UKRay Report post Posted June 23, 2008 Having looked at all the previous Tippman Boss posts and bored 'cousin' Luke silly by asking daft questions, I am hoping the forum can help me make or break the decision to shell out a small fortune and ship a Tippmann Boss to the UK. I work almost exclusively in 10/12 oz leather (approx 4mm thick). Mostly russet tooling leather and waxy bridle leather and occasionally 2-3mm soft leather. Whilst my hand sewing is more than adequate for purpose, I can't say I get a heap of pleasure from it and felt the Boss might offer some advantages. Which brings me to the point of this topic: advantages and disadvantages are very personal. Some people seem to hate the Boss whilst others love it. Is this down to the way the machine is used/expectations of the machine/machine performance/longevity/ cost of ownership (repairs and the like). Why is there so much difference of opinion? Personal experience of stitching two or three thicknesses of 4mm with a Tippman Boss would be appreciated along with any suggestions, thoughts or comments about use and ownership - the more long winded the better! Over to you... ..and I really appreciate your time. Ray Hatley Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
esantoro Report post Posted June 23, 2008 Having looked at all the previous Tippman Boss posts and bored 'cousin' Luke silly by asking daft questions, I am hoping the forum can help me make or break the decision to shell out a small fortune and ship a Tippmann Boss to the UK.I work almost exclusively in 10/12 oz leather (approx 4mm thick). Mostly russet tooling leather and waxy bridle leather and occasionally 2-3mm soft leather. Whilst my hand sewing is more than adequate for purpose, I can't say I get a heap of pleasure from it and felt the Boss might offer some advantages. Which brings me to the point of this topic: advantages and disadvantages are very personal. Some people seem to hate the Boss whilst others love it. Is this down to the way the machine is used/expectations of the machine/machine performance/longevity/ cost of ownership (repairs and the like). Why is there so much difference of opinion? Personal experience of stitching two or three thicknesses of 4mm with a Tippman Boss would be appreciated along with any suggestions, thoughts or comments about use and ownership - the more long winded the better! Over to you... ..and I really appreciate your time. Ray Hatley Somebody around these parts was selling a Highlead cylinder arm in the UK for a very good price. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Randy Cornelius Report post Posted June 23, 2008 The Boss does a good job sewing 5oz and up. But caused be to use bad words when trying to sew anything lighter than that. If just does not want to sew light weight leather very well. You have to keep making adjustments. There are a lot of good elect. machines out there for just a little more money. You will be well glad if you spend a little more and get a better machine. I have an Artisen and love it. The Boss is dusty in the corner of the shop now. Randy Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bruce johnson Report post Posted June 23, 2008 Ray, I would expect that you could get the Boss shipped to England less expensively than a motorized machine, and that may be a factor. I had one of the cast iron Boss machines and liked it. For the weight leather you are talking, should do the job. Mine sewed a nice stitch, and could sew leather corners onto 1" felt pads all day without skipping Pluses - somewhat portable, can't be knocked out of time, control for every stitch, can't go too fast and run off the end, they will rebuild them for a song, easy to work on, you can train your kid to run it in about 3 minutes, good resale value. Minuses - you power it with one hand and only have one hand to hold and guide the piece, throat depth is small, tiring and boring for long runs, good for 138 and up thread Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
whinewine Report post Posted June 23, 2008 (edited) I like mine, once I figured out its limitations. Shortly after I got mine, I tried to adjust it to sew light weight leather & ended up getting it all out of adjustment. The support staff at Tippmann are superb & helped me get it back into adjustment & I've kept it set that way ever since. It'll sew 4 oz & up++ consistently with no other major adjustments. Mine is an aluminum model that was a new (but out of warranty) machine & came with the bench, extra bobbins, the edge guide, 2 different presser feet & some other extras, all for a reasonable price. (For the very lightweight stuff & garment leather that I occasionally and rarely need to sew, I picked up an old model 6270 Viking Husqvarna which absolutely will handle that- 2 speed, lots of torque and inexpensive, built to last, all metal.) Edited June 23, 2008 by whinewine Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Trevor Report post Posted June 23, 2008 Ray. Heres my opinion. Go and find a Juki LU563 large bobin walking foot flat bed or and old Pfaff cylinder arm waliking foot and keep away from the tippman. If you want to sew heavy stuff like 6mm and heavier have a good look at the Artisan toro range. Well priced and good at heavy duty Veg tanned stitching jobs and very adjustable. Cheers Trevor "way down Under" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Luke Hatley Report post Posted June 23, 2008 OK COUSIN...........NOW WHAT DO YOU THINK........ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ian Report post Posted June 24, 2008 I have a Tippman Aerostich which gave me no end of grief until I finally got it adjusted. Now, I like it a lot, except for the noise from the compressor. Don't think I'd like the Boss, because I need both hands for a lot of what I sew and cranking the handle seems like a slow process. Ian Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ClayB Report post Posted June 24, 2008 I think if you take the time to figure out how to adjust the boss properly, you will probably like it. If you are easily frustrated with mechanical things that dont just work, you probably wont like it. I havent taken the time to learn how to make mine work cuz I just dont need it that much, but I have had a lot of offers from people that really like theirs to help me figure it out. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Michael Sheldon Report post Posted June 28, 2008 There are a lot of good elect. machines out there for just a little more money. You will be well glad if you spend a little more and get a better machine. I have an Artisen and love it. The Boss is dusty in the corner of the shop now. Randy Really? 'cause I can't find anything that will handle heavy leather for less than twice the price... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rickybobby Report post Posted June 29, 2008 Ray, I have a alum. body Boss stitcher. It ran very rough when I first started with it but I started looking around and behind it and found that there was not much lubrication on ANY of the moving parts. (prob. for shipping) I lubed it up and started cranking out the stitches and it works like a dream! I sew chap leather, I sew saddle skirting, I sew saddle skirting to chap leather. This thing does it all. I know that others have not had the same expierience I have had with mine but I really like mine . I work in a saddle shop and have several electric machines available to use and I do use them during the day but at home and for spending my own cash, I still like the Boss. Hope this helps. Rick Jorgenson Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
UKRay Report post Posted July 2, 2008 Just want to thank you all for your kind advice. i'm still a tad confused but you all helped enormously. Thanks again, Ray Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bob Report post Posted July 3, 2008 (edited) Ray, if I were you and living in the UK. I'd search out a pearson stitcher. The pearson sewing machine was developed in that part of the world. (England I think) I'm not sure where exactly, perhaps someone here can shed some light on this. I've used and love the Pearson sewing machine. I'm sure you can buy one there for as much as or less than you'll pay for a tippman stitcher here plus the shipping, and have a hell'ova lot better sewing machine too. They're easy to run and operate, a kid can operate them. I hope this don't add too much to your delema, but I think you should look into this more closely, than running out an buying a tippman to ship over there. Edited July 3, 2008 by Bob Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Randy Cornelius Report post Posted July 3, 2008 Really? 'cause I can't find anything that will handle heavy leather for less than twice the price... Look at the Artisen Toro 3000 for around 2000.00 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jwwright Report post Posted July 3, 2008 I purchased a new Artisan 3000, along with the flatbed attachement, about 3 weeks ago. Cost with shipping was about $2500. This is my first machine, and I really am getting along well with it. JW Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rolf Report post Posted July 22, 2008 (edited) Having looked at all the previous Tippman Boss posts and bored 'cousin' Luke silly by asking daft questions, I am hoping the forum can help me make or break the decision to shell out a small fortune and ship a Tippmann Boss to the UK.I work almost exclusively in 10/12 oz leather (approx 4mm thick). Mostly russet tooling leather and waxy bridle leather and occasionally 2-3mm soft leather. Whilst my hand sewing is more than adequate for purpose, I can't say I get a heap of pleasure from it and felt the Boss might offer some advantages. Which brings me to the point of this topic: advantages and disadvantages are very personal. Some people seem to hate the Boss whilst others love it. Is this down to the way the machine is used/expectations of the machine/machine performance/longevity/ cost of ownership (repairs and the like). Why is there so much difference of opinion? Personal experience of stitching two or three thicknesses of 4mm with a Tippman Boss would be appreciated along with any suggestions, thoughts or comments about use and ownership - the more long winded the better! Over to you... ..and I really appreciate your time. Ray Hatley The Boss from Tippmann is the only real leather sewing machine for western saddlery work. Oll others are fine as well but not that powerfull! Edited July 22, 2008 by Rolf Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bruce johnson Report post Posted July 22, 2008 Rolf, I can appreciate your enthusiasm for the Boss. I had one of the early ones, and they will do the job. However they do have the drawback of not being powered, a narrow throat, and require one hand to run them. Tedious on production or even a single set of doubled and stitched reins. They are easy to operate and learn. Once I go the tensions right on mine, it seldom needed tweaking. However I am going to respectfully disagree with your statement that they are the only real sewing machine for western saddlery work. They will sew whatever you can cram under the foot. That said, I have had good results sewing any type of saddlery work I needed to do with an Adler 205. Likewise with my Pro 2000. I am pretty sure most people are very happy with what their Artisan 3000s and 4000s will do. The servo motors and speed reducers provide all the power and control I need. To back up, there are quite a few who like their Pearsons and needle/awl machines too. The Boss fit a niche when it was introduced, nothing else had its capacity within $2000 of it. Not the same story now, but it still is solid little machine. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
