[Matchlock]

Well lads, you've been listening to me whine about my poor old hands and how sore they've become from sewing leather for all these years. Well, no more. No sireeee!! I ordered a Tippman Boss Stitching machine yesterday morning and it's now speeding its way across the "Great Plains", well the countryside anyway, of Indiana.

I've been thinking of buying one for nearly a year now, and yesterday when I took a look at them again I saw that they were on sale from $1,495.00 down to $1,195.00 So, for a savings of $300.00 I just couldn't resist. Besides, I spent the savings on more than $300.00 in gadgets. Well, I think the factory calls them "accessories.

After a gunbelt and/or holster construction, I used to sew them up at the rate of about nine stitches per hour, and this little baby can sew up to 100 stitches per minute. I won't know what to do with all my spare time.

So, here's she is lads, ain't she purrrrty?

Thanks for having a look see.

Bud

 

[Chaffee]

I suppose now you'll be turning out holsters by the bushel basket full!

 

[Colt Hammerless]

Very jealous Matchlock! My hands, elbows, and shoulders have been screaming at me to quit for a while now. Heck, even my obliques and abs are getting sore now from hand stitching. I'm trying to save up for a powered machine, but may get a Boss if that's not in the cards. You said you hand stitch at nine STITCHES per hour, I'm assuming you meant INCHES, as that's about the rate I go. Actually I think I'm a little bit slower than that. Anyway, congrats!

Paul

 

[vietvet66.67]

I have not done any leatherwork in many years, but I will say that that is a PURDY MACHINE for sure. Hope it fulfills all your needs.

 

[Bobkat]

I hope you enjoy , they sew well.

 

[jcs]

Bud...I was starting to worry about you since I hadn't seen any posts from you. I understand your pain. I just went to the doctor today to treat the arthritis in my left wrist. Cortazone shot all that he could do and I hope it helps. Already ad my knees replaced a year ago. It's hell to get old. Have fun with that new stitching machine.

 

[serb]

Congrats on the new machine ML.

If it lets you show off more great holster work, bring it on.

Good luck. Im sure youll have it humming along very soon.

 

[PonyLover]

Matchlock,

I wish you luck with your new "boss." From the comments on another leather website, the boss is not well thought of. That said, I couldn't justify spending the kind of money these guys say is needed for a good machine.

 

[Arrgs]

That's a sweet looking machine.

 

[Matchlock]

With so many kind and thoughtful members here I hardly know where to begin. I thought I might try to address them all in one post if ya'll don't mind. I'll start with this one.

Arrgs, thanks a bunch, I think so too. I like the odd shape quite a bit.

Randy, thanks, and I too have read a lot of negative posts about the Boss. All I can say though, is it's just a simple piece of machinery, and just like any other piece of machinery, it won't work if you don't set it up and use it properly. If they're set up like the one I tried out for an hour or so last weekend then I'm going to love it. I stitched three and a half pair of leather sandals in about an hour. They stayed sewed too!

Serb, as always, thanks so much for your kind replies. Always encouraging, even at my age.

jcs John, thanks so much for caring. I have had a few pretty bad days this last few weeks and another Med change always throws me back-on-the-bull, if you know what I mean. Good now though, and thanks again for your kind thoughts and concern. This is why I love this place and you lads so much.

Bobcat, thanks a lot for the good words. I'm sure it'll be just fine.

vietvet. Thanks my friend, and you of all people know what I mean when I say if your "machine" is set up properly, it'll rock on.

Paul, no sir, I meant nine stitches an hour (kidding of course). Abs. Abs you say? God, my abs have been slappin' my knees for a while now. The hard part of hand sewing for me is the part when I have to pull the first needle through from the left. I just don't have the strength in my hands or fingers to grasp the needle well enough. I know a few guys around here who actually use a small pliers in their hand but that's not for me I'm afraid.

Chaffee. Well my friend, I don't know about "by the bushel basket full", but it sure will make however many I make a whole lot easier.

So, that's it for now lads, and thanks so much for your always welcome, thoughts and concerns.

Bud

Matchlock,

I wish you luck with your new "boss." From the comments on another leather website, the boss is not well thought of. That said, I couldn't justify spending the kind of money these guys say is needed for a good machine.

 

[Eaglestroker]

Hey Bud,

I made a good many holsters and belts on my ol' Cast Iron Tippmann. The main thing on the learning curve is learning to adjust tension. I cussed that thing more times than I can count. Only thing I ever had actually break was the cable that lifts the presser foot - snapped right where it goes into the body which the newer style with metal reinforcement fixes. I modified one of the latter ones to fit mine when it broke.

