Lighter to Vesta, #2

Couple years ago I did this project with a brass Zippo case, making a vesta out of it(a Vesta is a old fashioned match case/match safe).  Works good too, if I do say so myself. Lately, I’d been going through some gear, and was loking at this gorgeous silver(real Silver, or at least Silver plated) lighter that my mother gave me a few years ago.

 I always loved this lighter, its one I remember her having as long as I could remember, and she said she got it from a boyfriend she had once.. Since she met and married my dad in the early 60s, this lighter is older than that, and that makes this a pretty long lived lighter.  

Its not a Zippo, and actually its not marked at all, in any way… Who knows, it could even be a one off, hand made item..(although I doubt it, since there is a guy on the forums that has one just about identical to it, but I don’t know how old his is.)  Its a bit wider than a Slim Zippo; a Zippo insert doesn’t fit tightly.

Anyway, I love it but since the butane inserts for slim lighters are so hard to get stateside, and I don’t use a lighter often enough to justify wasting money on liquid lighter fluid that evaporates in a short time, I’ve not used it. It was on the shelf with the brass converted Vesta, and I’d been looking at vintage, and older styles of gear, and it clicked; Make a match safe out of it too! It even has the look of a Vesta, since a Lot of those were tall, slim and done in fancy silver, with carving and scroll work.

Its a simple mod, the same way I did the brass one, just cut the bottom off on a Zippo insert, invert, and epoxy into the case at the right height to clear the lid closing, but high enough to give good friction fit to hold the lid shut.