General

[bububu]

I am not a computer wiz :? , so it is a pain in the ass for me to reply or check or doing much on computers. So, I'll try to cover some topics on this post.

First, I think an apprenticeship is a good way to start. You can avoid a lot of mistakes, learn things that will take you years to figure out if you were doing it alone or even never learning them at all, and avoiding getting beat up or killed because of a mistake on a tattoo (happened to me in 1978, because I did some stuff to a guy on his arm that isn't fixable, well just crap). Get ready to pay a good amount or cleaning some bathrooms and shops...

If not able to get an apprenticesip, learn everything you can about tattoos. History, airbourne diseases, medical, sterilization, equipment, etc. But remember don't believe everything you read or hear from other people, so be careful.

Aside from sterilization, protecting yourself and client, inks, etc. Tuning and setting up to make the tattoo process perfect, not only takes your machine to do this. It is all the little details that make it right. For example, a lot of people don't really look at their clipcords as a big deal. But stepping on them, and not taking good care of them will affect the way your machine will run. Again, it's all the little things that make everything run right.

As far as machines go, I don't build my own. I use machines from very respectable companies. Even though they are good machines, I have to tune them and set them up to my style and likings. I use Joe Kaplans machines, Sobas, and Pulse. They all are very expencive but I've been using them for years and haven't had any major problems with them.

Power supplies. I don't use a very expencive one. I just bought one that is very dependable and wouldn't fail on me.
I've read on this board that some of you have your mind set on the amount of volts set on liners and shaders. You guys can't set your mind to those setting, some mahcines are made to run faster and harder then others, it also depends on the needle you are using, spring tension, etc. To tell you the truth, I don't know how many volts I run my machines on and don't really care, until now. I got bored and bought a volt meter to measure and clear some of your heads. Some of my machines run on 4.3 volts, some on 9.6, some on 12.7, and some on 14.9.

Needles. It depends on personal preference. I use flats for a lot of work, magnums for some and rounds for others.

Tubes and grips. I use what is comfortable for me. 3/4 and 1'' grips for me.

Pigment. I use a lot of brands. Again different artist have different opinion on things. I use a lot of different brands (I don't have all the colors of these brands, just a couple of them): mom's, dynamic, unique, and national.

Ask questions!

[Tat2Rtist]

Hi Bu,
I started tattooing 20 years ago, and like you, I tried many different machines and power supplies and inks over the years and I have a variety of different things. I have 2 favorite liners that I use, one is a t-dial from bicknee that I built, and the other is a spaulding lightweight that I purchased from an old friend of mine 18 years ago. Both machines lay lines great, be it single needle, 3's 5's or 7's. My shaders that I use the most are 2 Unimax Iron Stars, one Snake Yates Vipermatic, and a Joe Kaplan Aluminum East Coast shader. Everyone of these machines I tuned and changed springs to make them run the way I like them. Most machines that I have I use
Eikon armature bars and springs.
I used a variety of power supplies over the years, for the most part they all worked equally as well, but the national tattoo power supply only went from 5 volts to 16 I believe and I couldn't get it to go any lower for some of my machines to run. Now I use an Eikon power supply, I like it for the fact that I can tune my machines better with it, it tells me the speed, volts, folllow through on the front spring and the dutycycle. To be honest when I first got this power supply I thought all that info was stupid because I always tuned my machines by ear. But with this Eikon power supply I can tune them quicker.
My machines all run at different voltages, anywhere from 5 volts to 10 volts. The powersupply is great but a little pricey, $295.00.
My colors I have a variety of those also, national, Intenze, millienium, Starbrite, and Fantasia. With my colors I always try to buy a small bottle of a color that I would like to try, if I like it I'll buy a bigger bottle when that one runs out, if I don't like it I give it to one of my tattooist friends to try. I find that I like some colors of one brand and some of other brands. I don't think I could ever use just one brand because one brands blue might work better that a blue from a brand you use whose red works better that the other brand.
Tubes, I use metal tubes, I have a mixture, I like a thin tipped tube some companies make a thin liner but not a thin shader.
I use 3 needle super tights, 5 needle super tights for lining, as well as singles and sevens.
For coloring I use 13 double stack mags, 9 double stack mags, 7 needle rounds and 14 needle rounds,
For shading I prefer the rounds.
Finally back to the machines, I use a few different brands but for the most part I can get them to run the way I like them with a little rebuilding and tweaking, (springs, coils, armature bars etc), usually springs do the trick.
Learning to tune a machine is something everyone should learn, because is the machine doesn't run the way you are accustomed too it can make your tattooing experience a nightmare.
A few things I think are most important things a budding tattoo artist can do is learn the tuning basics of the machine, (this is tough until you learn how it is that works best for you).
Also I would advise not to buy a complete set of colors but to buy the basic colors of one brand, try them, if one color works well try another shade of that color( example, if the red works good, try the magenta), if a color doesn't work good for you try the same color in another brand, if that brand doesn't work well try the color in a different brand again, until you find one that works. Also buy the colors in 1 ounce bottles until you find one you like and then replace it with a bigger one when the smaller one runs out.
Power supplies, I would say make sure they go from 0 to at least 15 volts and have a true reostat on them or a ten turn pot on them, not a sliding voltage adjuster or a click stop adjuster.
Again, this is only a few thing that I would suggest a starting artist should do, there is plenty more.

[oz tattoo]

I just wanted to say, this is extremely helpful info. Your time in typing all of this was not wasted- I like to see posts of this sort. You cover a good variety of topics, without getting too deep, but just deep enough for someone less experienced- thought provoking.

[sniper]

BUBUBU IS NOT THE REAL SHIGE!
this loser posted Shiges photos without permission and gave no credit to the real artist. tell him he deserves a slow painful death.

the real artists name is SHIGENORI IWASAKI and his website is YELLOW BLAZE TATTOO in japan.

[voodoo]

holy balz-----this post seems to fallow me everwhere i go!!
i'm i going fucking crazy or what? :shock: :wink: :roll: :shock:

[framey]

:evil:

[SteelDog72]

This kind of information is priceless to someone like me just starting out! Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge!

Matt

[needlemark]

i thought i had drifted back in time or is that post following us

[Papa Gee]

It's Vu Ja Dae. We know this shit has never happened before.

[Grafx]

Hmmmmm,
Why does "Steak & Shake" slice their pickels the long way?

[ink_freak]

:idea: all they have is a really long knife?