Leather Tankard?

[AlexRoberts]

What would be the right way to go about making a leather tankard?

What leather?

Would i need oils?

Should i tan it?

Do i need a wood insert for the handle?

A sewing awl good for stitching it up?

[Dutchman]

first, make sure you have the right tools and supplies. go with a natural leather- no dies, as you will be drinking out of it and dont want to poison yourself. i'm no good at grading leather, so maybe one of our other members can suggest a weight grade. make sure you have a natural thread that will absorb your sealant. depending on how handy you are a stitch awl or needles. also a leather punch to lay out your holes. brewers pitch or bees wax to seal the leather after you make your tankard.

second, make your pattern. I would suggest making one out of heavy pattern paper first. assemble the ENTIRE thing. Bottom seams- the whole thing. oh, an extra piece of thick leather between the two handle sides should work on stiffening it up. As we say at the boat yard- "darnit all stop wasting material- make a template oh wait wrong one.... mesaure twice, cut once"

Apply the pitch or wax.

If you have a Tandy leather or other similar store close by, make your prototype and take it to them for help on supplies and suggestions on stitching. some places offer classes.

hope that helps some

[jendobyns]

My leather jack is a heavy weight leather lined with pitch. Some folks use bee's wax, others food safe resin, to line them. Handle styles seem to vary as well. If you do a search on "leather jack drinking mug" several links will show up, which might help you some ideas. Oh, here's a link to one similar to mine (mine is straight, and I think the stitches are smaller): http://tinyurl.com/3m9cxwb

Good luck!

[Capn Antonio Malasses]

I have made quite a few leather mugs. I use a thick leather. Usually a Armor bend that I or thick saddle skirting that I shave to an appropriate thickness.

1) I cut a rectangle out roughly 6" by 13".

2) I tool the leather to whatever design I want

3) I wrap it around a wooden disk and nail and rivet to shape.

4) My favorite thing about my mugs is the use of unique handles. Which I attach with leather strapping.

5) I seal the inside with a food safe resign that I bought at Micheal's Arts Store. The resign is good for hot and cold liquids and doesn't need to be relined as much as wax

Hope this helps. I'll have to post pics of my mugs sometime soon.

Capn Antonio Malasses

[Littleneckhalfshell]

I always had the understanding that 'jacked' leather, whatever the container was used for, (and included in the process, the infamous Jack boots or Jacked boots) was a tanned leather that was BOILED to make it more plyable over a form or in some cases as in 'shot bottles' filled or packed with sand. Upon drying, the leather that had been softened by the boiling or immersion in hot water, would retain in a stiff form the shape it had been molded into when hot. Then for drinking vessels or containers, it would be lined with brewer's pitch or some other suitable substance to keep it water (or rum) tight.

See http://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~marc-carlson/leather/hl.html for some more information on the process.