This thing is killer.

[Bruce Gulick]

I've been tattooing since 1994, started with National swinggates and worked my way up through custom machines by Carl Brennalt and Aaron Cain, then for the past six years or so I've been 100% rotary machines. I've tried everything from Stealths to HM to Tattooed Pirate to the Stregato and I love them all, BUT...

I have to admit the best machine I have ever used is this one..They are made by a company called "AVA", and Worldwide seems to be the only US distributor.

https://www.avamachine.com/ava-dispo...set-p-262.html

https://www.worldwidetattoo.com/engl...ble-pen-system

2019-05-15-1.jpg2019-05-15-3.jpg2019-05-15-2.jpg

$80 gets you the machine and nine disposable grips, then it's $1.70 a grip after that. The grips twist and lock to adjust needle depth, something Worldwide doesn't mention on the site.

If you look at the second picture I posted you will see that ink backflow into the machine is basically impossible.

I wrap the thing like this:

2019-05-15-4.jpg

It's lightweight and quiet and has run without a hiccup so far..the design is so simple and straight-forward I can't imagine anything failing. The (Japanese) motor will die some day, of course, but it looks easy enough to replace. Or just rebuy..did I mention this machine is $80?

The day it arrived I tested it by tattooing a mandala on my own knee:

knee.jpg

I never had a machine before that made me think "let's do a super geometrical tattoo on a painful spot!" before, but this one was up to the task.

Nice smooth lines (7 bugpin liner from needlejig) and soft even shading (11 curved mag bugpin from needlejig) and the whole thing took about half an hour.

Since then I've lined, color packed, done soft grey shading etc with it and loved every minute..that "almost feels like cheating" feeling.

I love having the machine fully wrapped around the disposable grip..the grossness of pen machines always kept me away but this is super elegant.

There are no nooks and crannies for bacteria to hide, no obnoxious branding, no fancy nothin..just a solid f*cking tattoo machine.

It has just a small bit of give, what I call "additive give" like the Centri or John Clark machines have..meaning as the machine backs off it hits harder. (The opposite of spring-based give where it gets weaker)

For me this is the magic sweet spot of tattooing, and this machine delivers it. If there was any downside at all I'd say it's that the needles don't always stop in the upright position..maybe 90% of the time they do. That could be solved with different cartridges, but I am loyal to needlejig.

Anyway...

I know there's a rich tradition of American machine building and I know "China sucks", but in this case I'm pretty sure they have us beat. We'll see how it holds up over time but honestly for $80 I could just buy a new one every month.

A+

Let me know in the comments if you've tried one and what you think of it...seems like it should be very popular.

[thesmokingmirror]

Hey Bruce that looks cool. I couldnt find any information on the stroke for this machine. Also I have a facebook machine group for pmu machines since I also do pmu procedures, can I share your review on there? Or i can add you and you can post it if that's cool? Anyways thanks for the heads up, i will get one to test myself as this addresses many issues and is an amazing price point

[Bruce Gulick]

Feel free to share my review anywhere..just wanted to get the info out there.

The stroke is adjustable with a twist of the disposable grip..looks like about 2mm-4.2mm or so to me.

Let me know what you think!

[thesmokingmirror]

Awesome thanks man, appreciate it!

[Bruce Gulick]

I did a quick video showing the machine and inner workings of the disposable tubes.

[thesmokingmirror]

I've been meaning to order one to try out, are you still enjoying this machine? Also does it run well with stiff membrane carts such as the Steelfangs from Phuckstyz? I've had trouble with some machines that use that style plum wheel with those

[Bruce Gulick]

It's still rocking, use it every day. I have only used Helios, Needlejig, Tatsoul and True cartridges with it, and I've had no issues.

I bought five more just to keep on the shelf.

[Patrick]

So, I just noticed that good guy supply, in Canada, is selling a pen that’s suspiciously similar to this one...for $450/Canadian!

[joelhague]

Yes rook also makes one that's very similar a bit better quality than the ava one. Check it out