Practical Lighters

I made 14 lighters for the production of Girl, Interrupted. The lighter was built using a Zippo, LED diodes, and a 3-volt lithium battery.

The Zippo was gutted, then had holes drilled into the hood to accommodate one 3 mm LED and one 5 mm LED. The hole for the internal tube insert was modified to hold a panel-mount momentary push button, and the flint wheel was altered so that rolling it presses the button.

The wiring included one 3 mm flickering LED, one 5 mm standard LED, a NO momentary push button, and a 3 volt lithium battery holder. The push button was wired in series on the positive side of the battery holder. A 1-ohm resistor was wired to the negative side to each diode to help regulate the current for the flickering effect. The two LED diodes were then wired together in parallel to the battery.

A flame made Rosco #119 frost filter was then wire to the top of the hood.