Had some fun in my spare time - Gun leather content - New holster added!!

wildmanh

wildmanh

Part time Leather Bender/Sheath maker
Joined
Jul 9, 2000
Messages
7,764
Had some spare time in the evenings after working on sheaths and looking for a part time of full time job so I did some leather working for my self. Designed and built a Clip-on Holster for my 1911 and a matching magazine pouch (normal belt loop)

1911_clip-on_06_med.JPG


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I used shoulder leather from Tandy left over from a project from last spring. They were dyed with Fiebings Dark brown Pro Oil dye, glued then hand stitched with heavy duty waxed nylon thead. Finished with Montana Pitch Blend Leather dressing. The holster was made with 8-9oz leather and the magazine pouch from 10-12oz leather. Normally I use Saddle skirting that comes dyed brown from the tannery but wanted but wanted something different for this set.

Hope you like, Enjoy the pics!
 
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Thats a sweet setup..Looks like the holster is a left hand 'in the waist band'..The belt loop looks durable on the mag holder as well...Nice job..
Rich
 
CellerDrummer said:
Thats a sweet setup..Looks like the holster is a left hand 'in the waist band'..The belt loop looks durable on the mag holder as well...Nice job..
Rich
Click to expand...

Thanks!! The Holster rides on the outside of the belt on the right side or inside the belt on the left side. I made the magazine pouch to be worn on my left hip with the pistol on the right. But there is no reason why the magazine pouch can't be worn on the right hip. I can shoot with either hand and sometimes wear a pistol on the left. One more reason to use a clip. ;)
 
Nice work! The boning looks very tight and I love the color. Seems like it would be a fast holster.
 
Very beautiful! That is on par with some of the best practical leather work I have ever seen! Sure, there are some uber talented artists who make leather into masterfully created armor, helms, accessories, and jewelry, but it's not really all that practical, its purely art. THIS is art and function. Kudos, Heber. Peace.
David
 
Thanks Gents! Glad you like it.

JDK1, the holster is relatively fast for not being a quick draw holster. With time, practice and some good breakin I should be able to get the pistol out pretty fast.
 
Heber,
Again i like what i see. Sometime i will probably be hiiting you up to have a few sheaths made and a holster.
 
That's one beautiful holster. If it's not too complicated to explain, could you tell us how you get the leather to mold itself to the contours of the gun, and to hold that shape? I do a lot of woodworking, but leather is foreign territory to me.

-- Dave
 
Awesome work, Heber:) As always.

One more thing to add to the weird pile of us being not only the same age but having the same birthday. I too am ambidextrous with a pistol :eek: Although I have favor my left hand for shooting and can't shoulder a long arm or draw a bow with my right hand...I mean, it's weird. Everything else I'm full on right handed. I can shoot OK with my right, but it just feels more natural in my left.

One of the main reasons I'm a Glock guy and never got into the 1911's. Most of them aren't Southpaw friendly;)
 
Just for fun:

Here's my EDC OWB knock around holster for my Glock 21. I like to carry a beast like this straight up and down since it's hard enough to keep it from printing anyway:D What you can't see from the back is that the belt look behind the gun is positioned in such a way that I can slide the gun around to 9 o'clock (like if I'm out walking about in the woods) or slide it back to about 7:30 if I want to hide it a bit more when I'm out and about in the city. It's been designed around my brand of jean's belt loop spacing:p
2011-11-28_10-59-47_749.jpg


The leather and dye are from Tandy. One thing I have started to do is hot smoke my holsters after I set them wet. The smoke and controlled heat causes the leather to set up brick-hard. Perfect for a form fitted but fast drawing holster like you would want on a single action cowboy revolver. Works OK for the Glock holster too, I guess:)

Not pretty or nearly as sophisticated at Heber's work, though. That guy's got talent:):thumbup:
 
Karda said:
Heber,
Again i like what i see. Sometime i will probably be hiiting you up to have a few sheaths made and a holster.
Click to expand...

Thanks Karda! Just let me know when you are ready and we'll get going on some projects. :)

davidf99 said:
That's one beautiful holster. If it's not too complicated to explain, could you tell us how you get the leather to mold itself to the contours of the gun, and to hold that shape? I do a lot of woodworking, but leather is foreign territory to me.

-- Dave
Click to expand...

Thanks Dave! I wet molded the holster to the gun. This means soaking the leather in warm water till it becomes plyable and easally work-able then I use my fingers and sometimes a bone folder to press the leather into shape around the object. In this case, my 1911 wrapped in Plastic wrap to keep it from rusting. After the initial shapping and fitting to the pistol I go over the lines with my fingers every 15 to 30 minutes or hour so that the lines stay nice as the leather dries and shrinks. When done correctly with the right thickness of leather the lines show up that nice. I dyed the leather 1st before wet molding, then again after it dried because it was lighter then I wanted. Between the Fiebings Pro Oil Dye and wet molding the holster stiffened up nicely. Hope that helps.

