Fellow Forum Members Please Help me find some budget tattoo machines--See Text Inside

[daredwit]

Before you judge me too harshly based on the subject line, please understand that those are my FK Irons for sale on the Classified Board. I have always supported the industry, respected my clientele and have used the best gear I could get my hands on.

Unfortunately, I have fallen on some very hard times . My wife was recently diagnosed with Huntington's disease which is a rare, degenerative, neurological illness that causes advanced dementia, speech and mobility problems and eventual death. Furthermore, because it is genetic, our 3 children have a 50/50 chance of having. We were a 2 income family with 3 children that is now down to one income, no insurance and are struggling immensely since I must care for my wife and cannot work as much as I normally do. I respectfully ask everyone: Please be mature, empathetic and respectful if you choose to participate in this post. I would appreciate it immensely.

In spite of what is happening I still need to tattoo but was forced to sell my FK irons to buy food for my kids and pay medicals bills and life's expenses, which are piling up at an astronomical rate. I simply did not own anything else other than a vehicle that I could sell to raise money.

Although I am all too familiar with top name machines and machine builders, I find myself in unfamiliar territory and could use the help and advice of fellow forum members. While I would like to avoid at all costs the low quality equipment that is out there, I need to equip. myself on a budget to continue to earn money. If it's salvageable, I can usually salvage it.

I normally set up with 4 machines.

While I would like 4 machines, I can make due with 3. Other than I want a coil machine as a liner.....I am open to coil or rotary suggestions since I have and can use both. Here is the punch line with which I need your advice and help. I have an absolute maximum budget of $350 to use on machines. This is what is left over after the sale of my FKIs. I did not/could not sell my other equipment so I only need machines.

FYI: I do have a source of excellent custom coils and can have any machines re-coiled relatively inexpensively to make them run better.

I thank everyone in advance for any and all suggestions on what I might be able to afford that still works without too much of a hassle. A few suggestions I have gotten are Unimax brand machines (Jaws, Star etc....), Re-coiled Aluminator series machines or Stealths, ITS (International Tattoo Supply) iron machines, used recoiled Spaulding machines, Used Micky Sharpz, The Noxid rotary with cheaper motor, Someone called Arty Joe's Inc on Ebay?

I see alot of builders here in the USA on Ebay offering machines within my budget but I don't know......I am not in the position to take a chance or gamble on an unknown builder.

[OwlsDen]

NeoTat classic is 250$ new. However on your budget and need more at once I would get a national coil machine set up as a liner and go unimax for a shader. I think you can do that for about 250$ with the left over 100$ you could get a stealth ( the much loved copy of the Swiss ) or you could get another unimax coil. ITS sells machines for about 50$ that aren't terrible, some new coils and springs an they are halfway decent. I have seen a few aluminum machines on eBay that run pretty cheap too, just know that the springs and coils are most likely less than garbage.

Best o luck to you and stay positive. It will mean the world to your kids to see you strong.

[johndameart]

Stay strong man, Yeah OwlsDen does have a point, the stealth I have used, had no issues with it, a neo tat im sure you can find used and at a decent price, what you could also do is get a grip from fk irons when they come out and use one machine with the cartridges so that way you dont really need to have more than one machine at the moment too.

[slicksteel]

If you looking for some very well made american frames go to bob P.-three piece tig welded perfection--I have 3 different lefty ones. http://www.ebay.com/sch/fastevo/m.ht...84.m1543.l2654 and he will make ya more-he does walkers etc. just hit him up.Just tell him michael evans sent ya.

Or Get some Kylin builds-they are china made but made very well and run great,have good service if you want a complete that is made well without having to throw away all the parts.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Kylin-Handma...item4174bc2b5b

Also like stated before national and ITS are good,you can get the both in just frames -here is the ITS on ebay. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Iron-Eye-Loo...item2c6731d9b7

[wildboy]

If youre fine with direct drives you could buy a direct drive for 30 bucks tops on ebay and replace the motor with a mabuchi for another 10 and have a great machine for all kinds of rounds if you use a diamond tip... Micky Bee coil machines arent too expensive either and reliable tools.

[biggietattoos]

Paco Rollins' machines are $195 each I know several artist that swear by them. You might stretch a bit out budget for a set but it may be worth it. Otherwise, an Eikon green Monster kit or a soba kit from Workhorse Irons may get you a solid machine on a budget. I'm not sure he's still around but there was this dude on ebay that made some pretty nice one-off machines you can usually scoop up for dirt cheap they were called Early Irons, I grabbed my first set of machines from him for like $300 for the set. I have a swiss knock off rotary that I used for a long while before investing in some higher end rotaries, It's collecting dust in my tool box, I'd send it your way if you're interested, nothing fancy just a cheap but good running machine. Sorry for your hard times man

[johndameart]

thats true, i also have a paco rollins from like 08, good machines

[John]

There are a bunch of coils on the Facebook buy and sell machine forum right now from Zach Zombie around $100.

[Neo]

1st sorry to hear about your wife i hope everything gets better for you and yours.

I would say get a next gen or a pulse coil machine,can find both on ebay for about $150 a pop but if its listed a little higher pm the dude and tell him you will pay 150 paypal only so he will save on ebay fees, this works for me. The stealth was ok but the armbar was flopin around like crazy so i couldnt tattoo with them so i returned them. I did have one long ago and it was not floping so i guess its hit or miss, you can get a shadow prem from friction for $80 with all strokes which is the same as the stealth. I only mention the shadow and stealth cause your low on cash but the pulse and next gen are great machines and worth a mention. Dale has cheaper rotartys also , Good luck

[Panos tattoo]

im sorry for your hard time man but my advice and im not saying its the best ,but thats what i would have done if i was in your shoes,is a) ask your land lord for a couple of rents to be transferred to the end of the year or to pay them off little by little.im pretty sure he will show understanding.b)try to adjust working with 2 machines or at least for some time until you get some money to buy more decent equipment.dont go after a knock off.Paul Booth was tattooing for a long time with a mikey sharpz micro-dial liner.(and its not because he couldnt afford something else.it was his preference.) lines and shades with a cutback liner by adjusting the Volts.
c)if you know your stuff about coil machines you can get 4 frames from ebay and make your own machines by getting your hands dirty.
d)if its impossible to adjust or you dont know how to build a tattoo machine ask a friend to borrow you machines because lets face it,most of us have machines that are sitting in the back of a drawer because either we changed our technique or changed from coils to rots and rarely use those machines.this will give you the chance to make a few tattoos so you can get machines that suit you again.
this final advice is the one im 100 percent sure its good.DONT buy knock offs and expect the same,similar or decent results as an original ta2 machine.