Nuther scratcher

Hey guys, I'm a 37 yo busted up dude that is wanting to tattoo since I'm disabled from a bike wreck. I can draw and have tattooed before, with needle and thread, homemade machines and anything in between since I was 14 or so. Not to say that I have been doing tats that long, just since then, dig? Anyway, I ordered a kit and I'm a bit disappointed with it, no surprise really. I continue to be impressed with how much stuff I got for $200, but the machines leave a lot to be desired. I suppose with some modification they will run a bit better, but I have never modified a factory bought machine before. After 17 years in tool and die and several homemade machines under my belt, I'm thinking I can do it. I had a kit before, about 6 years ago. I bought that one from Huck Spaulding or some shit, it was $500 for one machine and not much else besides ink and unsterilized needles. I had absolutely nothing to go by, so I did some pretty shitty work. With this kit from Pirate Face I got a book, the tattooing basics book (where I learned of this place). This book has been great. I read it from cover to cover and it helped me realize some things. Before I thought that the machine needed to be setup a particular way for lining and another for shading, and that was why I was screwing up the tats. Not so. Now I see that the machine is setup to compliment the technique of the artist/scratcher lol. In other words, I failed to use common sense.

So, I got my mediocre machines and plenty of needles and tips, I'm ready to tat myself. I do have some questions, though. Before I ask them I'd like to explain how I'm practicing. That fake skin is too hard and is nothing like skin, I don't use it. I'm sure that crap will ruin a set of needles. It's a much better test to just use alcohol and do bloodlines with no ink on my leg. That way I get to practice stenciling, which I suck at, and see how the needle is responding to the way I hold and use the machine. This cat that wrote the tattoo basics book talks about two main variables in how the machines run. How fast and how hard. I can only assume that speed is self explanatory and that the hardness is controlled by the coils, they pull harder or softer. Am I right? I have been trying to get one machine setup that I can line with easily, but it's not working out so far. I have the contact as far back as it will go trying to get the speed up and keep voltage down. Even like this and voltage cranked up to ~12V still the needle catches in the skin. I prefer to not use the tip as a depth gauge. I like to see the needle, even more than I'll use, so I can watch it go in the skin and control the depth with my hand. This fuckin hard when the needle grabs like that. In my mind it seems that the coils aren't pulling hard enough or it would just power right through, not get hung/caught, but the volts are already way up there. This is my biggest question right now.

With stencils I'm tracing with a hectographic pencil and using tattoo stencil magic. Is there a trick to this shit? The stencils are still coming out very light and after a little vaseline is applied it's nearly wiped off.

I'm sure I'll have more questions, a lot actually, but for now thats the main thing, and I wanted to introduce myself. I hope to learn a lot!

hi, and welcome.
there is alot more to it than "How fast, or hard" the machine runs. every component on the machine has to work in unison for the machine to perform properly. here is a few things that will hopefully help:

- stroke is how far your needles go up and down from there highest point to the lowest point
- point gap is the distance between your contact screw and your spring when pulled down and touching the front coil
- air gap is the distance between the top of your coils and the bottom of the abar when your abar is against your contact point or your machine is at rest

standard set ups are- liner =fast short stroke, Color =slow long stroke, Shader =in between Liner and color.

A thin front spring will slow down a machine.
A thick front spring will speed up a machine.
A large capacitor will slow down a machine.
A small capacitor will speed up a machine.
A lighter armature bar will speed up a machine.
A heavier armature bar will slow down a machine.
The thickness of the spring, the air gap, and the point gap determine the length of the stroke (how far the needles travel).

A little tip to determine how hard your machine hits, is to run the machine and let the shaft of the armature bar hit against the cuticle of your thumb.
Another tip to tell whether your machines are in tune is while running pay attention to the front spring and armature bar. A little thing i call "The Illusion". This works better when using flourescent lighting. Look at the front spring from the side, and while running it should look like 3 springs with approx even spacing in between. (this should also tell you that your duty cycle is at, or close to 50%). Also looking at the pin, or shaft of the armature bar. it should give the illusion of a figure 8...........hope some of this helps.....and happy tuning.

Yeah, that does help, thanks.

I'm a little embarrassed by this, but that's what being a newbie is all about, right? I didn't notice that all the machines that cam with my kit are different. Using one of the other machines I was able to get plenty of power from it. I have a tat on my leg that I did 6 years ago or so, I didn't shade it at all since that's the part that was not working out no matter what I did. At any rate I threw in a 7 mag and some black ink with alcohol to thin it out in another cup. I was able to outline on edge with the mag needle and cut beautiful lines and curves, beautiful for me any way. A slight tweak of the voltage and experimenting with hand pressure and I had a full spectrum of black/gray that stuck very easy. I couldn't help but remember the part in the book about mag needles on edge working just like a razor blade, I can't overstate that. All in all I really enjoyed using the magnum needle on edge for outlining. Any thoughts or punishments anyone would like to dole out?

can someone explain why there are post missing out of this thread?

nevermind. i was thinking of a different thread.

try using distilled water to thin your inks, it's cheaper and doesnt have the unwanted sting of alcohol. mags can do some nasty damage if your not careful. i've never outlined with them, but i've tightened up lines, and tilted them to get into tight corners, you just have to pay attention to what you're doing.

I'm going to experiment with all the needles I have. I don't have any distilled water and I have no way to a store or anything, that's why I used the alcohol. I need to take an art class. Even though I draw already, I'm outta practice.