I often see discussions, how colored Alox wears over time. Here you can see. The oldest are from the 60s the newest from the 90s + a 2025 Companion Slim. I tried to sort them by wear, not by damages or age.
Show yours in any color and size.
After I built my Old Cross Synergy, I wanted to make some more Alox mods. I had an Elinox Pioneer with terribly worn and sharpened blade and a snapped awl, the Bugnard Elinox Pruner, with ugly but manageable blades, a blue Pioneer X, I never warmed up with, a Combo tool from a Compact and the Synergy X scissors.
I played it out in my head, how to spread the tools, to make two awesome saks.
The first one I named now Elinox Alox Pioneer 2 X. Elinox, because all of the tools, except for the scissors are from the Elinox era, Pioneer 2, because just like the Cadet 2 it has two blades. In the Cadet 2, the small blade replaces the nailfile, in my Pioneer 2, the small blade replaces the awl. The X should be obvious.
I reused the openers from the original Pioneer, added the blades from the Bugnard Pruner and the Synergy X scissors. All the backsprings liners and keyring attachment came from the blue PX, so it has an even look on the back, and not differently scratched up springs.
I couldn't reuse the brass liner, because I had only one, so I made the best of it, and installed it with the original awl spacer into my next mod.
The Sturdy Yoyageur. I took the word Sturdy from an earlier name of the Pioneer, Sturdy Boy, and added it to the 84mm version with the same tools, Yoyageur. I think a beefed up and slightly bigger Yoyageur can be called Sturdy Yoyageur.
For this, I used the original backspring for the blade layer, the Synergy X backspring, flipped 180°, because the 93mm Alox is symmetrical, the mentioned brass liner and spacer, the blade and the scissors from the blue PX and the combo tool from the Compact, drilled out to 3mm and installed with a 0,3mm thick washer, to compensate its thinness.
The third, I just show current pics of. I made it some months ago, nicknamed it Grandfather/Grampa Synergy, and made a post about it already. (still my favorite)
The second to last pic shows the screws I used, they are both M2, but since the middle hole is smaller, than the the outer ones, I didn't want the middle screws sticking out to much, or the outer screws to be sunken in to much. So I used the screw in the left for the middle pivots, and the version on the right for both ends. Now they all have almost the same hight and look identical, when installed, without the need for drilling into vintage scales. You can see, what I mean, in the last pic.
The pivots are from Etsy. I first bought, two sets of the 9mm version, from a Vietnamese modder, the 12mm version, I bought later, from an Ukrainian modder, who ships from Poland. So you can pick from two sellers, whoever ships cheaper to your country. The quality is about the same and pretty good. M2 screws are easy enough to find on Ebay.
What to mod next? 🤔
I built a Pioneer X, well almost. Otherwise I wouldn't ask. I will show it this week, maybe tomorrow. I just want to finish a second mod, before I show both.
So, imagine A Pioneer X, but instead of the awl, it has a second knife blade.
I thought about naming it Alox Climber, but it has no backtools, so it could also be an Alox Supertinker, so I rather don't call it any of these.
Maybe Alox Cadet 2 X large? I don't know.
Did anyone already build one?
Some food for thought,
the aditional blade was a Pruner blade, but the tip was sanded away, so I turned it into a sheep foot or lambfoot.
All the tools except the scissors are Elinox era with Old Cross scales.
I'd like to hear what you would call it, so I can give it a name, when I show it.
These were made from 1934, maybe 1932 to 1950 or 51
They were quite popular and are still easy to find at affordable prices.
I try to list all, or at least most variations. I don't have all versions, but I have some that I've never seen elsewhere.
It goes left to right, top to bottom. I also added separate pictures of each.
