Almost 20 questions.. .

[lab rat]

thanks everyone for taking the time to reply....lots of interesting and varied answers

[lab rat]

keep em comin!

[vodu]

1.) How long have you been tattooing?
13 years

2.) Have you ever had problems w/ your hands/wrists/arms as a result of tattooing? describe
a little on fingers from streching and a little on the wrist

3.) How many hours a day/ week do you spend tattooing?
depends. 5-8 hours a day, depend the project/tattoo

4.) What style of tattooing (black and grey, traditional,etc.) do you work in most?
I work the style the client bring, but customized/new drawing. i like the challenge

5.) What style do you prefer to work in?
All. But customized, I don´t have a preference but i like to put my idea on the tattoo...

6.) Name an artist who has influenced you? What do you like about their style?
shit, there´s so many...I´ll put as I remember...Hr giger, paul booth, tim biedron, uncle alan, jeff gogue, mauricio teodoro, ichibay, cory kruger, seth wood, lango, grime, tom renshaw, filip leu, tommy lee, david corden, sivak, my fellows I worked, and you guys, from the forum...

7.) How many tattoo machines do you own?
right now, 2 neo tats 2.5,3,5/ 3 hyper v3s and I´m waiting the customs give me my new H v2.

8.) In the past, what machines have you used the most? how long? how were they set up?
2 micky sharpz hibrids and 1 paul rogers

9.) What is currently your favorite tattoo machine? Why?
I love the versatility of the hypers. For my hand it fits.

10.) How many machines do you use in a typical tattoo?
3-5, depending the details

11.) How much should a good tattoo machine cost?
a marshmallow to 500, but if you gonna price it 500 bucks, it´s better to worth every penny

12.) Name a few things that you like/dislike about tattoo machines and/or power units
i like punch, control of velocity, smoothness , i hate tunning machines, i know how to do it, but after 11 years of this BS i don´t want to do anymore. Hate crap P.S.s and love the infos/volts, cps, blah, blah, all the thing my eikon has but i wish 2 more presets.

13.) What tubes do you use?
stainless steel.

14.) What needles do you use?
amazon needles

15.) What power supplie(s) do you use? Do you prefer knobs or push buttons?
An ems 400, push buttons

16.) How important is knowing CPS, volts, etc., to you?
very important! each rotary have their own sound, for example, one rotary can make a sound of a lawnmower and it´s only 70cps for example, and the other at the same volts can be silent and moves at 100 cps, so in ROTARY i think it´s essencial...

17.) What do you think of rotary tattoo machines? Needle cartridges?
what do i think? It´s crack. you start with only one and when you see you are spending a good part of your money to buy more. Hell, i love it!(not the part of spending). never used needle cartridges, here in jungle it´s impossible to find and very difficult to import.

18.) How much would you pay for a tattoo machine that would eliminate the need for several tattoo machines and be adjusted by the push of a button rather than turning a knob or screw?
I don´t believe in santa or easter bunny, there´s no such thing.

[lab rat]

santas not real?

[OwlsDen]

1.) How long have you been tattooing?
10 Years.


2.) Have you ever had problems w/ your hands/wrists/arms as a result of tattooing? describe
Yeah I get tendon cramps in my forearms, and left hand from stretching skin.


3.) How many hours a day/ week do you spend tattooing?
4-8 hours a day.


4.) What style of tattooing (black and grey, traditional,etc.) do you work in most?
I will do everything, I love traditional stuff, and Asian motives. But I am maybe only really good at skulls.


5.) What style do you prefer to work in?
Skulls with skulls.


6.) Name an artist who has influenced you? What do you like about their style?
I only have one, and I can only hope that motherfucker doesn't read this forum as he would know exactly who I am talking about. Needless to say its an old friend, and he helped me more than he needs to know.


7.) How many tattoo machines do you own?
more than 30 I think.


8.) In the past, what machines have you used the most? how long? how were they set up?
i used an old school Micky Bee for ages. It was a large rotary dial ( coil machine ) set up as a liner. Then I used a pair of bronze Micky sharpz for a long time. Now I am mostly rapier IIs. I have three. To liners and a shader. Although one liner is also a shader and color packer when I need it.


9.) What is currently your favorite tattoo machine? Why?
The rapier II, it can and will do everything.


10.) How many machines do you use in a typical tattoo?
2-3


11.) How much should a good tattoo machine cost?
It should reflect what is involved in making the machine. If it is very expensive and time consuming to build then factor your time to build. However if you are only going to build a hundred of a machine an then not be willing to supply parts for 5-10 years then no more than 200€. I feel strongly about this because the life of any machine should be at minimum 5 years.


12.) Name a few things that you like/dislike about tattoo machines and/or power units
i dislike that builders change and stop making great machines. When you have a great model. And you have enough people that love it, then build it forever. I could site a lot of builders of rotaries on this. Notice most coil builders make the same few machines for years at a time and rotaries change every six months.


13.) What tubes do you use?
Disposables mostly the clear ones from tattoogoods.de




14.) What needles do you use?
lately I have been ordering from Tony Lynx as I can order exactly what I want, exactly how I want it. Not to mention they aren't over priced and I find fewer rejects than the ones I was buying for nearly double the money. .


