Cowboy Outlaw experience

[MoMatt]

I had been interested in these for quite a while and felt like there was not much out there on them.  Several videos on youtube, but all by sellers, not by users and they only showed sewing little stacks of scrap.  I decided to try one and thought I'd share my experience.  It seems to be well made.  Its very similar to the Boss.  In fact, there is no manual and when I inquired about that, Bob from Toledo said its basically a boss so use the manual for it.  It seems like the hook and the bobbins are similar to what is in the 441 clones, there is a bobbin cover, and I understand the internals are all heat treated steel instead of zinc or pot metal.  The thread guides are different and it has a bigger throat, like 9 inches.  I initially had some trouble, but after some coaching from Bob it turned out to be all operator error.  I've made a wallet and about a dozen double layer gun belts.  Its been working like a champ, no skipped stitches, tensions seem to stay put, stitch length is easy to adjust.  I've been using 346 thread, several colors of  cowboy brand and the stuff tandy sells in black. All seems to work fine.  I am glad I purchased it and I like it.  Attached is a link to a video of me making a belt and sewing it with the machine.  I am just a hobby person making stuff for myself and my friends.  I am a hobby blacksmith and I like to make knives axes and timberframing tools.  This thing will make short work of what was kind of a tedious process for me in terms of making sheaths.  Anyways, there isn't much out there in terms of reviews that I could find so I thought I would share my experience and I'd be happy to answer any questions if you are considering giving one a whirl.

 

 

[dikman]

Nicely done, I'm sure that someone else will find this useful at some point.

I've never seen anyone use a woodworking plane to bevel the edges, first time for everything. The only negative thing I can say is please mount it on a decent solid bench, I got a bit seasick with everything wobbling around!

[CowboyBob]

You make it look so easy.Thanks for making the Great video!

 

Edited March 4, 2020 by CowboyBob

[Smartee]

Thanks for sharing!

[sfcdan]

Thanks for the feed back on the machine. I was curious to see how it worked but again all I saw were company videos. 

[shoepatcher]

I would reinforce the top of the bench so there is no wiggle or movement in the machine itself.  I think you will find even easier to use.

glenn

[FredBeagle]

I've had a cowboy outlaw for over a year now.. To be fair it has done a quite a bit of work and beats the crap out of handsewing.. But this thing has been one big headache. A machine that cost this much should never bind and the bobbin thread quite often gets wadded up. To be honest this thing has soured me on Cowboy machines period. The outlaw should be outlawed! I was warned by the salesman not to buy it but I didn't listen. We've had to take this thing apart several times already.  But you shouldn't have to feel like your bending pushrods and valves when you come down with the arm! It's my father that mostly works on it. But yeah I wouldn't recommend at all.

[CowboyBob]

1 hour ago, FredBeagle said:

I've had a cowboy outlaw for over a year now.. To be fair it has done a quite a bit of work and beats the crap out of handsewing.. But this thing has been one big headache. A machine that cost this much should never bind and the bobbin thread quite often gets wadded up. To be honest this thing has soured me on Cowboy machines period. The outlaw should be outlawed! I was warned by the salesman not to buy it but I didn't listen. We've had to take this thing apart several times already.  But you shouldn't have to feel like your bending pushrods and valves when you come down with the arm! It's my father that mostly works on it. But yeah I wouldn't recommend at all.

IF it's threaded correctly,the tension is tight enough ,make sure you pull the handle all the way forward & back & you always hold the thread for the first 3 stitches it shouldn't be jamming up.Miss anyone of the above & any Industrial might jam.

Edited March 5, 2020 by CowboyBob

[chrisash]

I find the circular action of my 29K to be very natural and easy, with no force applied, Therefore I wonder what are the advantages of a pull/ push setup which looks very notchy and not a natural action, but to be fair I have never tried one, but assume you would soon tire on the Pull/push action

[MoMatt]

I have a 29 patcher with the wheel on the front that I really like, so much so in fact, that I was going to buy a 3200 set up with a wheel.  I was advised that the wheel would be very hard to turn with a 26 needle and 346 thread.   The advantage of the up down motion is the needle slides through a half inch of vegtan effortlessly. It is kind of tiring on a belt, I take a few 30 second breaks when doing a belt. Pretty soon the cycle becomes something you don’t have to think about.