- This topic has 20 replies, 10 voices, and was last updated 9 years, 8 months ago by Joe Devine.
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September 5, 2013 at 4:54 pm #15608JDawnPearlsMember
Now, the first thing I did was watch the DVD, read the book etc. My first time turning on the machine (pushing the pedal) I didn’t use ink or attempt anything because it was a mechanical / engineering lesson for me. So today I decided to add fruit and ink to the equation. I made some observations the first time I used the machine, but even more so today and I have a long list of questions.
1. I am using Honeydew Melon (a suggestion given to me). The first thing I noticed is that the ink doens’t spill out everywhere when you bring needle to “skin” like you see when you’re getting tattooed. It does make the line and I can clearly see where I’ve inked, but why is there no major release of ink when I apply?
2. When I wipe where there IS a color “spill” at contact with needle to skin (only with color, using my other machine), wiping away seems pointless because of the texture / properties of the melon. So how am I supposed to see what is going on? The stuff doesn’t clean away. (P.S. I used water, and regular soap/water)…. nothing.
3. My machines don’t seem right. It is obviously me, right? I have to constantly check the contact because it constantly wants to stop. I push the pedal (which seems weak on its own) and sometimes just waiting a second it will go again, and then I put needle to “skin” and it stops, then I re-check. I had to do this like 20 times while writing “second attempt” on the melon. One machine worked better than the other, etc. But it just seems like either the hooks come out, the contacts go lose (or are not flat) and just seems….. weak. I upped the amp, which made no difference.
4. How the hell am I supposed to tell if I am going in too deep, not deep enough, etc? I tried not to go into very deep at all – the needle would want to “drag” and “catch” and that seemed very wrong. I didn’t like that. But then I wondered if the texture of the melon was throwing me off. The DVD says to have the needles “barely show” when you set up the machine, which I did – but here goes into the next question…..
5. Seriously, the disposable tubes have (just like the metal ones) that slant opening where the needle comes out. Which direction do you have that placed in conjunction with your angle toward the skin? It seemed like having the opening up worked against me unless I angled the needle more up right (which was NOT what the DVD demonstrated). When I turned the opening to the bottom (I don’t see it when I place to needle to fruit) I don’t have any issues ….
Anyway – I probably have a lot more, but this is what I wanna know.
How the hell do I know if I did it right? What am I looking for?
6. Oh, and when I used color (used a Shading needle) and tried the circular motion suggested, the needle “caught” a lot on the melon’s surface and wouldn’t flow. Using linear strokes was ok – but because I can’t wipe away or really see how it looks – how do I know it works? When I used two colors together, this all didn’t blend I guess because of the “caught” needle, etc. It was very awkward, the melon’s surface is either the issue or there is something that all of my books and videos are not telling me….
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September 5, 2013 at 5:44 pm #25852RamenuzumakiParticipant
youll know you’re going too deep because youll actually cut the fruit rather than just put microdots into it
to remove the excess ink etc to see where you’re going apply a good amount of ointment before you make your line/colour/etc
this makes it a lot easier to wipe away
when using practice skin you need to use a lot of ointment so i assume the same applies to your fruit
personally ive never used anything other than skinyou want to use a 90* angle
you always wants to move up so that you are pushing the needles to the back of the tube
this reduces the chance of it “Catching”when colouring you need to really take your time, and let you rmachine do all the work
you may need to really tune your machiens before using them
this means getting the correct voltage, and setting your contact screw properly, and making sure all your screws on the machine are nice and tighthard to really give much info without seeing exactly what you’re doing as I have never used fruit haha
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September 5, 2013 at 7:38 pm #25853JDawnPearlsMember
Thanks for the info – it already has given me some information. I looked at the punctures and I didn’t see cuts, could barely see the dots – had no idea what to really look for. I will apply the vaseline to get that surface I can clean with and see if that helps.
The angle you said is interesting. The DVD guy – used a 45* angle, a few places I searched viewed said to use a 45* angle, but I found it easier to apply at a 90* angle. I’ve also been told that these things vary from artist to artist. ……
ON another note: I found this – http://torontotattooschool.ca/
And this – http://www.tattoosbylisa.net/home.htmlfor a 2 week tattoo course, basics. What I like about this idea is the instant answering of my questions !! hahahaah….