B7, earliest version, starting in 1934 or 32, nicknamed "Hosenbrenner", because it wasn't very save for pocket carry
B37, 1936 or 37, they changed the shape of the attachment for the swingarm, it also has a guiding guard for the swingarm now, so it's not a pocketburner anymore, I've got two versions, I think on the earlier version, they used the swingarm from the B7 and changed, how the snuffer was installed later
B207, 1938, the shape of the trigger changed, now you can open it from both sides or use two fingers, the attachment of the snuffer also changed so the swingarm is now smooth on the sides
Not pictured, wartime production, I did not find a model number either, made from some zinc alloy, the swingarm looks different, a bit like on similar Rowentas or Weltzünders
B51, 1948, looks at first like a B207, but has a further improved savety mechanism, it now uses a double bolt trigger, means you have to use now both fingers for both, now separate triggers to eject the mechanism
B217, 1949, attempts to improve the fuel evaporation, it now has a rubber ring around the chimney, this is also the only model, where you can remove a part of the bottom to have easier access to wick and wadding. It's held in place with the flint screw and has a rubber gasket, according to the Mylflam homepage, this is also the first one, which came with a cleaning brush, that can be put in the bottom of the case
The "Glück Auf", I didn't find a model designation, but I saw already other ones, so it's not a prototype, this one has a cylindrical chimney instead of the ball, because it has a spring-loaded wick, the snuffer also has a gasket, if you want to use one, don't buy this version, because it's impossible to find a wick for it, a normal wick doesn't work, I'm also not sure, if it came before or after the B217, however, it has the closed bottom, like the earlier versions
First, bottom row, now it gets vague, I've never seen this version, it looks a bit like the B37, but doesn't have a guiding guard for the swingarm, just like the B7, but it has the double bolt trigger like the B51, but with the shape from the B7, the swingarm is also unique by having the snuffer attachment of the later B37, but made for the double bolt trigger, like on the B51
The last one looks at first like B4 (1949), the last semiautomatic, it's missing it's sleeve, but the sleeve of a version of the early automatics fits, but some details are different, the shape of the trigger is different to the B4, and the snuffer attachment is like on the later B37
Ok, that's it. All my knowledge about the 1000 Zünder semiautomatics. I know some common models quite well, others are pretty rare, maybe prototypes.
If you want to use them regularly, don't buy the B7, or the versions with the cylindrical chimney. The others are pretty good lighters for daily use. I think the B217 is pretty rare but also a good daily.
For more details or pics on the models just ask me, but other's knowledge about my obscure versions are also welcome.
Btw: Heinrich Maltner Junior also developed the Rowenta F4504 as an evolution of the 1000 Zünder semiautomatic, before he went to Rowenta and took the design with him.
So basically the tool is done. Small flat head bent, tip of knife broke, scissor spring does not work anymore and today the big flat head broke. Is there anything better or more heavy duty I can buy? I lost the guarantee for this one so it's continue like this or get something new.
For size comparisons I show a standard Zippo and ST. Dupont Ligne 1 large next to it. This thing is a big chungus.
I saw here some time ago, someone presenting his version and I thought this looks cool and quite unique to use. But I didn't dig deeper at the time. But when I strolled again on ebay, looking at French lighters, these were always popping up under different brand names. So they were quite popular at the time. I also learned, that the Flaminiare made versions had filler valves. So I started to look specifically for those models.
Then I found one on German eBay for I nice price, obo. He accepted my offer, and it arrived yesterday. It was empty and had a stuck flint. The flint was easy, but be careful, the flint mechanism is unique and likes to catapult the flint spring across the room. The filler valve was covered with a flathead screw and a rubber gasket. The valve is unique and you need an adapter. Lucky me, bought some time ago a huge adapter set from Aliexpress for a nice price. It included an adapter for Vinci lighters. I had no idea what lighters these were, but it did fit. I later found out, that Flaminiare made in the 60s a Dupont style lighter, called Vinci.
And here comes the surprise. The lighter works. 🙂
I did some research about the brand.
It was founded by Marcel Quercia. He already had Flamidor and Myon.
Flaminiare made the first commercially available butane lighter in 1947, a table lighter. One year later, they launched the pocket lighter version, called Crillon. These were marketed as luxury lighters. Dupont had to hurry up and develop their own butane lighter.
They made more versions of the first butane lighter in the 50s. Mines is one of them, though I can't nail down, the specific version I have. I saw even in a catalog from 1967 a later version of these type of lighters.
