Danny Fowler Machine Tuning Troubles…

[ricoh65]

Hi Pros, I finally sprung for a couple of quality tattoo machines, I bought a Flatline and a G2 from Time Machine because I have heard ALOT of great reviews on them. I finally got them a couple of days ago…but I do not like the way they are tuned, the Flatline is tuned as a liner, with .018 spring in the front and rear and a speed bar, the G2 is my shader with .020 springs front and rear. I put them on my power supply and the Flatline runs at 6 volts, and the G2 at 8 volts. I was using aluminum bulldogs which I totally rebuilt, new springs, coils. a-bars…and I got really used to them, my liner ran at 8 and my shader at 10, Some guys think I run the machines too high, but they ran really good. Now I have these machines i spent $500. for and I am asking for advice…They are both 10 wrap and fully adjustable. The spring deck can be slid forward and back. I don’t want to mess up the configuration and am kinda nervous about moving the spring decks on them and totally screwing up the harmonics on them…GUYS PLEASE HELP!!!! :?:

[Viper65]

…………im not sure what the question is??

[ricoh65]

My question is how the heck do I tune these machines…am I going to have to move the rear spring deck?, change out the springs? slide the coils forward or back?,I’m just not comfortable with the way they run. Or am I making a mountain out of a molehill…they did come “tuned” from Time Machine…just not tuned the way I like.

[TexasPT]

you haven’t mentioned what they are doing, and what you want them to do differently.

You tune them like you would ANY machine…but the state of tune you put them into is going to be one of personal preference.

Now, if you said you want it to run faster and hit harder or have a shorter stroke there would be more available information. Right now all we know is you don’t like how they run. Just because they come set to run at 6 volts doesn’t mean you HAVE to…crank it up if you prefer. It’s your machine.

Mark

[ricoh65]

Thanks Texas…They just don’t FEEL right, I will crank em up a little…I have some work this weekend to do and I guess I’ll play with them till I get used to them or fine tune to my liking…It could be that I got really comfortable with my old machines and am kinda apprehensive about change…Will update after this weekend. I REALLY haven’t done any MAJOR work with them either…THANK YOU AGAIN!!!

[Tarantula]

It’s very rare that you will pick up a new machine and feel immediately comfortable with it. Have you tried taking one of your old machines to pieces and getting it tuned back just the way you like it? I bet if you did this a few times you would find retuning your new machines a lot less daunting.

[TexasPT]

Ricoh- probably just seat time is all you need. Like driving a new car…you miss some of the old familiarities of your last one but you know it’s an upgrade.

I REALLY like Tarantula’s idea. I’m a big fan of knowing how to get things right on your own. it’ takes a willingness to completely dismantle and recreate…which is scary sometimes if you are not comfortable.
Mark

[Viper65]

I strip mine down all the time to the frame…I actually like to play around with the config. and see what i can come up with..

[ricoh65]

Thank you all for the replies, I did just that, took them both down to the frame…(talk about scared to death!!!), and made sure the saddles were flat, checked all the contacts, and put them back together. It took some adjusting but I got these Babies buzzing like a pissed off bumble bee!!! I put in some work and man is there a MAJOR difference when you work with quality equipment. They were laying lines and color real sweet. I am a VERY satisfied customer, I would recommend these machines.

[TexasPT]

One of these days I’ll get my hands on a top-notch machine. I checked out your site…nice work. You are light-years ahead of where I am. Doing my best to close the gap, though. :)

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