Hi from New Zealand

[Eternal]

Hi everyone! Im a new tattooist from New Zealand, have been tattooing for about a year and a half. I have owned a hawk but I have sold it not long ago and now own a dragonfly. Thanks for letting me be a part of this cool forum

[slicksteel]

Great to have you!
How is the New Zealand scene with tattooing?

[slicksteel]

I see you use FKI -very good machines! If you like those you will love Borg alloy coil machines (Super smooth well balanced rotary like machines) and Rapier rotarys (Has give like a well tuned coil machine) -both super smooth and great customer service!!
http://www.borgtattoo.com/
http://www.tattooedpirate.com/

[Administrator]

Welcome Eternal! If you have any questions about how to navigate the site check the getting started area or just shoot me a message.

Did you have trouble getting tips for the Hawk in New Zealand?

[Eternal]

Hi thanks for the welcome dudes

Slicksteel the tattoo scene is busy in New Zealand, too many new studios opening up lol. Yip FKI machines are awesome for sure and gaston is excellent to deal with, higly recomended!! Thanks heaps for the machine links very nice machines! Im definitly looking to buy another rotary soon maybe something that is better that the dragonfly at lining any suggestions? Im looking at a neotat or maybe the new fly if its good at lining.

Thanks Admin, I got my hawk and tips from Bohemian Tattoo supplies in NZ, but ended up importing my tips from Painful Pleasures USA.

[Administrator]

Hi thanks for the welcome dudes

Slicksteel the tattoo scene is busy in New Zealand, too many new studios opening up lol. Yip FKI machines are awesome for sure and gaston is excellent to deal with, higly recomended!! Thanks heaps for the machine links very nice machines! Im definitly looking to buy another rotary soon maybe something that is better that the dragonfly at lining any suggestions? Im looking at a neotat or maybe the new fly if its good at lining.
Thanks Admin, I got my hawk and tips from Bohemian Tattoo supplies in NZ, but ended up importing my tips from Painful Pleasures USA.

The buttons under people's names will help a lot if you just want to shoot a PM and ask if what they have they use daily for lining and with what kind of liners, etc. Many of the builders who make machines are also on the site, so if you see a big red button it means they are a builder, the signature in their posts will usually get you to their online store or site. The Machine reviews area is pretty stocked up with info so its always a good place to start.

[slicksteel]

What you want to look at is the max stitches per minute(RPM)or also listed as strokes per second(the higher the better for lining unless you power line then you want some speed plus torque).
The Dragon Fly is 8.000, the swiss made rotary is also 8.000, as is its copy The Stealth. The Swash Drive-Gen7 & The New Generation is 10.000 and so on.
8.000 speed is great for shading and coloring but for a nice line (even if its a thin line like a 1,3 or bugpin liner it should still look crisp and sharp)You should go with a machine that can do 10.000 or more.Also machine that have a clip or a tension type of system will yield a finer line as it does not allow a bit of play in the skin(true to the actual needle size)
If you notice most people that use rotorys do not get this so they do weak lines and hope the shading will hold it all together,but in time it will tend to fall apart with out some type of frame work to help define the tattoo.
Of course if you practice long enough with any machine you will be able to outline with it.The Neo Tat is well made ,great price and nice for fineline detail work, the Rapier is also well made with a fast high torque motor and is the king of Bold Lines!
So help all the builders out and buy them all!

[Eternal]

Awesome thanks for the useful info Admin and Slicksteel very much appreciated

[Alie K]

Very interesting, Michael! I wonder what the RotaryWorks machine's stitches per minute is? That seems like my 'fastest' rotary....

[slicksteel]

when I had mine I did a comparison with all the rotarys i had hooked up -you can look at the abar tip just like a coil machine and tell the speed/stroke (helps if you put on a gromment or paint a bright color on tip and look from a side angleYou will see a 8 shape the closer the circles the faster and shorter the stroke.The rotary works seems to me to be around 1150.Also you can use a timing stobe light and see it.
Allso sometimes you hear the revs of the motor going fast but that can be slowed down with all the linkage-that is why the RW is so fast not to much to bend up or weight to swing.