Diamond Club

Click to play our newest game, solitaire!

Spade Heart

How to Change the Wick in a Ronson Queen Anne Table Lighter

Ornamental table lighters like the Ronson Co.'s silver-plated Queen Anne, produced between 1936 and 1961 in New Jersey, once were a staple of parlors nationwide. Wick-fed table lighters like this were made to be easily maintained for many decades of service. A little tinkering will have your Queen Anne lighter back in business with a new wick.

Things You'll Need:

  • Thin Crochet Needle
  • Cotton Balls
  • Tweezers

Find the flint cap where the flint usually protrudes. Unscrew the flint cap and remove it.

Use tweezers to pull the old wick, with its packing, out of the bottom hole on the flint cap.

Push the replacement wick into the wick nozzle at the top of your Queen Anne lighter, using the crochet needle when necessary. Leave about 4 inches out the top and about 1 inch outside the hole on the opposite side. Insert cotton, small tufts at a time, into the edges around the wick to pack the hole.

Push the 1-inch exposed end of the wick into your lighter's fuel supply opening and the rest of the slack on the other end into the lighter.

Leave about 1/8-inch of wick exposed, and screw your flint cap back on the top of your lighter. Check out the new wick.

Our Passtimes