Parker in the USA made a licensed version of the Crillon in the 50s, sold as Parker Flaminaire.
Quercia reinvented father's day in France, to push lighter sales (not kidding).
The company BIC bought Flaminiare partially in the 60s, and later the whole company. The technicians at Flaminiare developed in the early 70s a disposable lighter called BJ-75, but never produced it. This lighter started right out as a BIC lighter, THE BIC lighter. Today the best selling disposable lighter.
Edit: I finally found the model name for my lighter. It's a Le Leader. First made in 1955.
After I successfully repaired a Maruman D-11, https://www.reddit.com/r/lighters/comments/1ug3rqz/maruman_halley_l_dl11/, I got confident in repairing some butane lighters. I had mixed results, but I have now at least two usable 1000 Zünder out of it. Then I saw this post https://www.reddit.com/r/lighters/comments/1uqn7e0/why_did_they_discontinue_this_cool_feature/, and thought, why the hell don't I just fix some ST. Duponts. I've got so many and I know, how to disassemble them. At the time I had three in working order including my rat rod Ligne 1, which manifested my love for ST. Dupont lighters https://www.reddit.com/r/lighters/comments/1riacv4/my_rat_rod_ligne_1_or_my_shittiest_st_dupont_is/, which is fine for a lighter collection, but I had way more broken Duponts, which is kinda sad.
So I went literally in a binge repair of Duponts. I fixed one every day. For the last one I basically searched for the last usable parts to build a mongrel (bottom right).
Now I have seven working Duponts, all Ligne 1 BS and BR. That's way better then three 🙂. However, the second Pic shows the non working, and parts lighters 😐. I still have some parts, but it's just not enough to to build another one. I could fix the first small in the second Pic, but I'd need a tool for the filler valve. In the bottom row are some with usable parts, locked to the body by fubared screws. So I'd have to use drastic measures to get to the parts 😒.
But still, not bad after a week.
After I successfully repaired a Dupont lighter, yesterday, I just tried another one. This one was leaking at the flame valve and was a flamethrower. I replaced the gasket, that caused the leak. Now it holds the gas, but behaves weirdly, as you see. When I shake it, hold it sideways or upside down, the flame gets higher and goes back to normal, when I hold it straight. I also purged it ones, but it didn't seem to change much.
What causes this and how can I solve it?
I had this lighter for more than 10 years and it never worked properly. The flintwheel was terrible and it was probably the most painful lighter to use.
I noticed this struggle happens with other owners of Polo Liftarms too
It sat for a couple of years in a drawer in the garage after another failed attempt to fix it. Last year I found it again and gave it a couple of tries. Different flints, different flintwheels from other lighters, even rarer ones. Nothing satisfied me on the long run.
Today, I gave it another shot. I fitted a flintwheel from a disposable lighter in it.
I'm more of a semiautomatic fan, but after all, every collector needs at least one liftarm lighter.
I can't add pics to my video, so more in the discussions.
Or the fun with half repaired lighters.
In this hot summer it's not good, having a petrol lighter leaving in your car. The wick gets too wet and it won't like to ignite and of course the turbo evaporation. So I took out my butane lighters again. I have three working St. Duponts, at least one Ronson Premier, and a couple of Zippos with butane inserts.
But I've got way more non working butanes.
This Maruman is one of them. When I bought it a decade ago, it was fully functional. But one day, I refilled it, and one of the old gaskets was shot. That was bad, because I really like this lighter. Other then replacing some O rings, I never dug deeper into fixing a butane lighter and I probably didn't even have the right gasket at the time. Information about this lighter is still very sparse on the internet. But I saw recently service kits for Maruman lighters on Aliexpress, so I thought, I could see, what's broken, and if I need to, I can order a service kit.
I found the leak at the gasket for the filler valve, which I replaced with an o ring from a Dupunt L1 BS gasket kit, but it also doesn't want to release the gas. So I took out the flame adjuster and the flame valve. After some digging I found something, that was probably the sponge for height adjusting.
