Spektra edge x

[gerardcon]

Got my Spektra Edge X in yesterday and was excited to try it out! Unfortunately it wasn't the end all machine I was hoping for. I tried it on two pieces; a small realistic color piece and a black and gray sleeve I've been working on.

I tried lining with a long taper T-Tech. I started with the stock 3.5 length no give which gave me mediocre results. I then tried it with some give and it worked better so long as I wasn't afraid to sink it in more than I'm used to and also slow my hand speed down. I switched it to the longest stroke length(4.2 I think?) with no give and it lined okay but not as well as I like my spektra direkt at 4.0mm with a conventional setup or a good coil. Maybe it's my carts? I got the long taper liners on the recommendation of a few coworkers about T-Tech carts.

I tried some color blending at the 3.5 stroke length with a T-Tech 11 curved mag. Color blending worked really well and I played around with the give knob, eventually settling on a minimal give setting as I'm used to rotaries with no give. One of the best color blending machines I've come across rivaling my 3.5 neotat

Color packing wasn't too bad either. Not as good as my personal favorite a 3.2mm Direkt but pretty close. Might just have to play around with it a bit more.

Unfortunately I didn't get to experiment fully with Black and Gray much. I didn't want to butcher up my client so after I tried out the Edge X for a few minutes and couldn't find a good setting I had my conventional setup on standby. I'm really picky with my Black and Gray machines so finding out the ideal setup for black and gray, might take me a while which means I'll probably have to butcher my roommates thigh for an evening. If anybody has any help with what they like to use with the edge X it'd be appreciated(Stroke length, give options, bugpin or regular carts, T-Tech or Cheyenne)!

I was hoping when I ordered the Edge X you could change the stroke length on the fly. You can't in practical usage. While it's very easy compared to most machines to adjust stroke, you have to line it up so that the screw is facing the top and then unscrew it and pivot it in the direction you want for shorter or longer. Which means if you wanted to change the stroke length mid tattoo you'd have to line up the cams, bust out the hex wrench and unbag your machine.

I really wanted the Edge X to be the one but I think I'm going to have to set up a separate liner still. Which really sucks because it's sooo convenient to just slip your clip cord cover over the whole machine and RPG grip, wrap some sensi tape around the RPG grip part and just punch a small whole in the plastic for where the cartridges go in.