As I practiced today, I could feel it in my heart that I want to do this MORE than I did before.
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September 5, 2013 at 8:36 pm #25854RamenuzumakiParticipant
tattoo schools are bogus, and it is 45* lmao i alway say 90* by accident XD
if you want to learn you should get an apprenticeship dont waste your money on the school
as far as “vaseline” all petroleum based products are a no no in tattoo world. youll want like PurTect, or A&D ointment, or After Inked to tattoo with
Vaseline is fine on fruit but dont use it on people -
September 5, 2013 at 8:50 pm #25855JDawnPearlsMember
ok – A&D is easy enough to get a hold of (we use it on babies too)… and 45* sounds better. ;-) I have a timeline, and can’t really get started until after this baby is old enough I am not feeding every 2 hours …. *sigh* where do I get my basics covered in time for my husband to retire and me to earn the money? If an apprenticeship is so hard to get (and I am having a hard time getting just talking time with these artists HERE) what else do I do?
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September 5, 2013 at 9:08 pm #25856RamenuzumakiParticipant
if hes retiring shouldnt he have some sort of financial stability with an RRSP or a pension or something? i think retiring when you still need to be earning money is kind of pointless lol
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September 6, 2013 at 1:55 am #25857JDawnPearlsMember
LOL we have plans, but I’m not going to be a stay at home mom forever.
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September 6, 2013 at 6:31 am #25858Lennart82Participant
The best is actually to get a one on one hand to hand, by someone who can show you the basics. But yeah, sounds a bit difficult for you.
Ramm should do a youtube video on how to setup the basics :P -
September 6, 2013 at 12:36 pm #25859JDawnPearlsMember
What I would LOVE is to see Rahm on the weekends, hahaha …
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September 6, 2013 at 6:28 pm #25860RamenuzumakiParticipant
Weekend apprenticeship? :P
Ok lets do it !I’ll see about getting a video up soon. I wonder if I can build a tattoo machine in 10 minutes.
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September 6, 2013 at 9:45 pm #25861Lennart82Participant
Sure you can. Do it blind folded. Army style :mrgreen:
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September 7, 2013 at 2:25 am #25862InfamousParticipant
Oh and can you do it with a Forrest Gump voice? “Done. Drill Sergeant!”
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September 7, 2013 at 6:10 pm #25863JDawnPearlsMember
Rahm, you’re awesome.
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September 8, 2013 at 2:59 pm #25864SpiderParticipant
HAHA, just found your fb page Rahm, Nice. Gave it a like for props man. Up until this moment I didn’t even know you were running a small shop, very nice and much props for that one. Keep it real man…
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September 8, 2013 at 3:31 pm #25865RamenuzumakiParticipant
Thanks dude! Feel free to add my personal page too:
http://www.facebook.com/Ramenuzumaki :3 -
September 10, 2013 at 9:44 pm #25866ShaggyMember
@JDawnPearls wrote:
Now, the first thing I did was watch the DVD, read the book etc. My first time turning on the machine (pushing the pedal) I didn’t use ink or attempt anything because it was a mechanical / engineering lesson for me. So today I decided to add fruit and ink to the equation. I made some observations the first time I used the machine, but even more so today and I have a long list of questions.
1. I am using Honeydew Melon (a suggestion given to me). The first thing I noticed is that the ink doens’t spill out everywhere when you bring needle to “skin” like you see when you’re getting tattooed. It does make the line and I can clearly see where I’ve inked, but why is there no major release of ink when I apply?
2. When I wipe where there IS a color “spill” at contact with needle to skin (only with color, using my other machine), wiping away seems pointless because of the texture / properties of the melon. So how am I supposed to see what is going on? The stuff doesn’t clean away. (P.S. I used water, and regular soap/water)…. nothing.
3. My machines don’t seem right. It is obviously me, right? I have to constantly check the contact because it constantly wants to stop. I push the pedal (which seems weak on its own) and sometimes just waiting a second it will go again, and then I put needle to “skin” and it stops, then I re-check. I had to do this like 20 times while writing “second attempt” on the melon. One machine worked better than the other, etc. But it just seems like either the hooks come out, the contacts go lose (or are not flat) and just seems….. weak. I upped the amp, which made no difference.