I tried the one from a disposable lighter (always keep your empty disposables for parts), but it was too big. Then I tried one from the Dupont kit, but it also didn't release the gas. So to see, that the flame valve was not clogged up, I put it together, without any sponge and it came to life, as a flamethrower. I'm happy, because it's fixable.
It held the gas overnight. I just used it like this, because I don't like to waste the gas. As I write this, it's already empty. So now I have to find something that regulates the gas flow.
Any suggestions? Did anyone tried a piece of wadding?
I few days ago, I posted about my modded Synergy, https://www.reddit.com/r/victorinox/comments/1u8gd74/the_grandfather_synergy/
It was about 99% perfect. I just didn't like, how much the middle screws stood out. Reminded me a bit of Herman Munster with the bolts in his neck. So I looked on ebay for other screws. They're just regular m2 screws, so easy to find. Today they arrived and 5 minutes later they were installed😁. So
It has now a combination of the original screws for the tools, delivered with the pivots, and the new screws for the backsprings. Now it's 110% perfect. In the third Pic you can see the new screw on the left and the old screw on the right. I like these, because they mimic a bit the shape of the rivet heads.
The fourth Pic shows some potential knifes for future mods. I planned to make a "Sturdy Yoyageur" and maybe an improved PX. Not sure yet, if modern, with the blue scales, or another vintage mod with old scales and some old tools.
5th and 6th Pic just shows some random Alox madness, that's going on, to make this post less boring. 🙂
This is my first Alox mod (drilling the rivets was nerve wrecking 🙂) . When the Refined Collection came out, I immediately liked the tools of the Synergy and the Synergy X. Last year I bought some pivots and screws on Etsy, to make a better Pioneer X with the Alox Companion scissors. I kept an eye on cheap Pioneers for the other tools. And in the meantime the prices for Synergies came down and got more affordable. So I bought an X. A cheap Solo was the donor for the scales.
I first thought about making it a Synergy X again. But the pivots allowed me also to just make it a 2 layer, with fully tightened screws. So I decided to to skip the scissors for a lower profile, I don't need it that much anyway.
I'm so happy with it. It's perfection. The Pioneer and 1961 Soldiers are my alltime favorite. And this has some upgraded tools to make it even better for my edc.
The only thing, I might rework or replace, are the middle screws. They're a bit proud above the scales. But for now I leave it and enjoy it.
The name Grandfather Synergy came, before I wrote this. Because if you inherit a sak from your grampa, it would probably look like this.
However, I'm open to name suggestions.
Another idea was Pionergy.
Maybe someone has a better name.
I had this one sitting for a while. I think, a paid a good price for it. I knew it had two broken tools. I was contemplating to send it in for repairs, fully aware, that they wouldn't have the period correct tools anymore, or just modify it.
About two weeks ago, I finalized my decision. I wouldn't be to happy with it, with modern, non correct tools, even if I fanzied awhile the idiea, to ask them to put in a modern nailfile.
But I also like a small screwdriver with better reach, while the last time, I used the canopener on a pocketknive was 30+ years ago. And even then, more of curiosity, then need. I could have just left it. It was probably still somehow functional, but I really don't like to look at a broken tool on a sak. I could have sharpened it to work as a can and package opener. But this knife has already two blades. I don't see a reason to have an aditional package opener.
So I made a couple of quick cuts with an anglegrinder, with a glass of water near me, to cool the blades down. The rest was just sanding an polishing. I didn't polish the screwdriver to much, so it fits the rough nature of the old Elinox tools.
I'm carrying it since then and it might even be my favorite Cadet now. Other then the damaged parts it just had the right amount of patina. I just love the worn red scales, which still have plenty of red left.
It's not a collectors grade, but also not fubared. Just perfect for me to edc.
And if you wondering about the name, Swissbianco did some 15 years ago a LE of 84mm Aloxes, which were basically Recruits in colored Alox scales with a woodsaw added. He called them Micro Farmer. And mine is basically an Alox Technician in 84mm size, so Micro Technician fits.
I had some Ebay Mustang bodies laying around. They're made from okoume or mahogany. I found a cheap Squier Contemporary Jaguar neck, so I started to playing around with the parts last year. Until I had an idea.
