February Newsletter 2009

 529 Winchester Drive

 West Plains,Missouri 65775

Pitchfork Saddlery is a custom saddle shop.  We also focus on other items such as  chaps, gunbelts, holsters and buckskins. 

When we started looking at leather crafting machines, we had several things

we were concerned about.  The most important factor was the simplicity.

I wanted a machine that was easy to use, but yet had enough strength to

do what I needed it to do.  I wanted a manually operated machine, so that

I could control every stitch and have the ability to sew at a desired speed.

I needed a machine that offered the ability to sew through various weights

of material, ranging from clothing weight leather all the way up to saddle skirting.

I have been using "The Boss" for 15 years and it has sewn all leather weights

and it does and excellent job of placing the bobbin thread at the center of all

leathers.  Due to the "Boss's" manual operation, it is very easy to control, and offers

very simple stitch length adjustment.  The "Boss" is very versatile, and allows you to

sew very thin leathers with light thread, all the way up to heavy weight saddle leather

and thread.  The "Boss" has the extra attachments needed to turn out a professional looking project.  As far as customer service and support are concerned, Tippmann

is top drawer. 

I have included several images along with this interview.

One piece that deserves special attention is the piece which

my parade saddle which I created for Howard Maxwell. 

This saddle is valued at over $55,000.  It took over 7 years to complete,

and all of the required machine work was done with  a Tippmann "Boss"

Hand Stitcher. 

The Silver Dollar Saddle is a carved saddle, mounted with 1921 Morgan Silver

Dollar Theme.  This saddle is valued at $9,500   The carving on this saddle was completed by Howard Maxwell, Ocala, Florida and silversmith D.L. Moss, West