A-hoi-hoi from Sydney, Australia.

**MatFink** · 01-30-2011, 06:20 AM

Greetings all,

I'm a new artist working at Electric Ink in Sydney. I've only been tattooing this past year, after snagging and keeping a part-time counterhand role(despite the boss informing me frequently that it likely wouldn't last as he really intended to hire a buxom female!), then going full-time with a view to apprenticeship. Prior to this I served ten years in the Royal Australian Navy. My artistic streak flowered long before that, culminating in the sometimes legal application of spray paint on large surfaces!
While i by no means am looking to pigeon-hole my skill set just yet, my love of traditional (especially sailor) tattoos, as well as the weird and quirky, sees traditional and neo-traditional as the areas i find most enjoyment. While its not something that's requested often, i love doing graffiti-inspired stuff as well.
While i defs cut my teeth on coils, being a southpaw i found the weight and balance of my machine offputting in the positions i needed to garner the desired results. One of my mentors uses gen6 swashies, and suggested i give them a try. WOW. what a difference! Since my budget didn't allow my own swashdrive at that stage, the first rotary i owned was a cheap chinese version which looks similar to the neo-tatz. My work still improved with it, and as funds permitted I've gradually built up to my current arsenal of three gen 7's. I have one setup with the 'give' clip, which i use for lining with 7's and smaller, also soft grey work. The other two I have the hard clip. In general i prefer the definitive feedback working off the needle with the hard clip.
I am extremely glad to have found this place and look forward to sharing in your experience, as well as seeing what other tools and options are out there to help me in my trade.

Regards,

Matty Finkelstein

**The Limey** · 01-30-2011, 08:00 AM

Welcome to the forum Matty; there are several builders on here and each of them make great machines that are all just a little different so I'm sure you'll find something else to add to your arsenal.

**slicksteel** · 01-30-2011, 12:14 PM

Good to have ya on board!
If like still like coils try a Borg-ally machine balanced for a lefty which i am also!
Those swashs are great machines thoe!