Mahogany body, 12" fretboard radius, black headstock and a tom bridge. Let's just build a SG Junior, but Fender flavored. So I stained the body with a color called mahogany red and used up the rest of my true oil.
Ingredients:
Ebay mahogany or okoume body
Contemporary Jaguar neck
CV Mustang vibrato, hardtailed, flipped cigar
Some Korean tom bridge
WD Music Bronco pickguard
FLEOR hotrails 12-13 kohms
1mohm volume, 500kohm tone pots
It's quite a mutt, bud I like to call it my signature Guitar.
Strolling through Ebay, I bid on a Rowenta Semiautomatic. I have quite some of these. Their pretty reliable, and I didn't have one yet with broken parts.
I didn't expect much from this one. The lid wasn't fully open, so I assumed that a spring was broken. But I knew another seller, who has parts for these. But for the price of 4,99€ it could have been just a parts lighter for me. So I bid the starting price and did expect nothing.
However, I won. It arrived yesterday. I inspected it. It was a bit dirty. The bare brass was sticky. Some screws were loose. But to my surprise, nothing was broken. I cleaned it a bit, to get rid of the stickiness. Tightened the screws, put a flint in it and filled it up. And that's it. It works. The mechanics were a bit stiff first, but it went away quickly, simply by using it.
I paid less then 7€ with shipping for it, which is even in Germany cheap for one of these. It feels almost, like I stole it. And it didn't even have real problems. It's almost boring. 🙂
Collected over the last couple of months.
They really grew on me. I usually carry a Pioneer or similar, but when I want to go slimmer, these are pretty good.
These are a red Elinox Cadet, an Elinox Lumberjack, a vssr Cadet, a Bantam from the early 2000s (bought 10-15 years ago), a 2020 LE Cadet. The extra is a titanium Tourist, I build from two broken saks. An early 70s Tourist, and an early 80s Waiter. I like the scales so much on my titanium Passenger, that I bought the 84mm version, to build this, as a more compact variant.
This is another one from the Spanish delivery. It was badly crushed. I spent some time, just removing the tank from the case. I removed all the removable parts to widen the case, put oil in it to make it move and massaged the big dent, while the tank was still inserted with a screwdriver. And finally, it came out.
First I didn't have much hope for the tank. I compared it with my other Juniors and realized that it was a 1950s tank. Then I looked closer at the lighter and it turns out, the whole lighter is a 1950s Imco. This was also my luck because the tank was far easier to disassemble.
I further massaged the dents in the case and the tank with a screwdriver, pliers and a big drill bit out, until I could reassemble and disassemble it without tools.
Then it was just the usual stuff, I new flint, and filling it up.
Was it worth it? Probably not.
Was it fun to bring back an old lighter from the dead? Absolutely yes.
I added a Pic with my other Juniors and a Super. The Chesterfield Junior was my very first Imco, bought in the 90s, The Super came in the early 2000s, and there's another Junior from the 50s. I don't know, when I bought that one.
Last week I bought a Thorens Vedette from a Spanish seller. To keep the shipping cost down (he wouldn't raise it, when it stays under 500g), I decided to buy a cigarette case and a bunch of rusty, worn and damaged Imcos from him for cheap, too. I wanted to see, how far is too far gone and how far is just enough to make them functional again.
These are quite the opposite of collectors grade, but it's fun to tinker with them, without damaging something valuable.
These are only the Streamlines, A Junior, I also bought, is not shown. I also added the Streamlines, I already had.
Upper row, left to right:
One of the last Austrian Imcos, I bought in a store. Still unused, with a price tag on the bottom (4,50€).
I bought this used, to use it, more then a decade ago.
Now the ones from Spain.
This one, I already fixed (package arrived today). I made stuck parts move again, the spring loading mechanism was unhinged from the lid, I fixed that, cleaned the flintwheel and oiled some moving parts. Result, see second Pic.
The three in the bottom row still need attention. Let's see how many I can fix. However, one has probably a broken clutch spring, so it's most likely one less. I'll see