Kubin mc14 and wrist tattoo

Fairly new to rotaries, and the no give vibe leaves me a bit weary. Last night I was working on a wrist tattoo (fat infinity symbol, who would have thought) relatively simple banger. Boyfriend got a matching one on the ribs, a bit bigger. I did his first and loaded the mc14 with a 9 mag for solid black fill at 4mm stroke. Like butter. Went in fast. A 3x2 solid black infinity with some script went on about ten Minutes. Set up for the wrist, got the script lined, went in to do the shading loaded with a 7 mag this time, and I just could not get it to be solid. After about two passes she was pretty swollen so I opted her to come back to touch it up. Wrists have always given me a bit of a headache for some reason, but this machine just seemed to chew the skin up pretty fast. Oh, if I remember correctly it was running around 6-6.5 volts. Let me know your thoughts on this. Sounds like an amateur issue but it's been boggling my brain all night.


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Sometimes you just need a coil. Now you know that that the wrist area is one of those places. This is why you never stop learning. A new experience happens & you learn a little more.

Most of us run Crankers at 7.5 volts, so I'm suspecting you've been over cautious when it comes to moving up a gear. If you want a machine that really slams in color, treat yourself to one of Dan's direct drives.

I've had minimal problem packing black around 6.5, just slowed my hand down a bit. I'll have to try upping the voltage. I'm actually considering building a direct drive. Really interested in how rotaries work, and I think building one would help me grasp that


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I use my cranker at 4.5-5 tops.

sounds like your needle was hooked
LOOP your needles EVERYTIME!! on average you will find a bad needle or two just about everyday.

for this type of tattoo you describe:

1. I don't use mags, a 7 or 9 round works much better for me for small black tattoos, but I don't use tribal black with rounds; it seems to pack between the needles after awhile. I use an ink such as talens with rounds.

2. a sterile towel placed under the forearm/wrist area. lets the hand drop and creates a nice stretch.

3. I have both mc13 and mc14, mc13 at 6 volts works better for me. 6 volts max.

4. mithra needles - no more than 1 bad per box. I've used them for 7 years.

Like S_Trafatter said already...if she comes back scarred up, your needle was hooked and all it takes is 1. Also, I've noticed occasional needles soldered upside down to their "normal" position like all the others and in a hurry I mounted that particular grouping upside down and I don't catch it till I start color packing and wonder what is wrong. Loop your needles, you don't have to uncase them either, the packaging is clear for a reason. Older coworkers of mine would loop every new box they got, and spend HOURS doing it....but would toss out a handful every time. I just do them per tattoo.

Go low and slow. Treat tribal like yellow or white. Rotaries are the opposite of coils when it comes to saturation. The slower a rotary is, the better saturation you'll achieve. I've used a ton of needles and whatever brand you go with, stay away from bugpins. They are terrible on saturation. I threw all of mine out, that's how much I hate them. They can barely (hit or miss) do great gray shading. Also, from experience, Mithra's tight liners are made with these tiny bugpin needles that I struggle with. Kingpin's tight liners are made with a much larger bugpin, kind of in between a standard bugpin and a standard needle, and trust me, they make a world of difference when it comes to one pass saturated perfect lines.

Hope this helps you out.

I also use my cranker right around 6 -6.4v w/about a 3.8 stoke length. Crankers don't have a lot of presence off of the tip so you definitely need to apply enough pressure to take up the "slop" and get enough torque behind the stroke. This is easier to do on more delicate spots when you turn the machine down a bit, especially at a 4mm throw.

Hopefully it was just a bad needle, but still a good idea to push the the bottom end of the usable voltage range and then work back up to a comfortable voltage. I feel like finding the right volts for a particular tattoo (needle configuration/skin type) is sometimes key. I like my rotaries to be at a voltage where my motor begins to bog down slightly under the right amount of pressure. Almost like the machine is talking back to you.

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Yes like Nivek says: never go above 5.5 myself...

I just got a dan kubin mc-14 this week, still experimenting with it but it did some nice line work with a 11rl on 7.5 volts on the 3.5 stroke.
Can someone please explain what makes this type of machine run on such low volts?
I am used to running rotaries on high voltages.
I was a little unsure when this new machine arrived & it said not to use anymore then 8v.

First of all if you line that big than higher voltages are required for sure but I like to build my lines so I bring it down a bit.
Dan would be the best to ask for the low working voltages but off the bat I would say that a mix of fewer moving parts and
the fact that the a-bar and motor are so close together, you get every inch of that power working for you. Less of a swing
and more of a punch!

id have to say bad needle, also. a bur or bent needle tip, can always be an issue. its hard to tell, all bodies/skin are different also. ive done matching tattoos and had similar results, in the same area. one goes in like it was meant to be, the other one just takes twice as long and looks half as good. there are a lot of variables that can cause this though. skin type/pores/elasticity, bad grouping/needle bur, etc. you did the right thing though, have her come back and give it a once over. you can always try changing needles mid tattoo also.

Draw your needle depth back a bit

Dan sets his machines with a super long stroke, what you have to do is to set the depth
with the needle loaded, by this I mean with needle and tube and a-bar down, let hang
only what you need for the job, these are his words exact and it works!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ruthless

I just got a dan kubin mc-14 this week, still experimenting with it but it did some nice line work with a 11rl on 7.5 volts on the 3.5 stroke.
Can someone please explain what makes this type of machine run on such low volts?
I am used to running rotaries on high voltages.
I was a little unsure when this new machine arrived & it said not to use anymore then 8v.

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pretty sure its the motor and its torque - i have lined as low as 4 with kubins but have to move too slow.

You can do good one passes with a bugpin liner at 5 to 5.5 or regular #12's liners. I find that for me tight #12's rip the damage the skin with the MC14
thats why I use bugpins from Mithra, they are awesome...!