Problems with Dragonfly Tattoo Machine

[Tommy]

when i used waverly, ink ran up the needle constantly. since switching to electric ink, the problem has disappeared. many other problems have disappeared as well.

i think the ink creep is related to the needle tension wheely deal. try not cranking it down any harder than necessary, and thin your inks a bit... or switch to electic/easy glo.

[Tommicrazy]

ages ago I had this problem when I use needle bar with wrong angle , or elastic band tension was not right then machine was spraying into tube..... it is probabely problem with dragonfly that you press needle bar to hard with the screw.

[AllisonLawson]

I've been using my Dragonfly for a couple of months now and I haven't had any problems with it at all. Sometimes I even forget to bend the needlebar (as the machine manual suggests). I haven't had a problem yet.

I use it with Eikon needles, various brands of disposable tubes and various brands of ink including Eternal, Intenze and Kuro Sumi.

[Alie K]

I've been using my Dragonfly for a couple of months now and I haven't had any problems with it at all. Sometimes I even forget to bend the needlebar (as the machine manual suggests). I haven't had a problem yet.

I use it with Eikon needles, various brands of disposable tubes and various brands of ink including Eternal, Intenze and Kuro Sumi.

Good to know! I still would like to get a pink one...

[Mr.Taboo]

Thank you all for the info in this thread.

I got my Dragonfly the other day and was waiting for a regular to come in to try it on ( didn't want to try it on a walk in in case I had problems with my first try with it ).
One of my clients with a ongoing sleeve piece came in and was game for me to try out my new machine.
Started off black shading and using a 50/50 wash and was loving life.
Next , time for some color dipped in some dark blue ( PermaPro/Unique ) and noticed in a few secs that I had ink creepin' up the bar .
I had skimmed this thread along with a few others while waiting for my Dragonfly to show up. And remembered a few things from it.
Unbagged machine , checked bar tensioner didn't seem too tight ( Turned till it made contact with bar and then a little less than a quarter turn more to snug it down a bit ).
Also added a little distilled water to the ink and even got a new needle and tube and still no good. Well I had work to do so I got out one of my coil machines to finish the session.
Tomorrow is my day off and if the missus "Honey do" list ain't too bad I'm gonna head over to the shop and try out some of the things in this thread to see if I can get a handle on things.

[nathan bauer]

This happened to me with my crank style swiss like cheapo.I trim the riser off of a needle bar nipple,so it was just as high as the thickness of the rubber foot. then i put a reg nupple on above it. With raising the back end of the needle bar just a smidge,i didnt have to put much of a bend on my needles at all,and it killed the ink travelling up the tube problem. Dont know if it would work on a dragonfly,but it might be worht a shot.

[Alie K]

Thank you all for the info in this thread.

I got my Dragonfly the other day and was waiting for a regular to come in to try it on ( didn't want to try it on a walk in in case I had problems with my first try with it ).
One of my clients with a ongoing sleeve piece came in and was game for me to try out my new machine.
Started off black shading and using a 50/50 wash and was loving life.
Next , time for some color dipped in some dark blue ( PermaPro/Unique ) and noticed in a few secs that I had ink creepin' up the bar .
I had skimmed this thread along with a few others while waiting for my Dragonfly to show up. And remembered a few things from it.
Unbagged machine , checked bar tensioner didn't seem too tight ( Turned till it made contact with bar and then a little less than a quarter turn more to snug it down a bit ).
Also added a little distilled water to the ink and even got a new needle and tube and still no good. Well I had work to do so I got out one of my coil machines to finish the session.
Tomorrow is my day off and if the missus "Honey do" list ain't too bad I'm gonna head over to the shop and try out some of the things in this thread to see if I can get a handle on things.

How much do you bend your needlebar? Maybe there is too much bend on it?

[fkirons]

Try bending the needle stack as well and just a slight bend on the bar. This will give you a much more steady performance. Some times when you bend the needle bar too much the needle stack tends to pop a bit creating the splatter.
Try to keep the bend as close to the tip of the bar and not in the center of the bar.
This applies the same way with coil machines

[Mr.Taboo]

Ok went in and tried some of the suggestions you folks gave and it seems to be runnin' nice.
Thought about putting a clipped nipple ( geez that sounds horrid ) under a regular one to raise the loop end a bit but thought that might screw with the tension roller so decided against it.
I may have been bending the bar too much I'm not sure but in any case I took fkirons advice and bent it nearer the tip.
Also backed down the power too.
I rolled up a paper towel real tight to run it on and got out PremaPro Sumi Black Liner ( watery ) , Fusion Melon Red ( medium thickness ) , and PermaPro Texas Rebel Blue ( very thick ).
Dipped and ran from thin to thick one at a time running on the towel in between and rinsing , tilting the machine this way and that to mimic tattooing hand motions.
Dipped from one to another to simulate color blending and everything worked fine.
So it seems like I've got it figured out , still want to use it on a regular once or twice more before I put it in general service.
Thank you all for your help and advice.