out a mind. 😊
My late father left an old carbide lamp with us. We never tried to make it work. I never heard of coal deposits in Oklahoma especially since you normally think of oil here so I don't know what he used it for.
McAlister was a big coal mining town before the oil boom. There are a few mines around Catoosa too.
oh cool. we have some of these at the mining museum I volunteer at. never seen them working before though. :P
Glad you got to see one working now!
Really cool, always wondered. Also, I would like to know more about the cutting torch tip hole sizes. Long ago I tried cleaning a tip by lightly reaming the holes and "DONE", said the tip.
very nice!
Appreciate it!
It's a tradition in the Netherlands to use carbide on the last day of the year for carbide shooting (carbid schieten), essentially filling a big milk container (that farmers use) with a cup of water and some carbid, put the lid on, wait for 30 seconds to let it gas and light it at the back of the container through a little drilled hole.
KaBOOM!, Bangs are so loud it makes car alarms go off and shoots the lids some 100's meters away, if you got the mixture right.
Neat stuff, very explosive.
Wow that sounds like one heck of a fun tradition! Stay safe 👍
@@ElementalMaker search for carbid schieten on CZcams, some crazy stuff is made, it's a typical Dutch tradition especially done in the more rural area's.
Can also be used to get moles out of your lawn. (Don't light it then)
@@corborst4872 Holy smokes that looks like my kind of holiday! I absolutely need to go to the Netherlands some day to experience that. Gave me some good video ideas Lol. I can't imagine how much hearing damage is done on that one day
Just get a simple gas burner orifice, will fit right in there without any work, and has the right hole and relief already.
Great to know! Thanks for sharing!
I was thinking a old Colman stove orifice would prolly work and fit right on there with out much work. I used them to convert an old chambers cook stove from the ‘20s from gas to propane at my house.
Different gasses, different applications, call for different orifices.
Looks like a good source of lamp black...
That it certainly is!
I have a new old stock German WW2 one. ;))
In my country we shoot with carbide during the new year.
In milk jugs, manure tanks and such. :))
Serarch in dutch " Carbid Schieten "
back in the day they were used as bicycle lamps too
I just learned about that. Crazy cool! Thanks for dropping a comment!
Hi. great vid. is it possible to somehow add Urea to remove the black soot content (similar to Diesel Exhaust Fluid)?
Very nice :D
Appreciate it! Thanks for checking out my channel!
I have several these my family is from harlem county ky were miners.
Very cool! They are awesome little lamps.
I saw one of these attached to it’s original miners cap. It was a simpler design that didn’t have a separate water tank.
Very cool. Another guy also commented about one without a separate tank, very interesting design. Apparently the acetylene would dissolve under the pressure of the reaction, and slowly release to sustain the flame.
thanks very much good sir
Glad you enjoyed!
Great video, subscribed and ringed. About the tip, why don't you try 0.16 mm, that is the standard diameter for flow glue (example), maybe the flame become brighter and the gas will be more economically burned. Cheers.
There are some other uses for these lamps. Some target shooters use the soot to blacken their sights. It makes them stand out against the black of the bullseye.
I wonder if you can use an orifice from a gas stove perhaps or even a propane torch?
My lamp and repair parts kit came from The Speleoshoppe, in Fairdale, KY. Not positive if this dealer is still available. The flame is much finer than what you came up with.
The hole size diameter looks like the thickness of a sheet of paper. It is probable similar to a butane lighter.
The nozzle is countersunk from inside and out, making the thickness short too.
The kit also has replacement seals, flints, wing nut, and other spares.
Great I will have to see if I can find them, thank you!
in the Smallest drill bits you can find the smallest ones that's to small to use is the one you need for that hole you need for that tip it should work
U could try using a main jet out of a carborater
i have one of these, and i got it working
May want to look in to propane/welding torch tips. They come with a variety of orifice sizes and are readily available at any welding supplier or even a tractor supply location or similar supplier.
That's a great idea, I will have to look through my welding tips!
there are a few on e-bay UK, the bit that the gas comes out of
Carbide is also used as part of the test kit to determine the water content of engine and other oils, using the carbide to react with the water, and measuring the pressure the gas will create in a closed pressure test vessel.
Wow that's pretty slick. I may have to do a video showing that concept after I research it some more!
@@ElementalMaker would love to see a video on that.
One of the parts includes a thin steel probe to ream the ceramic bit burner tip. It's ceramic.
Very good to know, thank you for your comment! Appreciate it!
In the early 60's, it was 15 cents a pound. Now it's $25/lb - when you can find it.
Sadly that's quite true
I won't tell you what we kids used to do with it. Will only say "very loud and quite dangerous". Becomes shock sensitive at pressures above 15psi - big kaboom.
@@fredgranger9452 Hey now you can't just leave us hanging like that! Balloons I'm guessing? Or are we talking pressurized containers?
I have 39 lbs of calcium carbide.--I got most of it from a retired miner in Vancouver WA. I want to get a carbide lamp to play around with but haven't found one I want to spend money on yet. I'm not sure what all else I can do with the calcium carbide, but I've got a few ideas like a torch and a small carbide cannon.
If you ever want to sell some let me know! My supply is getting attacked by moisture. Need a better container.
ElementalMaker The guy I bought it from told me liquor bottles are the best way to store it. Most of the supply is in large bottles. LOL. When you screw the cap off it lets off a good hiss.
LOL thats awesome! Not a bad idea though. moisture wont diffuse through glass and the caps are typically quite airtight. Might have to transfer mine into an empty Tequila bottle. Time for a party!
If you are in driving distance I could sell you a bit for sure. I know it isn't supposed to go through the mail, though that didn't stop the first seller on Amazon whom I bought the first pound. Last year I also got a liter of 70% nitric delivered through via FedEx and I know that is a big no-no. I spent two months contacting suppliers for form applications only to be denied repeatedly, one by one. The last big supplier in the states attempted to work with me about obtaining a new storage bottle and labels and they just wouldn't "couldn't" help.. Then out of curiosity I tried another mean from the Wal-Mart marketplace.just keep an eye out for gold mining supply sellers. They have acid.
ElementalMaker I live in WA state by the way.
A #80 drill bit should be about the right orifice size for the flow. Might be a micron larger, but that should be about the right diameter for original flame pressure settings.
The opening for the gas is about the size of the tip of a needle, but behind that is a lot wider so if you have a drill bit that's like a needle you can make the right size hole.
Great, thanks!
some focused on ball of lime or was it oxy hydro they were on pushbikes to but fire hazard?
I just watched another video on that light and the old fella used a #80 drill bit to clean the forfeits on his and that was a really small drill bit
Would be cool to see when you get the propper size drill if you can put 2 holes at an angle about 30 degrees apart and try and double the light by making 2 flames.
Yes the multiple hole suggestion will be awesome to try out. I am looking forward to experimenting with it as well!
Used them in picking mushrooms in the 50's and early 60's..
zippo flints may work better. they are a slightly larger diam.and will probably fit better as that style of lighter was more common at the time. although I have used bic flints in a zippo, they arent as good.
Thanks! Good to see a lady aboard!