4. How the hell am I supposed to tell if I am going in too deep, not deep enough, etc? I tried not to go into very deep at all – the needle would want to “drag” and “catch” and that seemed very wrong. I didn’t like that. But then I wondered if the texture of the melon was throwing me off. The DVD says to have the needles “barely show” when you set up the machine, which I did – but here goes into the next question…..
5. Seriously, the disposable tubes have (just like the metal ones) that slant opening where the needle comes out. Which direction do you have that placed in conjunction with your angle toward the skin? It seemed like having the opening up worked against me unless I angled the needle more up right (which was NOT what the DVD demonstrated). When I turned the opening to the bottom (I don’t see it when I place to needle to fruit) I don’t have any issues ….
Anyway – I probably have a lot more, but this is what I wanna know.
How the hell do I know if I did it right? What am I looking for?
6. Oh, and when I used color (used a Shading needle) and tried the circular motion suggested, the needle “caught” a lot on the melon’s surface and wouldn’t flow. Using linear strokes was ok – but because I can’t wipe away or really see how it looks – how do I know it works? When I used two colors together, this all didn’t blend I guess because of the “caught” needle, etc. It was very awkward, the melon’s surface is either the issue or there is something that all of my books and videos are not telling me….
Ok I am kind of a honeydew expert… I personally think honeydews are great practice.
http://s1274.photobucket.com/user/f3greg/media/panther_zpsc41e21cf.jpg.html
http://s1274.photobucket.com/user/f3greg/media/ega22_zps68a23b74.jpg.html
http://s1274.photobucket.com/user/f3greg/media/EGA2_zps1aa39109.jpg.html1. The ink sits in the tip and is trapped between the needles as they come down and go into the skin where the ink is released… the needles then go back into the tip for more ink, etc. If there is a major release of ink or spattering then your machine is running too fast, or the tube your using is too big for your needle.
2. Soap and water will NOT clean the melon… use vaseline… you don’t need to apply it prior to inking, but you definitely need to apply it AFTER for clean up. Smear it on and then use your paper towel to wipe it clean… and it does come pretty damn clean as you can see by my examples above.
3. Sounds like one of two possibilities a) your contact post needs to be turned just a bit more (1/8 to 1/4 turn) to make contact with front spring or… b) your clip connection isn’t good and is only working at certain angles of the machine, try bending the clips inward a little to make better connection with posts.
4. Since you are watching DVDs I am assuming you have tuned your machines using the dime (liner)/nickel (shader) method. Having the needles barely show on a machine tuned this way is the technique for riding the tube on human skin because there is give to skin, and that extra showing compensates for the give in skin. Melons don’t have any give… your needle should be flush with the bottom of the tube.
5. You want the slant opening on top. It sounds like the issue you are having is the direction with which you are laying your line… you want to push your line, which keep the needle pushed to the bottom of the tube and tight. If you pull your line, then you are actually pulling the needle against the tube which will cause it to hang up since it is not the natural direction of the needle. You can go side to side of the slant and forward, but not backward.
6. Again melons have no give like skin… make sure the needles are flush with bottom of the tube, not sticking out. Increase your hand speed or turn down your voltage if the needles continue to hang up.
As far as angle goes… you want your liner at more of a 90* angle to the melon, this will produce very crisp line. 45* with a liner will cause blowouts and fuzzy lines cause your needle is actually going in and continuing at a 45* angle PAST your insertion point (which is why you see a lot of blowout on corners). You can do 45* if you are pushing your needle toward and following your line, then the 45* is following your line and dropping ink with the line, but of course you can’t always push toward your line and will need to sweep a curve… in which case you will have a blow out at 45*.
Let me know if you have any more issues with melons.
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September 11, 2013 at 1:03 am #25867JDawnPearlsMember
Shaggy,
You listed the best answers Ive yet received and they make sense. Thanks for being an expert and getting back to me!
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February 15, 2014 at 9:21 am #25869AnonymousInactive
You could upload up the video here that would be very helpful.
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February 15, 2014 at 1:37 pm #25868Viper65Member
Throw out that cheap foot pedal that came with the kit…..there rubbish.
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March 4, 2014 at 1:44 pm #25870mariajohnMember
:idea: Great tips here and i really had some new info, thanks for good work.
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March 23, 2015 at 11:17 pm #38335Joe DevineParticipant
Reading these post really answered a lot of questions I had. Thanks everyone
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