killer liner

[Sage Oz]

Why even ask on the forum if you don't like the answers? Just call Worldwide and ask them about the machine. I'm sure they'll tell you how awesome it runs and is sooo much better than the expensive stuff, at only a fraction of the cost.

[(Opted Out)]

[QUOTE=Sage Oz;53477]

The machine didn't do the work, you do. /QUOTE]

I hear that argument all the time when an artist wants to be cheap with his machines. They are exactly like cars on a smaller scale, but just as important. Yes you can drive from LA to NY in a '83 Tempo and yes make the trip(if the lack of quality doesn't break down the car) but you won't win the cannonball run and it surely won't be as smooth, comfortable or stylish as in a Lambo. yes, the driver wins the race, just as the artist paints the picture, but the driver still requires a quality, well built and designed vehicle to transmit his actions accurately and efficently to the road, and the artist needs quality brushes, paints and canvas to best create his designs. If you believe you don't need a decent machine to be a good artist then why even use a machine at all?
If its worth doing, it's worth doing well, and an ego that doesn't allow you to accept that your work might suffer in speed and/or quality from lower quality equiptment is the same ego that will make you think you are a better artist than you may really be.

True that!!! Sage Oz knows!

[vodu]

Why even ask on the forum if you don't like the answers? Just call Worldwide and ask them about the machine. I'm sure they'll tell you how awesome it runs and is sooo much better than the expensive stuff, at only a fraction of the cost.

hit the nail on this Sage.Why bother to ask? Want a excuse or a permition to buy a cheap china knock-off? be my guest, is not my clients and is not my life or my studio. I the first posts you´re complaining being broke to buy a good machine. sorry but with this atitude it´s not too difficult to know why.

[Eikonic]

I never understood this way of thought either, unless your a kitchen magician?! saving a few bucks on a knock offs don't really help you out anyway if your in a legit shop you should be finding way of spending some of that income.
buy machines, take trips, go to the tit bar( with clients ), anything so you can get that tax right off at the end of the year. saving a few bucks on knock-off pretty much says " my quality of work is low, I dont make much money" or " Im a kitchen magician and i tattoo for beer" so buy the good stuff , support the artist that create machines, save your receipts and file those taxes boys and girls/

If your a decent artist maybe you're in the wrong shop and its time to make some changes so you can afford the equipment.
Think to yourself, " If I made machines, would I like it if someone made a copy of it and sold it at a 1/3 or less of the price"

support our artist..

I'd follow this with " just saying" but its so cliche

[vodu]

I understand the way of thinking " if you are damn good you can use whatever machine you want". Yeah, i agree with that but you need to be a Paul Booth, a Horioshi III, a Filip Leu, or any artist with this caliber... Man if someday i can do like the big ones, i can tattoo with a cat tied in a fork. Because even if my machine is made of crap 50% of 1000 still 500.

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[Sage Oz]

But even if it's 90% as good, that's still not 100% shy of what is possible. We need our skills on point, our imagination on point, aaaand our equipment on point. Otherwise our tattoos fall short of the potential. We can't keep settling for mediocre if we are to excel. And yes the machine does the work, at least a good portion of it. That's why its called a machine. Sometimes a million repetitive punctures a day, maybe a billion in it's lifetime. And they need to be extremely consistent in power, stroke length speed and consistency. And we'll potentially get paid hundreds of thousand$ in that time. That's a lot to ask for only a few hundred bucks investment and rediculous to ask for only $70!

[vodu]

Exactly. The point is: i can't work knowing I'm not doing 100%

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[Inkslingers]

I was asking if anyone has tried it?!!!! If not then your answer doesn't help. Lots of you guys believe in your machine waaay too much. The machine didn't do the work, you do. I can still can use my homemade machine with a radio shack motor and pen and still put out quality artwork! Some of you need to stop be so nanatutsy! Just saying...

Seems there's been a number of threads that have drifted into the direction that this one has, and I still don't get the argument? Sure, the likes of Paul Booth (and whoever else you'd like to put on that list) could most likely do a better tattoo with the a low quality machine then the average artist, but when has anyone seen someone of his caliber tattooing with junk? (as I'm writing this I know someone will just have to try and prove me wrong, save your time...the point is that across the board very few artists of this caliber tattoo with low quality machines, period) Point being that although you can very well tattoo with anything that makes a needle go up & down, the better quality machine you have, the better your work will be. I'll take the Pepsi challenge anytime you'd like. Break out that prison gun and do a tattoo with it, then tattoo with one of my Aaron Cain's...I think you'll find a slight difference! Bottom line is that machines do make a huge difference in the outcome of a tattoo.

