trekster

Just got this done this morning. First time I made a cross draw, but the lady I made it for has been carrying it "Mexican style", and she likes to cross draw - so that is what I made.

Seems like it will do the equivalent of their upright machines. If it does, what would be the advantage of an upright machine?

I understand this "bench top" machine has been out for about 6 months. Wondering if anyone has actually used one, or maybe seen one at a trade show. If I'm not mistaken it comes with about the same specs as the Toro 3200. It is a little more expensive than a Toro 3000, but would not take up near the floor space. Wonder if it handles 3/4" of veg tanned leather?

Will be graduating to a powered sewing machine soon. So the Tippmann Boss Leather Stitcher is currently for sale on eBay. Included are all the usual accessories that come with the machine. The Serial Number of this machine is # 8937. Also included is the Tippmann Cobbler Bench. This could be your Black Friday Special.... Check it out. The Item No. is 281026697578 At this moment there are only two bids on the items.

The cross-sectional thickness of the belt determines the flat layout dimension that will fit over a given configuration. Here is a site that has a calculator on-line.

Not sure if this will be helpful, but on my Boss, the factory recommended a #120 needle with my #69 thread. I haven't actually tried it yet.

Now that is cool! I see in this picture that you've added a chrome handle to the upper-most part of the casting. You've made some nice mods to your machine. How old is it? Serial No. ???

Really good tips, especially putting the extra bolt in the handle. I have to watch mine, because it does have a tendency to work loose after several stitches. Far as the tension screws loosening, I have not experienced that problem yet. However, I have heard of putting lock nuts on top as you show. The thing that confuses me about that is, my Primary Tension post (the one with green felt) does not have any threads protruding out from the top of the knurled nut, so there are no threads to screw a lock nut onto. Am I trying to run with too little tension on my machine? My stitches seem to look okay, top and bottom. Also, in your second picture, I'm curious as to what that "gadget" is just in back of your Primary Tension post? It is purple, as I see it. ???

I'm probably as much a novice at these settings as you are, but here is what I've found out through "a whole bunch" of experimenting and sewing of scrap leather. Tippmann (Customer Support) told me the bobbin tension should be right at about half of what the needle thread tension is. However, if you start by setting the bobbin tension at the recommended 1 pound, than that means the tension from the needle thread should be 2 pounds. I tried to use those settings but found out the machine was making my stitches WAY TOO tight. So, I backed off the bobbin tension, and of course the thread tension as well. Currently, I have the bobbin tension set at 1/2 pound (8 oz), and the needle thread tension at 1 pound. The machine sounds better, the hand crank effort isn't as strenuous and my stitches look perfect, with the lock stitch buried in the middle of my material. However, there is a possible Gottcha.... when using only an 8 oz. bobbin tension. That is, the machine is a lot more susceptible to small bobbin tension changes caused by an unevenly wound bobbin. So, if your bobbin is not near "perfectly" wound, in nice flat layers, you can end up with occasional stitches where the lock stitch (knot) will sit on the bottom of the material, or occasionally on the top, instead of being where it should be; in the middle of the material thickness. I'm still experimenting and testing, but that is what I've found out so far. Maybe I'm approaching this all wrong, then I hope others with more experience will jump in here and help both of us.

I used an electric (variable speed) drill and got a bobbin wound nice and flat. So far it seems to be working okay, and has not given me any erratic tension changes. Though I also upped the bobbin tension slightly, so it would be less susceptible to minor tension changes within the bobbin. I read somewhere that Tippmann states the bobbin tension should be about half that of the top thread tension. I don't have a tension gauge, but it seems like my present settings, that work rather well, have a bobbin tension that is a little less than half of the thread tension. But that's just a guess. Has anyone actually measured their individual tensions, to verify their bobbin tension is about half that of the top thread tension?

On the subject of bobbin winding for the Boss... I had about half a dozen stitches in a long line of otherwise perfect stitches, that had the knot showing on the bottom side of the leather. I called Ben at Tippmann and he was pretty sure I had a problem with my bobbin where the bobbin thread must have gotten snagged somehow. I'll admit, I'm new to the Boss, and my bobbin was not wound evenly, so that could certainly have been the problem. I want to avoid that problem again, but I have a question for all those that have more experience at this than I do. Is it better to wind the bobbin in a zig-zag fashion like a spinning reel does, or simply wind it flat and as even as possible?

Admittedly, I am new to this forum and am trying diligently to learn the Tippmann Boss that I just acquired (used). After completely dis-assemblying the machine, and putting it back together, with new (and less) lubricant; I am now in the process of learning the finer points of the tension adjustments as well as presser foot pressure. I've already had a few short phone conversations with Ben (at Tippmann) and he has been very helpful in getting me started. Of course I've read almost everything there is on these forums, watched the Tippmann DVD at length and read the manual in my quest to shorten my learning curve. One thing I would like to toss out, that Ben said to me, has to do with the tension settings between the needle thread and the bobbin thread. I know the manual (and DVD) indicate the bobbin tension should be approximately 1 pound. However, I noted in something I've read from another user that 1 pound is too strong and that bobbin tension should be set lighter, but not so light that the bobbin thread is "free-wheeling". I believe that user also stated stitch quality would be better with the lighter thread tensions. Ben indicated to me that, "as a general rule of thumb", the needle thread tension, when pulled directly from the tube at the top of the machine, should be about twice the tension of the bobbin thread when pulled up from the bobbin. In other words, no matter what the bobbin tension is set to, the needle thread tension should be about double that. I'm wondering if any other users have found this to be the case, or if they have ever measured the different tensions and compared the two; needle thread to bobbin thread?