Make sure and mount both the machine and the table to something sturdy. First bench I mounted mine to would end up walking me across the room (chair was on wheels) and I wouldn't notice until I'd finished. The Tippmann is a really great machine for the price point but since I bought my Cobra Class 4 mine mainly collects dust. Nice thing about the Tippmann is you can muscle it around a little for fluff room. The electric machines aren't as easy to do it on but that is part of the learning curve. I would have had a REALLY hard time going from no machine/experience to the Cobra.

Good luck!

-Robert

 

[Matchlock]

Well lads, my new Tippman Boss "Stitching" Machine has arrived. Yesterday in fact. By the way, you'll notice I used the word "stitching" machine. I did that cuz "stitching" is for men, and "sewing" is for women. I know, I know, I'm gonna catch flak for that one when some of the ladies on the forum catch up with me. I did mean it in the kindest of ways though ladies, I really did.

Anyway, back to my "Boss". It was a bit of a struggle for a guy who can't stand up for more than a few minutes at a time, so it was up and down, and in and out of my chair quite a bit yesterday. I got it all put together, (maybe 10 minutes) so it's not that difficult, but the setup, such as tensions etc. were a pain in the butt and it took me hours yesterday afternoon and evening to figure it out.

Then, I remembered later the DVD that came in the carton and watched it. I sure wish I'd done that a few hours ago. I had the thread guide wrong way round, as well as the cable on the handle in the front of the machine instead of at the back where it belonged. There should be a big sign on the front of the box saying "IMPORTANT!!! DVD INSIDE. MUST READ, ESPECIALLY YOU Bud" One thing you learn from the DVD is how to properly wind a bobbin with your drill. I learned not to use the highest speed so half the thread doesn't end slip off the bobbin and end up in West Texas somewhere. Great things those DVD's.

So this morning I got up and sat down in front of it again after watching the DVD yesterday and making some final/proper adjustments, and gave it a whirl. The first couple of strips (two pieces of 8 oz. cowhide) sewed @!#%[email protected]# Oops!! I mean "stitched" pretty good except for the stitch size and when I corrected that and tried again, this is the third piece I tried with three pieces of 1/8" 8 0z. and a couple of pieces just under 1/8" for about a half inch. The manual says it'll do 3/4" with no problem.

Here's two or three pics just for fun. I'm so excited that after I was done these 20 or so stitches, my fingers didn't hurt a bit. I am one very happy little cowboy. I can't wait to get out there and skin a bunch of cows so I can "stitch" ("stitchin' is for men) them back together again.

Bud

 

[serb]

Let er rip, Bud.Looking forward to the beautiful results, and the lessened wear and tear on the digits should keep you in the biz that much longer.

 

[Oyeboten]

Why does it have an Old Time Parking Brake on it? ( Lol...well, looks a lot like one, anyway...)


What does that do?

 

[Matchlock]

Geeeeeez!! Oyeboten, don't you know nuthin?

That's yer startin' and yer stoppin handul. It's fer when ya'll want to stop of course!! It's fer parkin' it after yer dunn with yer stitchin' for the time being. Yuh jes push back reel hard like on that big ol handul and everything stops like majik. It don't need nun uv that lecktricity stuff neither. These days just about everythang runs on lecktricity but not this baby. No sir, she's strickly by yer hand, jes like my ol 39 ford.

Ya see............ them noo fangled lektrick machines, they jest keeps on a runnin' and a runnin' and a hummin' along all day long until ya shut off thu lektricity. Them things is attached to thu wall by a reely long rubber lariat. I'm not eggzaccly shoower how they werk but I think thu lecktricity leaks out of the wall and down the rubber lariat and shocks the machine inta movin' and doin' stuff. It's called automattik I think. Duz things all by it's ownself, where with my noo machine with the big ol parkin' handul, you have total control cuz it's whut ya call man-yoo-al. That means by yer hand. Every time ya'll want to put a stictch in the leather, all ya gtta do is pull on the startin' and the stoppin' handul.

Bud

Why does it have an Old Time Parking Brake on it? ( Lol...well, looks a lot like one, anyway...)


What does that do?

 

[Colt Hammerless]

Matchlock,

I'm one of those pliers guys sometimes. Especially when overstitching.

Eaglestroker, you should have taken a video of you stitching with the Boss mounted on that wheeled rig, then sped it up, and pretended to fall off, when you "hit" the wall. Tippmann could use it on their website, where they say to mount it to something sturdy.

Paul

 

[Colt Hammerless]

Oh, set to some Benny Hill music of course.