I have a Commodore Vanderbilt windup that has the sparkler mechanism, but the abrasive material is almost completely worn off the fiber wheel that causes the flint to spark. Has anyone tried recovering the wheel with perhaps a band of sandpaper, if so, what type and grit of sandpaper would work the best. The arm looks like the flints are replaceable, are new flints available for purchase?
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the flints would be available from a welding supply place , the kind used in a torch striker, you might be able to used flints like used in the old zippo lighters.
That use to be a standard drugstore item back when people smoked, may still be ?
Robert Grossman also carries them.
I've heard of guys gluing strips of fine sandpaper to the wooden wheel... I think you would need to pay attention to which way it rotated, so the edge wouldn't catch the flint if it overlapped. I haven't done it myself, as I prefer to disable the sparkers in my windups, so take it with a grain of salt. No reason it couldn't be done, though. If you can't find replacement flints locally, you can always order them from Grossman.
Thanks for the tips on using lighter flints, I'll give them a try.
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