Broken (Brand New) Boss

[SOB Holsters]

My new Boss came last night. Happy. Attempted to install the guide roller and found the threads for the mounting hole in the casting was completely stripped out. Upset. Since I had the machine out and setup, figured I would run a couple test pieces. Every two strokes, jamming up. *$! OFF. Back in the the box. Going back tomorrow. Try again.

[billymac814]

That's a bummer. They are a stand up company though, they will make it right. Still no fun going without it.

You'll probably find the roller guide un necessary, I had one and never used it, I ended up trading it for a stirrup plate. I do use the one on the Cowboy when I'm going faster.

You should like the Boss though, especially if you were hand stitching before. Just don't try a Cowboy or a Cobra or it'll ruin the Boss for you. I used the heck out of my Boss though and it always worked well.

[SOB Holsters]

I read thru some of your posts and that was the reason I bought it. Don't have the $$ for a bigger one yet. Tippmann has already made arrangements for a swap, so they are being good about it. The personal emails I received after I ordered it gave me the feeling they actually care. So that's awesome.

Couple questions:

What does the stirrup plate do for you?

Is there a way to make the bottom thread become more flush with the bottom surface of your belt or holster? When hand stitching I would groove, punch holes, and then groove the bottom surface to recess the thread, but I'm scared to lay a "blind" bottom groove, for fear I would miss it.

[particle]

About all you can do is tighten the tension, but I'd avoid going too tight with the tension with the Boss being that it's hand powered. You definitely don't want to groove the back side. You can also dampen the leather after it's sewn, then hammer the stitching flat. Machine stitching will never look as nice as hand stitching - no real way around it. Speed vs. appearance.

I used the stirrup plate exclusively on mine, though I filed the top flat so it wasn't rounded. It gave me a little more clearance on the back side for my Avenger style holsters so the base plate didn't scuff up the leather so much.

[Dwight]

I'm going to disagree with Particle on this one, . . . for 100% of my belts, . . . and about 75% of the stitching on my holsters, . . . I groove on both sides.

I figure if I use the same groover, . . . groove from the same edge, . . . it will be the same. Guess what ! It works.

There are two serious helpers here though: one) the edges are done all but the final burnishing, . . . so they are good as a guide, . . . and 2) I manufactured a little 12 inch table out of some scrap 3/4 inch plywood and a 1/2 inch thick plastic cutting board. It lays perfectly flat with the sewing level of the Boss, . . . making the needle go 90 degrees straight down, . . . and hits the groove on the other side.

May God bless,

Dwight

[billymac814]

I had a fairly long reply typed up and I don't know what happened to it.

I didn't use the stirrup plate much at all, only on occasion where I may be sewing something that has a loop already stitched to the back side, it helped it lay flat.

As for the back side of the stitches, just tap them down with a smooth faced hammer. If you dampen it first it helps. I have a french hammer that I polished the face on so its super smooth. I still do this on my belts and some other things. Another thing I found with the Boss is using the next size thinner thread on the bottom makes it look a little better. I found that out by chance one time when I needed to refill a bobbin and I was down to just one spool so I used the 207 off of my Consew.

You could groove the backside of belts as Dwight does and you should be able to hit the groove with no problem. Holsters are a little more difficult since you don't have the edge to go by. I quit grooving shortly after getting the Boss, I still did it for a while on the front, I figured it was no different than marking my stitches but I eventually quit grooving all together as the Boss pulled the stitches in far enough.

I don't think the backside looks that bad, its not quite as nice looking as a perfect hand stitch but there's not a big enough difference to really worry about it once they are hammered smooth.

I think you made the right choice if you didn't want to spend the cash on a Cowboy or Cobra. There are plenty of worse things you could have bought that may have been slightly easier to use or maybe a little faster but they wouldn't sew as thick as the Boss and probably not make as nice of a stitch. Plus the Boss is an easy sell once your done with it. If you bought it new you may lose a little bit but not much at all and you can put that money towards a new machine when you're ready.

Here's a picture of my hammer they don't have to be polished like that but I got a new polisher and ran out of stuff to polish.

[trekster]

Another method to consider, when wishing to figure out exactly where the stitch will be on the bottom of the project -- is to poke the holes first, and then come back and sew. I know it pretty much defeats the purpose of saving time, but often times I will do it just to make sure my stitch holes are perfectly spaced. Without thread in the machine, it is a lot easier to obtain nicely spaced stitches, then on the second pass I thread up the machine and still it's a lot easier (and quicker) than hand stitching. Naturally, it would be easier to groove the backside of the project with the holes already punched, though I've never done that. I set my Boss with fairly strong thread tension, and my stitches are usually pulled nicely into the leather.

[billymac814]

You don't do that every time do you? That would drive me nutty. I always got perfectly spaced stitches in mine with thread in it.

[trekster]

You don't do that every time do you? That would drive me nutty. I always got perfectly spaced stitches in mine with thread in it.

No, not every time, but sometimes I have some tight corners and curves; and I like to plan out my stitches ahead of time.

[billymac814]

Gotcha. If you make your turns while the needle is down in the work it keeps the spacing correct, otherwise if you're turning when its out its possible to shift the piece a bit and get inconsistent stitch lengths, just make sure you turn after the shuttle grabs the loop or else it will twist the loop and it could skip a stitch.

[SOB Holsters]

I hammered these babies down and I am happy with the results! The idea of a smaller bottom thread sounds good to me. The type of holsters I am building may end up directly against the skin, so I don't want any rough threads or anything else protruding and causing irritation. hence the grooving of both sides. But hammering them down seems to be a good fix. The pre punching holes method could come in handy, thanks for sharing that as well. Oh, and that is the shiniest hammer iv'e ever seen!