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I have been researching machines for a few weeks and the CB outlaw has caught my eye. I love the fact that its manual, I can take it to shows or events where power could be an issue. The construction is definitely appealing as well the cast iron ought be sturdy enough even I can mess it up too bad . Lastly the claim that it can peirce so thick a stack of leather is great. All that said I haven't seen many reviews by users and I have a few questions. 1. How reliable is it? Does it need to be messed with a lot and if so what is the main issue you have? 2. Does it live up to the claims made by the company? 3. Is it a machine I could learn on without going mad or is there another machine you might recommend that is comparable? I'm open to buying an old/ refurbished machine if people can vouch for a certain model. Thanks for your assistance I appreciate any guidance y'all can give.

After sewing by hand for the last 10 years my arthritis finally forced me to consider the purchase of a machine. I needed something that would handle a large thread and did not need a motorized machine. The Tippmann Boss was what I landed on and after 4 months I thought I would offer my opinion. First let me say that Ben, at the factory is awesome, he has helped me work through 2-3 issues and is so very helpful. At first I wanted to use the largest thread available which is the 415 but quickly found that only black and white were readily available. The next size down is 346 and is available in most colors in bonded nylon and polyester. While the polyester will work, the bonded nylon runs so much smoother and is all I use. Not having ever used a sewing machine before I had much to learn, ie. bobbins. One huge tip I picked up here on LW is that the bobbin tension must be set at 1 lb. and the best way to do that is to weigh a bottle of water to use as a weight. This way you can get it set exactly. The other thing is to rotate the kerf of the needle exactly left by putting a small pin or needle through the eye which gives a perfect guide and allows you to hold the needle in the most upward position while tightening the set screw. The 230 needle is the perfect size for the 346 thread but I could not find a source for this needle with a chisel point so I made a chisel point with the Dremel that sliced straight and then polished that area. This gave me a nice straight back stitch without blowing out the back side. This machine has never skipped a stitch and has, overall, been extremely reliable. What used to take an hour to sew now only takes about 10-15 minutes..more to come later.