As to the question that was put on the table to kick off this thread, I don't have a clue about the machine you're asking about. Although it would be really cool to find a machine for $70 that does the job for you, and lasts at least long enough to make some money with it, I seriously doubt that you're going to find what you're looking for in this machine. Then again, I could be wrong..I mean if you believe you can tattoo that well with a home made gun, then it'll probably be an upgrade to what you're working with now right? So go for it, don't let anyone in here decide for you, find out for yourself. It could very well be the best $70 you'll ever spend and take your tattooing to levels beyond anything you could imagine. (or not)

I'm kind of curious though, if you could post a pic or two of the work you were doing with your Radio Shack deal, that would be great. I'm interested in seeing what you believe is quality?

[Administrator]

This site was basically started for two reasons. (this is long, skip to the last paragraph in bold if you don't want to read the whole thing)


Back a few years ago if you where googling info on rotary tattoo machines there where few options. Basically Stigma, NeoTat and the Swiss Machine would show up. If you knew a guy who knew a guy you had an in and got something like a Ben Wight a Roy Richardson or a Mike Metaxa. There was little info on if your investment of $300 to almost $800 (or more if you joined the pnuema world order) was worth it. If you searched professional tattoo forums and asked questions about rotary machines you where sometimes given a lecture about them or told not to waste your money.

I remember having a conversation with Alie K about this four years ago when she first moved to Toronto and how just as guilty as most other tattooers she had bought a stealth as a way to test the waters without a sizable investment. Back then the stealth was nearly $200 and hers was purchased used from ebay for maybe $150 if I remember correctly? There was little info online at the time about work done with the higher end machines from normal tattooers that just did nice work with them or how they achieved the work they did. She was also making maybe 300$ a week at the time first relocating to a new city.

When the machine arrived it took a little time to get 100% comfortable with adding it to the daily routine particularly with her employers and co workers and many other working professional tattooers in her new circle of friends poking fun at her for using the little black box. As the machine quickly became a part of her daily routine she became mildly obsessed with them and wanted to start a blog about them so there could be info on the internet for others to find. Like many great ideas this got put on the back burner cause life and work took up too much time to be just publishing a blog that not many people would really care about.

Fast forward a year later and Rotary Machines are starting to gain popularity and there is a little more info online and there is more cheap knock offs showing up everywhere and more people building this style of machine.

The blog seemed like a waste of time but a forum might be a good way to create a community as well as an exchange of information and a way to put people's minds at ease regarding the investment into a good quality machine they are absolutely not familiar with.

Fast forward to now and most of the information people are finding on good rotary machines is located HERE! With hundreds of reviews from real working professionals that will not regret for a second the investment they made in a good quality machine.

So basically there will always be someone who wants to make fun of rotary machines. Today its harder to hear them over the folks talking about how happy they are they added at least one to the daily routine. Buying cheap machines is still your choice, cant force anyone to buy one thing over another. If you are just interested in testing the waters there is so much unsolicited information right legitimately by real professionals who hope you will buy what they did. There is also a huge active classifieds section on here where you might be able to pick up a professionally regarded build for a song. If you don't like what you invested in you will usually find someone will take it from you in trade for something they did not like. The machine you are asking about I doubt would even be able to be given away on here. This community was founded partially to support good builders and good business practices. Asking for reviews from others on a machine that is a cheap knock off of a well respected member of this community might not get you the answers you are looking for.

Also I doubt the fact that they named this machine Killer Liner is anything more than a clever name they are hoping will convince people that it will make them better at lining.

[Wonderland]

I personally don't buy cheap machines, cheap furniture, cheap cars, or cheap women. I feel you buy equipment based on your knowledge, and your check book. So being that, if you buy cheap tattoo machines in my opinion you are either cheap or don't know any better or both. I prefer good machines form established builders and not machines that are turned out from some factory. But to each is own. I have seen artists who use cheap machines, cheap ink, cheap needles and there is a difference. That difference is usually called experience, and that is worth more then any tattoo machine, but that experience tells me that I should not buy cheap shit.

So if you are a GOOD TATTOO artist, you have Good Equipment! If you work in a Good Studio, you better have Good Equipment. Also all that nonsense about a good artist with a cheap machine its still a cheap machine none the less, and I would never let them tattoo me with cheap shit.

If you make money tattooing buy quality equipment, because it will show one way or another.