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On the bench.

Gibson natural 1911 left hand carry OWB basket

This one’s sold, but it’s an example of what a natural basket stamped holster looks like right after a massage of 100% pure Neatsfoot oil. They don’t always look all that great, but after a few hours, or overnight, things tend to even-out and give us a head-start on patina, and the ultimate honey-gold finish. This holster was for a 4″ or 4.25″ Commander-length 1911 for a fellow left-hander.

Natural Hermann Oak, premium American-tanned leather and heavy white machine stitching. The Blue Gun in the holster is primarily for shaping, and the actual hand-detailing that is done on the back panel for retention.

Typically, a plain (un-stamped) holster will be placed in a press with a Blue Gun and squished with around 6-tons of pressure. After the “squeeze,” the detailing is done to both the face and back panels. With a stamped or carved holster, you can’t use the press because it will destroy the stamping or carving.

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1911 Black Cherry Basket

IN-STOCK. ONLY ONE AVAILABLE!

Right-Hand Carry.

Black Cherry 1911 leather OWB pancake holster for 5″ barrel.

Hand-stamped rope basket stamp with half-flower border.

15-degree muzzle-rear rake.

Belt slots to fit a dual-layer (lined) 1.5″ wide gunbelt 1/4″ thick.

Back panel left natural (no dye) to eliminate dye bleed due to perspiration and abrasion.

Heavy Black machine stitching.

Hand beveled, dyed, waxed and burnished edges and belt slots.

Detail molding on back panel for excellent weapon retention.

Cherry, Basket Stamped, OWB, pancake, leather, 1911, holster

Handmade in Florida, USA, with premium American-tanned Hermann Oak leather.

Satisfaction’s guaranteed, and questions are always welcome.  Just send an email to BruceGibson@aol.com or use our contact form.

This one is available on our other website. We’ll be adding it to the shop here soon. If you would like to buy it now, just click the link below:

GIBSON BLACK CHERRY BASKET 1911 RH OWB

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All in the details.

stamping, basket, basket stamp, detail, tools, leather, belt, gunbelt, border, half flower, Hermann Oak, premium, leather, process, leathercraft, leather work, trade, craft, craftsman
You can click on the photo for a larger view in a new tab. This is stamping, as opposed to embossing. Each segment of the pattern is “set” as deeply as possible into the leather using a stamping tool and a maul.

“It’s all in the details,” is a pretty common statement, but it’s critical to making leather products one piece at a time. I thought I’d show a photo of a gun belt being hand-stamped with a basket stamp and half-flower border. This is the cleanest, longest-lasting way of putting a design on the leather.

There is another way I know of to do this. It is by embossing or pressing a design into damp leather using a press or a roller/wheel with an embossing machine. This is the mass-produced, inexpensive way of doing it. It also results in a fairly shallow imprint that is subject to fading away over time. It can be done quickly, whereas hand-stamping takes more setup, and much more time.

Embossing can be done in seconds. Stamping can take hours.

An embossing machine for straps or belts.

Here’s a video from Tandy Leather and George Hurst showing you some of how it’s done.