Excerpts from my article on Jack Justis from InsidePOOL Magazine - 2006
"His career path changed again when he started playing more pool after a new pool room opened up near his home. “A guy walked into the room with a Jay Flowers case. I was just so fascinated by it that I wanted to go home and try to make one,” recalls Justis. Never working before in the leather industry, Jack resolved to make himself a cue case. He purchased leather working products and supplies from the local Tandy leather shop and got started. “I was always looking for something to do, and making a case seemed like something I wanted to get into,” he says. He also purchased a leather case making book by Al Stohlman, The Art of Making Leather Cases in order to learn joinery and tooling techniques.
“After reading the book, I was ready!” says Jack excitedly. “I bought a side of leather (half of a cow), and with the help of Toots, I made patterns out of paper and got to work.” He had seen the inner workings of the Jay Flowers case because the lining had worn through. Jack could see that the tubes that held the shafts and butts were simply garden pipe or PVC pipe."
