Ink Trails Tattoo Forum: Machine parts and set up - Ink Trails Tattoo Forum

Your contact screw will be straight up on a liner and set back about 10 or 11  o'clock on your shader.    Remember the air gap is going to be different for every machine, Its not a set setting like a dime or nickel,  those are good places to start but just reference.

It looks like the liner is also back a little but i run mine straight.

thanks man.. that picture is perfect..  I can totaly see what you mean how the one is angled much more.. also the shader you can see in the pic has a longer front spring as well..

cool thanks!

That liner is setup as a cutback.

hello everyone im brand new to this forum and pretty new to tattooing.I would just like to say this is by far the best forum i have seen and the people here seem to really want to help.And boy do i have some questions, which some have already been answered.I would just like to say thanks to all who just sit down just to give people like me a chance.

your welcome, stick around this forum has a family atmosphere

oh i plan on it

I would like to ask if someone could give me some good insight on what tattoo machines i should invest in im thinking of going with the unimax jaws or the spaulding/puma.thanks

hei folks, I just read through all this posts on the topic again, and because I did surf for hygienic topics last hours I have to critizise the machine-trouble-shooting post that kit cat did.

it says that if your machine doesn`t work, just blow on the contact point cause maybe it is dirty and doesn`t have contact with the screw.

this could be good during tuning the machine, but should not happen during the tattoo-session.
cause why going through all the cleaning and desinfection and sterilizing process and then putting body-fluids on your instrument by blowing?

The Huck Spaulding book is great i've flicked through one so far i just got one from ebay it's an ex-library book in tip top condition.To buy here in Australia Brandnew the cheapest i've found is AU$99.I've seen them forsale at other places here in Australia for AU$150.I won mine on ebay for $50 even though it's an ex-library book it's like brandnew to buy a copy from Spaulding & Rogers buy the time you convert currencies and pay for shipping it works out to be about $80 Australian.

Tattooing A to Z: A Guide to Successful Tattooing/Guide to Sterile Tattooing Techniques (Hardcover)
by Huck Spaulding (Author) = bought mine on amazon.co.uk for £30 (if you're doing a search just put in huck spaulding sometimes doesn't show up results)
gurgi

have you ever heard about the books Guy Aitchison did publish? I wonder where to get them. I know there is one available called "reinventing the tattoo" which can be ordered, but I heard that did some other books before and sold them only at conventions and only to tattoo artists who have a licence.

there is also a nice book I ordered at http://www.howtotattoo.net/ that helped me a lot with the theories at the beginning.

what I am missing and I could never find is a book about advanced theories and techniques of how to penetrate the skin...

I've looked through a friends version of guy aitchinsons reinventing the tattoo and it was a really good read, you can purchase them from his website though at quite a price... http://www.hyperspac...ksseminars.html occasionally they come up on ebay but harder to find than many of the others for a cheap and fun foray into techniques try Advanced Tattoo Art (How-To Secrets from the Masters) by Doug Mitchell has photo step by step demonstration of different peoples work (though some are really not in master territory joe capobianco is in there which is worth the money alone)...
gurgi

I found Doug Mitchell at amazone, thank you.

gurgigirl, on Jul 20 2007, 02:38 PM, said:

Capobianco steals the book. Worth the price just to see his work.

I was wondering if anybody know what speed(Volts) to run the STEALTH Rotary machines at for linning and Coloring(shading)??

synner, on Jun 23 2007, 01:08 PM, said:

My machins are setup similar but with one main difference: the front spring(liner) is significantly longer than the front spring on the shader. Here they are, what do you guys think?? Any advice on overall setup would be greatly appreciated. Also, with the rubber grommets, with the liner(left) I've put it from under the spring stretched underneath to the end of the armature bar. With the shader(right) other is stretched to the screw on top. It might be hard to see cause of my crappy camera but is just a matter of personal preference or does it make a difference to performance??
thanx

How did you determine which was which, it seems to me that it should be the opposite. A liner has a short stiff front spring that sits farther back at the contact point, usually somewhere above the front coil core. They are set to run faster with a shorter stroke and generally have fewer layers(wraps) of wire, although not always depending on who set up the machine.
Shaders usually have a longer softer front spring and the contact point is over the needle bar nipple. They are usually set with a longer stroke and run a bit slower with more wraps.
I know there are variations and everyone builds them differently, but if you look around at professionally built machines, this is the case.

From the picture, it looks like the one that you are calling a liner has shader springs on it and vise versa. I see a difference in your bottom gap which determines, in part, the stroke, but it seems like the spring sets are on the wrong machines. I guess I would need to know more about them and maybe some better pics and some specifics.

This post has been edited by insight: 17 November 2007 - 11:30 PM

Sorry, to answer your grommet question, I think it is preference, but if there is more of a stretch in one of the positions, it will affect the performance. The more tension you put on that front spring, the faster the machine will be able to run, but you would have to shorten your stroke and adjust your power supply to compensate. As with most systems, when you change one variable, it affects the others and compensations have to be made to achieve the desired result. But if the stretch is the same, it would just be a matter of preference. Hope that helps.

Thanx insight,
Thats exactly why i posted, It hadn't crossed my mind until I read that post. My shader, with the 12wrap coils does have a longer front spring. Thats the best pic. I could get with my crappy camera, but you've answered my question well, thanx.
With the grommets, I thought it may affect it, although in the wee hours of this morning my brian was addled and i couldn't work ouit which way it worked, great explanation-thanx again,
matt