No love for Swiss rotaries?

[aevilla]

Just out of curiosity why is it that no ones talked about the true swiss rotary machines on here?? All I ever really read about are the stealths... Does anyone have any on here use them?

[slicksteel]

Never used one yet but i am sure they run great I think the high price keeps people away from them as they are a basic machine with no give.I seen a used one one ebay once but got outbided.

[gangstajay]

Iam with you aevilla...I was wondering but I think its because no one has one... unimax has a good price on a basic black one... 379.00 I spoke with ray from neo tats and says he had one in his shop and they were nice..

[slicksteel]

Came we get some love for the spaulding revolution and the camline system both american made and boths first in the industry.

[inked]

ive used a swiss rotary years ago, its very silent and smooth. i especially love the weight. if u look closly the sealth is a copy of the swiss rotary, minus the heavy pricing. i still miss it to this date, i think im gonna invenst it in again, but now with so many rotary machine, i am spoilt for choices, and i do wanna try those with the 'give' adjustment , like stigma or dragonfly

[slicksteel]

Try the Rapier has give and runs like a well tuned coil machine at a fair price.

[inked]

thanks for suggesting slicksteel. i seen the website, they have the Rapier and Rapier 2 , do u happen to know whats the difference between the 2 of them? or is it just the color? thanks in advance

[The Limey]

thanks for suggesting slicksteel. i seen the website, they have the Rapier and Rapier 2 , do u happen to know whats the difference between the 2 of them? or is it just the color? thanks in advance

Stroke length is the main difference as far as I know.

If you are interested in trying a Rapier or Rapier II, give Cary a call. Like all the builders on the forum he's great guy to deal with and will sort you out with something that suits your style.

[Alie K]

I think the reason why not many people on here have a Swiss, is that there have been so many innovations in the rotary machine world that the Swiss got left behind. The price also seemed a little intimidating for many people, but there was the Stealth - it looked the same, and was a helluva lot cheaper. People used that as their 'intro to rotaries' because if they liked their coil machines better, it wasn't a huge loss. Once they liked using rotaries, they started seeing all these shiny new ones - machines with 'give', machines that had clips or contraptions so you didn't need rubber bands, pretty colors, unique designs....

Maybe if more of us on here were from Europe (and that's not to say we don't have many members from other countries) we'd have Swiss rotaries because they wouldn't cost as much with shipping and duty and would be more affordable? 350 euro could seem intimidating to a lot of people.

Even when I look up Swiss Rotary Tattoo Machine, I have to weed through a bunch of knockoffs before I find a real one.

I also think that the people who have other rotaries just happen to be chattier on here.

[aevilla]

True Alie k but there are supply companies that are distributors of the real swiss rotaries such as Unimax and papilon(although they do charge $20 more for the base model). I see more members talking about the swashdrive and how great it is, but in reality the swashdrive costs more and they appear to be pretty much the same in the aspect of having the same amount of "give"...which is little to none...that I know of lol. Slicksteel how do you like your rapiers? I've been itching to get my hands on one!

[elbo]

I did have 2 swiss rotarys...not bad machines but if you like the design of swiss then look at the peter rotarys from germany...alot smoother and all round better...i think blue moon tattoo supplies sell them

[Alie K]

I see more members talking about the swashdrive and how great it is, but in reality the swashdrive costs more and they appear to be pretty much the same in the aspect of having the same amount of "give"...which is little to none...that I know of lol.

I think the Swashdrives are popular because they are such a curious little machine. While so many machines have the motors mounted laterally, their vertical position is very different to a lot of people, maybe making it something they have to have, simply because of that? I was lucky enough to buy a gen6 of off one of the members here, jstewart (and I have another gen 6 coming from gangstajay with an rca instead of the clipcord which I plan to get some gen 7 clips for - I heard it makes it a little nicer for black and grey with those). I got mine because a friend ranted and raved about how amazing it was and that I should consider getting one... so I got 2! :P

[inked]

They are very smooth running machines ,well made ,stury yet still light. out of all the rotarys i have tried they run most like a coil machine and you can get thin to think lineing were easy.Great customer service-you can actually talk to the maker-which is also a tattooer. He could easly charge as much as the swashdrive as it is made just as well.Of course some people dont want a rotary with give.The give is just right like a well tuned coil machine that has a wide power band. More volts -equals less give to push real big mags or 14 liners -will push anything.Yet you also do soft shading or color packing.

Inked- the 4mm stroke rapier runs realy sweet for heavy linework and building up lines but also works well for everything else.The 3m are great for color and bng and fineline work but can just about push anything.