Steely_Gunz said:
Awesome work, Heber:) As always.

One more thing to add to the weird pile of us being not only the same age but having the same birthday. I too am ambidextrous with a pistol :eek: Although I have favor my left hand for shooting and can't shoulder a long arm or draw a bow with my right hand...I mean, it's weird. Everything else I'm full on right handed. I can shoot OK with my right, but it just feels more natural in my left.

One of the main reasons I'm a Glock guy and never got into the 1911's. Most of them aren't Southpaw friendly;)
Click to expand...

There are modern 1911-A1's with Ambi thumb safeties and mag releases. And a right handed extended slide lock/release isn't hard to manipulate with your left thumb, it just takes some practice.

Steely_Gunz said:
Just for fun:

Here's my EDC OWB knock around holster for my Glock 21. I like to carry a beast like this straight up and down since it's hard enough to keep it from printing anyway:D What you can't see from the back is that the belt look behind the gun is positioned in such a way that I can slide the gun around to 9 o'clock (like if I'm out walking about in the woods) or slide it back to about 7:30 if I want to hide it a bit more when I'm out and about in the city. It's been designed around my brand of jean's belt loop spacing:p
2011-11-28_10-59-47_749.jpg


The leather and dye are from Tandy. One thing I have started to do is hot smoke my holsters after I set them wet. The smoke and controlled heat causes the leather to set up brick-hard. Perfect for a form fitted but fast drawing holster like you would want on a single action cowboy revolver. Works OK for the Glock holster too, I guess:)

Not pretty or nearly as sophisticated at Heber's work, though. That guy's got talent:):thumbup:
Click to expand...

Jake, thanks for the compliments. As I was building the pattern for this holster, I thought about making one like yours but desided that I should do my 1st idea first and come back to that one later if I feel like it. I have a strip of leather that would be perfect for that project. If it doesn't get turned into a Bottle holder for another Khukri lover I may just make it into a holster. :) Next time you guys take a vacation, take it here in Central Utah. Camping or a B&B. I'll show you my play ground and some leather tricks I picked up from those much wiser and more experienced than I. Leatherman on the forums and the local Cobbler have taught me a lot!! :)

Keep on practicing and spend some time on fit and finish. Making a solid sheath or holster is easy, making one with good fit and finish that someone wants to buy is the hard part.

bladeright said:
nice leather work, the shaping turned out wonderful. i also like the 1911 in it
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Thanks! That 1911 is a SpringField Armory Standard model from 1994 that I got used about 4 years ago. It's essentially a Full Sized Parkerized Loaded model with out the front Serrations. Shoots straight and true. Mine didn't come from the factory with the Novak rear sight, the previous owner had them installed. The pistol had every option I wanted and was a good price so I jumped on it. Well that is aside from custom grips which I restored to Period accurate stock grips. The Walnut checkered grips sure do stick to my hands. :)
 
roninsgrips said:
Great work. The stitching looks rock solid - that's always what I look at first.
Click to expand...

Thanks!! Stitching is something I work very hard at doing well. I'm glad it shows. :)

Today I started work on a new 1911 holster. The dark brown one in the 1st post was the prototype, this current one is closer to what I want for a production model. It's made from 8-10oz USA Brown Saddle Skirting and hand sewn with heavy duty dark brown thread. The holster is drying from the wet molding so it looks a lot darker then what it will when finished. After drying I'll enlarge the inside curve at the mouth to better fit larger grips, round and polish the edges and apply some leather dressing. Here are pictures of it so far:

1911_holster_01_med.JPG


1911_holster_02_med.JPG


More pictures to follow in the coming days as it progresses. Thanks for looking!
 
Here's what the leather looks like now that it's almost dry:

1911_holster_05_med.JPG


1911_holster_06_med.JPG


When it's fully dry I'll start work on the final shaping and edging. Thanks!
 
The holster is done. I rounded the edges, colored and polished them with Tandy's Dark brown Gel Antique. Then I applyed 3 coats of Montana Pitch Blend leather dressing to the outside and 2 coats to the inside. I've been wearing the holster around this morning and really like how it turned out.

These two pictures were taken on the wood pile in direct sun light:
1911_holster_11_med.JPG


1911_holster_12_med.JPG



These two pictures were taken on the front porch on the shade
1911_holster_13_med.JPG


1911_holster_14_med.JPG



So, what do you all think of the new holster?
 
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