Making 58 Canteens

[iron bender]

I love 58 type canteens. Anyhow I have a machine shop and have been making star, bullseye, smoothside, and some other random earlier canteens for a long time. The stampings are made at my shop, .022-.025 bright finish tin plate steel (some get hot dipped), then shipped to Hellam, PA for assembly, then back to me where I complete them at home as I drink whiskey and watch football. Here's some of my new ones from this weekend and a pic of my originals I use for samples. Thanks for looking!

 

[Bill_S]

What a cool way to pass the time. They look great. Cheers

 

[iron bender]

The unusual smaller US in a ring canteen is a one off. I haven't decided what to do with it yet. It's a maybe copy of an oblate spheroid dug in a trash pit at Ft Chadbourne. The original was definitely not one of the 40's tin dragoon drum types. It was built similar to the 58

 

[R. Porter]

From the title I thought it was going to be a post of some poor soul feverishly workin in his basement on a deadline to furnish canteens for a reenactor unit so they wouldn't assign him to some punishment duty. Then the first line mentions 58 type canteens and I figure I got it all wrong. Then I read the post and find that I didn't get it that wrong. Those canteens are beautiful! Keep in mind that I know nothing about canteens, but I have drunk cold, sweet water from a fabric covered canteen on a long hike in the mountains of New Mexico in July.

 

[NH Civil War Gal]

Incredibly interested in what you are doing! How did you get started? What got you interested? How did you make the dies? Why don't you assemble them yourself? Please tell all!

 

[iron bender]

Our shop started making canteen stampings, cup and mucket stampings, heel irons, etc for Dale Jarnagin appx. 1979. A WW2 AAF vet named Ken G. built the dies for all the stampings at our shop. The business has changed greatly as high volume stampings won't keep our doors open. Now we're lasers, nc brakes, mills, rolls, etc. We do still make a few stampings, including these canteens. Axl assembles these as he's one of the best in the business. Until a new supplier of .022/.025 bright finish tin emerges, this may fizzle out. Apparently the steel mills stop at .016 now. Too thin for my use.

 

[damYankee]

You had me at whisky

 

[CDGillum]

Very nice!!

 

[Capt7thWvCoA]

Do you sell them ?

 

[iron bender]

Do you sell them ?

Originally we sold the canteen bodies only to Jarnagin. Then my dad started selling Jarnagin gear on the side, so we started selling complete rigs. Now it's mostly just a hobby for me. I doubt anyone would pay what I actually have in them. Four of the canteens I made this weekend I'm giving as gifts to some old buddies of mine.

 

[iron bender]

Just made 1k of these guys too. We started making these for Dale in 1981. Now they go to one main vendor. This tiny die has made a BUNCH of belt clips over the last 40 years

 

[Trooper "D"]

The unusual smaller US in a ring canteen is a one off. I haven't decided what to do with it yet. It's a maybe copy of an oblate spheroid dug in a trash pit at Ft Chadbourne. The original was definitely not one of the 40's tin dragoon drum types. It was built similar to the 58

Are those not Mexican War canteens?

 

[Trooper "D"]

Originally we sold the canteen bodies only to Jarnagin. Then my dad started selling Jarnagin gear on the side, so we started selling complete rigs. Now it's mostly just a hobby for me. I doubt anyone would pay what I actually have in them. Four of the canteens I made this weekend I'm giving as gifts to some old buddies of mine.

I want to be an old buddy of yours.

 

[Trooper "D"]

I love 58 type canteens. Anyhow I have a machine shop and have been making star, bullseye, smoothside, and some other random earlier canteens for a long time. The stampings are made at my shop, .022-.025 bright finish tin plate steel (some get hot dipped), then shipped to Hellam, PA for assembly, then back to me where I complete them at home as I drink whiskey and watch football. Here's some of my new ones from this weekend and a pic of my originals I use for samples. Thanks for looking!

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Impressive stuff. I am not even aware of the star canteen. I want one. Does any vendor have those that your are aware of?

 

[iron bender]

Impressive stuff. I am not even aware of the star canteen. I want one. Does any vendor have those that your are aware of?

Button Baron has a couple in stock ready to go. Same guy that puts the bodies together for me! I'm sure there are more just not sure who.

 

[iron bender]

Are those not Mexican War canteens?

I'm not sure much is really known about issue canteens from the time period other than period art. Wooden canteens would have been the prevelant canteen. The tin 'dragoon' US in circle drum is known. The oblate spheroid US in circle is a one off that was dug and I'm not sure anyone is aware of the original actual use. The known example was dug from a burn/trash pit at Ft Chadbourne, Texas. It's a pre-war fort that was abandoned late 60's early 70's I believe

 

[Trooper "D"]

I'm not sure much is really known about issue canteens from the time period other than period art. Wooden canteens would have been the prevelant canteen. The tin 'dragoon' US in circle drum is known. The oblate spheroid US in circle is a one off that was dug and I'm not sure anyone is aware of the original actual use. The known example was dug from a burn/trash pit at Ft Chadbourne, Texas. It's a pre-war fort that was abandoned late 60's early 70's I believe

Well in the Time/Life Old West series of books the ones on the Mexican War shows a tin canteen with the round US embossing. There is also a wooden one and an Indian Rubber one shown. The US canteen has smooth sides like a '58. Just figuring. Page 110. Maybe that is the drum one of which you write. Its a head on angle so the side can't be seen.
Just brainstorming. Nothing important. It's just something I do.
Cheers!

 

[Trooper "D"]

Button Baron has a couple in stock ready to go. Same guy that puts the bodies together for me! I'm sure there are more just not sure who.

Hey thanks a million. I'll check it out.
Cheers!

 

[Capt7thWvCoA]

I was interested in buying one . Great quality though

 

[Ed Zeppelin]

I love 58 type canteens. Anyhow I have a machine shop and have been making star, bullseye, smoothside, and some other random earlier canteens for a long time. The stampings are made at my shop, .022-.025 bright finish tin plate steel (some get hot dipped), then shipped to Hellam, PA for assembly, then back to me where I complete them at home as I drink whiskey and watch football. Here's some of my new ones from this weekend and a pic of my originals I use for samples. Thanks for looking!

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They look great! Do you fill each one with whiskey and test them while
watching football? You know, just to make sure they don't leak.



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