any experience with Jackware?

[whinewine]

Digging around in my indexes for all the leather magazines I have looked up information on mugs. There are at least two articles mentioned. A Blackjack mug by David Frantz is located in the Jun/Jul 1976 issue of Make It With Leather. A second article is by Russ Holzer in the Oct/Nov 1978 issue of the same magazine. I think there was an article for leather buckets used by firemen, but not sure which issue that one is in. Make it With Leather has been replaced by Leather Crafters and Saddlers Journal (for those that don't know), which is the best (and only) magazine out there for us leather crafters.

Wow!

not often that I hear my name taken ( & not in vain, no less)... yes, I did write & illustrate an article on construction of a drinking jack, but that particular referenced article (Oct/November 1978) dealt with the construction of a leather covered ceramic mug, not a jack. I did, however, write an article for MIWL illustrating the construction of an actual full leather drinking jack (but, for the life of me, I cannot locate the exact issue date tonight- Sorry!).

Yes, I still have that particular jack. It was an article I had written on trying to recreate something, recent and new (28 plus or minus years, ago, anyway...) that looked several hundred years old, by nuking it in a microwave oven (& yes, the results were admirable and very authentic looking). At that time, I had no access to genuine pine pitch, so I used epoxy glue to make it waterproof. Sometime after, Tandy began selling pine pitch & later discontinued it, but it is still available from a source or two on the internet. Back in the '70s, pine pitch was used to line tank cars, but since the advent of stainless steel, it is once again very hard to obtain.

However, the better person to contact for jack information is Frank Zigon ( frank.zigon@verizon.net ), who also did numerous articles for MIWL, including a great article on jack construction (I can't remember which particular issue-- Sorry again!)... [Recently I did meet him at the Butler, PA iFolG show & found out that we lived less than 150 miles away from each other - what a small world we actually do live in!]

Russ Holzer

Edited April 23, 2007 by whinewine

[David Genadek]

I haven't talked to him in years so I don't really know but he used to make the shoes over there. He is very good on the research.

Thanks for the lead David. I am only about a hour and a half from Ft. Snelling. Is he the leather worker in residence over there?

[Art]

Hi Steve,

You really need to get ahold of Frank Zigon. He makes bottles and would know what you want to know. I believe he also publishes and index if leather articles going way back (50's). He also wrote and published a monograph "Making Medieval & Colonial American Leather Bottles" which might be of some help to you. Nice Guy.

Frank.Zigon@verizon.net

(412) 833-5411

Art

Hello all,

Wondering if any one out there has had any experience with Jackware. In particular, things like buckets, mugs, flasks, etc. It is a fairly ancient art, but I haven't had much success in finding any details on construction techniques. It is something that I always wanted to try, but I would like to get some more info.

Steve

[David Genadek]

For those of you who think I am older than sin because I remembered the articles form the 70's I just want you to know I was a mere infant at the time.

David Genadek

[SteveJ]

Just wanted to thank everybody for the info so far. This forum is a great resource , and I appreciate the willingness of everyone to share what they know. Really glad I found this place.

I was also going through one of the catalogs I get and found a series of videos put together by Eric Myall. One of the videos is the making of a 18th century fire bucket. Does anyone know Eric out there? Thought it might be worth while to pick up a copy.

In a earlier post I mentioned a cordwainer named Busch, who also did very nice Jackware. In a old copy of muzzleloader magazine from 1998 I found a small ad for John Busch-cordwainer from Delavan, Wisc. Does anyone know if Mr. Busch is still active? The only reason I ask is that I used to know some longhunter/ trkers that swore by his work.

Steve

[SteveJ]

For those of you who think I am older than sin because I remembered the articles form the 70's I just want you to know I was a mere infant at the time.

David Genadek

It's OK David, I did a lot of reading as a embryo myself.

[whinewine]

In the May '83 issue of MIWL is the fire bucket article by Larry Coleman & Lee Hodges; in March '81 is an article on "The Leather Bottell", by David W. Frantz.

[SteveJ]

In the May '83 issue of MIWL is the fire bucket article by Larry Coleman & Lee Hodges; in March '81 is an article on "The Leather Bottell", by David W. Frantz.

Hey Russ,

Thanks for the info. Does MIWL have a online archive? Or can I con someone into scanning me a copy?

By the way, it's a pleasure to meet a real published author. I always heard that they can be kinda tempremental.

[Johanna]

I might have the issues mentioned. I will look tonight after the kids go to bed. Frank Zigon is a fantastic resource, btw. Thanks for reminding me to invite him to the board.

Johanna

[SteveJ]

I might have the issues mentioned. I will look tonight after the kids go to bed. Frank Zigon is a fantastic resource, btw. Thanks for reminding me to invite him to the board.

Johanna

Thank you very much Johanna. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Steve