- What's up everybody?
It's Brandon from Tattooing 101
and today what we're gonna talk about is,
what machine should you get?
If you are first starting out,
if you've tattooed before,
I'm gonna explain all three different kinds of machines
there are out there
and what one I would recommend for you.
So before we get into each one individually,
what I'm gonna do is explain the three types of machines,
so you have a better understanding of them,
so you know what you would like to get.
So the first one would be a traditional style machine.
This is pretty much what everyone used
you know 12 years ago when I first started out.
We didn't really have any other types of machines.
So this is what I started out with.
All right, so next we have a rotary style tattoo machine.
They run on a motor,
the motor will be right there.
There's a ton of different styles on these.
There's a ton of different brands out there.
But these are great a machine.
There's a lot of things that we'll get into
here in a little bit about these specifically.
And last but not least,
there's the pen style tattoo machine.
There's a lot of hype about these.
They're super easy to pick up and just use.
So yeah, we'll explain this one as well.
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So the traditional tattoo machine,
there's a ton of different looking ones out there.
I'm going to explain exactly what to look for
and what not to look for.
So with these two machines,
one I started out with 12 years ago,
it was one I got off eBay,
and it was this one.
As soon as I started tattooing with it,
I understood that all machines are not the same.
There's definitely a difference in quality
when it comes to tattoo machines
that you definitely need to know before buying one.
So I would definitely not recommend going on eBay,
Amazon for some of these things,
especially if you're getting them for like 20 bucks,
it's not gonna last
and it's not gonna work how you want it to work.
And with tattooing what you use is super important
to the quality of tattoos that you come out with.
So I'm gonna explain it a little bit.
So some pros and cons to this machine.
Pros are it could push a big needle, no problem,
if it's tuned for that correctly.
Some cons would be
it takes quite a while to learn this machine,
up and down,
you know to be able to take it apart,
to be able to fix it,
to tune it correctly for what you're using it for,
you know, be it shading, lining,
all of those things go into how to set up this machine.
So it could be super hard to try to have it set up
whenever you are first starting
because you really don't know all of those things
and it takes a long time.
One plus to this machine
that you could find parts for it anywhere
that it will pretty much last forever.
You know, you have the frame,
if you have to replace the coils, amateur bar,
any of that stuff, you could just do this.
So these machines will pretty much last your lifetime,
if you take care of it.
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Next we have rotary tattoo machines.
Now there are a ton out there
that look way different than other ones.
So right here, I have the Inkjecta Flite Nano.
I've used these machines for a very long time
and I love them, they're great.
So I have two of them
because I have one set up for color and line work.
So this one, I have the direct drive,
so it has no give.
And the stroke I have on this one is 4,
I have a 4 stroke on this one.
This one I have a medium bar on it,
so therefore I use it for like gray wash and realism.
And the stroke I have on this one is a 3.
So the great thing about these
are you buy a machine,
you could get different cams for them that does the stroke,
so you could have any stroke that you want
put into these machines,
so you could have them pretty much set up for anything.
If I was first starting out,
this is the machine that I would recommend,
an Inkjecta Flite Nano.
They work great,
they last a long time,
and it's super easy to learn them.
It's super easy to throw what you need to in 'em,
one screw and you could change the cam to something else.
And all the parts are very easily accessible,
you could go right on their website
and get anything you need
to have these machines set up exactly how you want.
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And the last machine is a pen.
These came out, I would say probably about four years ago.
I got mine last year and I have fallen in love with it.
I still would definitely recommend the Inkjecta
if you are first starting out.
But these machines are great,
you could just pick them up and use them,
no problems at all.
It is direct drive,
so it can be a little tricky
if you're trying to do like realism,
stuff like that with them.
Another thing is you cannot change out the cams
on this machine.
This is the Cheyenne SOL Nova Unlimited.
So you can either buy them in the 3.5 or the 4.
This one's in a 4 and I use it for line work, color.
I've used it for shade work as well.
But yeah, they're just great machines
that you could pick up.
The one thing you need to think about with these
is you need to make sure that you are wrapping your machine.
So with this,
you either can take this off
and buy the disposable grips that screw on,
or you need to autoclave this.
It's one thing that you definitely want to make sure,
you know before buying a machine like this,
because there are not as many disposable grips
for these type of machines,
just because everyone's different.
You know with the rotaries,
you could buy disposable grips
that are pretty much interchangeable.
But that is one con when it comes to the pen,
that the disposables are kind of hard to find.
So yeah, that's one thing I would definitely look into
before actually buying one of these.
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Okay, so before you make your final decision
on what you're looking to get,
there's a couple of things that kind of go into play
before you actually make your purchase.
The versatility of a machine is a big deal.
So if I'm looking for a machine,
I want something with a long stroke
because of the style that I do.
So with rotaries the possibilities are endless.
You could change the stroke like we just talked about,
the give of the machine with most of them.
They're just a great machine
for if you want some versatility,
which is a big deal whenever you are tattooing.
You want to be able to do anything that walks into the door,
unless you really only do one style.
But when you are first starting out,
you really don't know the style
that you're looking to get into,
so it's a great choice.
So before you make your decision
on what machine you're going to buy,
I'd like to explain a couple of things
to kind of narrow down everything for you.
So it depends on what style you're wanting to get into,
you know if you're going into
more like realism and black and gray,
you're gonna be looking for like a 3 millimeter stroke,
just because it hits a lot less
and it'll be way easier
to get those smooth shading in there,
into the skin without a lot of trauma.
If you're looking more for like big line work and color,
I probably recommend a 4 stroke.
That's what I use
and it works really good
because it hits really hard,
so it's very easy to penetrate the skin
and get those lines in there.
So the next point would be
the price point of what you have to spend on a machine.
Most of these machines are $500 and up,
but these machines I've had for five, seven years.
I'm like this Inkjecta,
you know they hold up very good through time,
as long as you take care of them.
The maintenance is super low,
you have to oil them once in a while,
but there's really nothing much you have to do to them
to upkeep them.
Another thing, when it comes to price point,
there are a lot of tattoo machines out there
that are very cheap,
but what you want is something
that's going to hold up through time.
You don't want something to break down mid tattoo
because that can be super stressful for you,
you know make you freak out,
and that's not something
you really want to put yourself into
whenever you are first starting out.
So your price point definitely
has a big deal on what you're able to get.
If you're trying to find a cheaper tattoo machine,
for right now,
I definitely recommend the Mast machines.
I've used them a few times,
they work really well for what they are.
But I would definitely recommend,
as soon as you do have the cash to get something,
I definitely upgrade to something like
the Inkjecta Flight Nano
or even the Cheyenne tattoo machines,
just because they work and they hold up through time.
And the last point
and probably the biggest point on this list
would be what is comfortable for you?
There is no legendary machine
that's gonna work for everyone.
There's a lot that goes into being comfortable
with the machine.
It took me a while to get used to the pen style machines,
just because I was so used to the Inkjecta style
with like the grip
and that weight being in the back.
So my best advice would be try out other machines
whenever you can.
Some will feel uncomfortable for you.
Some won't work as well for you.
So just building that knowledge
on different type of machines,
so that when you find one that works perfectly for you,
in the style of tattooing you do,
you know exactly what's going to work
for the rest of your career.
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