Thanks slicksteel for the info, i am considering between the rapier and neo tat , but still dunno if i need a machine with "give" . well i been using old school style rotary (without any pully or amature bar like the stealth) with very good results, i never know rotaries runs so consistant, powerful and packs in colors easily and also real silent. almost cant hear anything. so after donkey years of coil machine, i am in search a good rotary to invest in, but I'm actually leaning towards the rapier as u mention the the builder is a tattooer and good customer service, i might just jump in the bandwagon sooner then expected :)

[Jaes]

I just picked up a swiss rotary on ebay for $200, nevrer used, just run out of the box, arrived today, the guy had it advertised as a swiss stealth which I think scared anyone off bidding on it.

Anyway I really like it so far.

[wildboy]

A swiss was the first professional rotary I bought 3 month ago... My first contact with this type of machine was like 2 years ago some cheap knock off for 40€ which only lasted 4 weeks till the ball bearing went to hell. I did like how the machine was working though.

The swiss is pretty expensive for Europe too I think. Ive bought one of the newer models with a RCA plug in white/purple for 400€... Its an awesome tool well built super silent does a great job for me. In the beginning I got cramps im my hands because of its very very light weight I always had the feeling not holding it properly.

The no give and no adjustments to make seemed perfect to me I dont wanna screw around with a machine to much. Plug it in ready to go... I had my share of messing around with coils machines so Im looking for reliable tools that satisfy my needs now.

I tried to line with it only once so far, the next day I used it for shading and coloring and it felt like this was the job the machines supposed to do. The lines I did with it were in very good though it just felt like I had to push harder and the outcome was a lot thinner compared to my coil machines using the same needle grouping.

If you can believe what artists say about the Swiss made machines they do last very long and are reliable all the time so I think its money well spent instead of messing around with cheap knock offs that (maybe) quit their duty sooner or later.

[The Limey]

Fatcashdaddy and I were having a chuckle about the new glamour models the other day:
3858
Anyone fancy spending 1015 Euros for their new "Sparkling Heidi" Bling Thing?

[Administrator]

I saw this in person at the Toronto convention. It was $1500 CAD. I certainly did sparkle.

[Billy808]

The Swiss was my first rotary I bought about three years ago. There are so many other machines that keep making improvements and push the boundaries that Swiss just got left behind.

[slicksteel]

Yea they need to step their game up instead of charging crazy prices for color changes -kind of reminds me of the ol action figures from he-man ,just throw a a different paint job and head on and wam-o something new! thats marketing 101 no need to make advancements, just trick the customer its all new again,lol.

[The Limey]

Yea they need to step their game up instead of charging crazy prices for color changes -kind of reminds me of the ol action figures from he-man ,just throw a a different paint job and head on and wam-o something new! thats marketing 101 no need to make advancements, just trick the customer its all new again,lol.

They might actually believe their basic design doesn't need changing... There are coil machine builders using frame designs dating back to the 1930's etc.

[slicksteel]

Thats tru limey but usally they will tweak things a bit here and there like the back spring shelf angle,chuck, springs etc to. the swiss style does have its problems.

[Joe Hinkle]

I'm a function over fashion type of guy. They can keep the sparkly bling, what matters to me is how well it performs, versatility, and longevity of the functioning tool.

[OwlsDen]

There is one on eBay.de for 176€ with box and papers ends in 9h

[Panos tattoo]

They are very smooth running machines ,well made ,stury yet still light. out of all the rotarys i have tried they run most like a coil machine and you can get thin to think lineing were easy.Great customer service-you can actually talk to the maker-which is also a tattooer. He could easly charge as much as the swashdrive as it is made just as well.Of course some people dont want a rotary with give.The give is just right like a well tuned coil machine that has a wide power band. More volts -equals less give to push real big mags or 14 liners -will push anything.Yet you also do soft shading or color packing.

Inked- the 4mm stroke rapier runs realy sweet for heavy linework and building up lines but also works well for everything else.The 3m are great for color and bng and fineline work but can just about push anything.
hey man.do you know where i can find the 3mm bearing?

[throwhammers]

There are no 3mm bearings for the swiss. They are only 4mm.

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[Panos tattoo]

yes i know swiss doesnt make anything else but 4mm,but is there anything out there to fit? and i mean a good upgrade not something that will downgrade the machines performance

[Heath]

Bump...wondering what others use them for too as I have two that sit in a drawer...

[OwlsDen]

Bump...wondering what others use them for too as I have two that sit in a drawer...

That motor has a lot of torque. If you like to color using big mags they are good. If you like salt and pepper shading where you need to slow down, they are also good for that. If you don't want them then just send them to me, haha!

[SAACADELIC]

its a great machine, but when they started selling them "bedazzled" w swarovski crystals for insane prices, it kind of killed my enthusiasm for that company. The knockoff stealth works really well for $100 bucks, for the price difference I dont see how the authentic ones could be leaps and bounds better