The picture shows a 1946 zippo on the left hand side and a later type on
the right.
Production was started again late in 1946 with zippo’s
new flintwheel. Soon the cases were chromed again and lowered 1/32 of
an inch.
The picture shows a 1946 zippo on the left hand side and a later type on
the right.
In 1947 zippo returned to the brass cases which looked exactly like the 1946 model but had a smoother brush finish because the material was harder.
The inserts were changed in a number of ways. The cam had the same shape as nowadays zippo’s as did the parts of the chimney that held the flintwheel. A hollow rivet was still used to hold the flintwheel in place. The insert featured a 16-hole chimney like the 1933 and 1934 models and had two spotwelds on the camside
1948
In 1948 the three barrel hinge
was replaced by a 5 barrel one. The same type we find on our zippo's nowadays.
Five barrel hinges are much stronger and more durable than three barrel
hinges which became "wobbly" after some time of use.
The new 5 barrel hinge is still
beeing used today in almost every zippo. The only exception is the 1941
replica which has a 4 barrel hinge. Even the 1932 replica (a mistake by
the factory which is getting hard to find) and the 1933 replica which both
have "outside" hinges use the normal inside 5 barrel hinge. These lighters
have two pieces of metal spotwelded to the case to make them look like
outside hinge zippo's.