15.) What power supplie(s) do you use? Do you prefer knobs or push buttons?
CAnything with a read out and push buttons is good for me, however I like the constant on more than anything else. I am considering switching to a lab power supply and a stomp switch for constant on.


16.) How important is knowing CPS, volts, etc., to you?
I am all rotaries now so volts matter a lot to me.


17.) What do you think of rotary tattoo machines? Needle cartridges?
the question is worded strange. I live rotaries as I love consistency. I like the cartridges, but think they cost too much. I also don't like the idea of not calving the tubes for cartridge systems after every tattoo


18.) How much would you pay for a tattoo machine that would eliminate the need for several tattoo machines and be adjusted by the push of a button rather than turning a knob or screw?
[B] I all ready own three. They are called Rapier IIs and a few can change their strike with a screw, but the give is set and the rest changes with voltage and they pack color like mad, do greywash faster than you can plan it, and line better than a lot of coils. But that is my opinion.

[lab rat]

That was a hoot...thanks owls den

I have same problems...tendinitis in forearm and stretching psin in left...can only tattoo minimally

Ice helps

[Stripe]

1.) How long have you been tattooing? 19yrs

2.) Have you ever had problems w/ your hands/wrists/arms as a result of tattooing? describe Not really, light finger soreness but nothing major (yet)

3.) How many hours a day/ week do you spend tattooing? Now 30-40hrs a week, a couple years ago 60+

4.) What style of tattooing (black and grey, traditional,etc.) do you work in most? I like to tattoo like I paint. Black and gray or color. semi realistic.

5.) What style do you prefer to work in? I don't do traditional, Japanese or stuff like that. I do alot of large stuff that is complicated and detailed. Both color and black and gray.

6.) Name an artist who has influenced you? What do you like about their style? When I first started it was Guy Aitchison and Paul Booth were both big influences. Today there are so many that I can't even keep track any more.

7.) How many tattoo machines do you own? 20ish

8.) In the past, what machines have you used the most? how long? how were they set up? When I used coils I like Time Machines and Micky Sharps. I used Neuma 2s and hybrids for several years.

9.) What is currently your favorite tattoo machine? Why? Today I line with a NeoTat, Color with a Diablo, B&G with a Centri. If Neumas weren't so obnoxiously loud I would have stuck with them. I do miss them some days.

10.) How many machines do you use in a typical tattoo? 2-4

11.) How much should a good tattoo machine cost? $300 is very comfortable, $400 is ok but I have and will spend more when I think it is worth it. Hell I spent several grand on them Neumas.

12.) Name a few things that you like/dislike about tattoo machines and/or power units
I dislike cords getting in my way, poor weighing on a machine, cheep parts, tube vices that don't work with everything and I hate noise.
I like a quiet, light, evenly weighted machine that the clip or RCA cord doesn't get in my way. I like consistency, when I start it up it should do what I tell it to do every time.
A power supply needs to be precise an consistent. No spikes or fluctuation. I like having a timer and stay on capability.


13.) What tubes do you use? Tat Supply out of Chicago sells black disposable 1" grip tubes. Lately that is about all I use. I have no clue what brand they are.

14.) What needles do you use? Mithra #1s and the ones that Tat Supply sells. Not sure of the maker but I like them alot. I have so many different types and configurations that I am not writing all of them here. At least 30 different boxes of different configurations. Mags, bug pins, tight/loose liners, round shaders....

15.) What power supplie(s) do you use? Do you prefer knobs or push buttons? CX2, knobs tune smoother but the push buttons clean up so easy and briers are easy on and off.

16.) How important is knowing CPS, volts, etc., to you? RPM would be real nice but not always necessary. Volts are nice for a starting point but not necessary. Multi setting is again nice but not necessary.

17.) What do you think of rotary tattoo machines? Needle cartridges? Rotary machines are all I will use today. The weight and noise are the selling factors to me. I haven't ever used needle cartridges but the idea behind them is great.

18.) How much would you pay for a tattoo machine that would eliminate the need for several tattoo machines and be adjusted by the push of a button rather than turning a knob or screw? Well, I paid A SHIT LOAD for my Neuma set up, don't think I will ever spend that kind of cash again. It was real close to a do it all machine. My Centri was 600 and I would pay it again and will when the new one comes out. I paid them high dollars cause I knew they worked and worked like I wanted them to. There are to many factors to guess what I would pay for something like that.
I like having 2-3-4 machines out and ready on the fly at a time. I also would hate to have a one machine for all die on me, then I would be completely fucked. I had that fear with the Neumas, if the compressor died I didn't have a good back up just sitting around. I am always afraid of down time even though I value down time more and more but only when I plan it. I also have to admit that I find tattoo machines to be my toys. I always feel like I need more and want more and can't stop till I have more. I work more so I can get more and so on...

[lab rat]

thank you , stripe....did u use a compressor w the neuma ?

[artoftatt2]

I went through the same thing mick.. My name is randy Willard and my co worker Wayne Evans went through our last orders and half the needles were bad

[TATsoul]

Strange. Please provide me with lot #s on boxes and we'll get to the bottom of this. We pride ourselves on quality and will replace anything. Give us a call as well but I personally would love to find out the lot#s and see which batch had the issues. We'll send replacements ASAP. Thanks in advance!