Infamous

I use my own concoction of 1 part antibacterial hand soap 9 parts antiseptic mouth wash. Then wipe it down with a baby wipe. Works like a charm.

Welcome to the forum! Glad you’re here, it’s an excellent place to learn.

I cast no judgment, I’m self-taught as well. Haven’t touched skin yet but I am quickly working towards it

The bigger your lines need to be, the bigger the needle used simple as that. Lets dissect a needle type

3RL= 3 needles, Round, Liner
3RS= 3 needles, Round, shader

Liners are tightly knit together and shaders are spread out a little.

As for angle try to stick with no more than a 45 degree, and roughly 1.5 mm depth or about a nickel in laments…[Read more]

I researched this quite a bit before buying my machine as I wanted something cheap but of good quality. Iron is excellent and so is steel. Stay away from lighter type metals like zinc and aluminum. They heat up way faster than the heavier metals do.

You probably already know this by now, but I’d say wrapping the clip cord is more important because it is more likely to touch the skin.

I caught a youtube video on how to tune a machine and so far its worked pretty well for me. All the guy did was turn it on and turned the dial until the machine sounded right in his hand, then he held it by the grip and added a little more voltage to get that hum right again. So basically I tune my machine by ear, the same exact way I tune a guitar.

The lion head is meant to be Mufasa! :) lol Glad you got that, Mufasa and Simba are pretty close but Mufasa is a little more somber and serious looking.

As for upgrading my power supply I already plan on it. As soon as I get a better one I’m going to tear this one apart and see if I can put it back together right

I applied a stencil with it to my inner bicep. It was still visible, feint but visible, even after taking a shower hours later

Got a few more…[Read more]

It’s practically the same thing, just less harsh. Check the ingredients on your green soap.

30% Ethyl Alcohol, Vegetable Oil, Vitamin E, Glycerin, Lavender Scent

My mix has all that minus the vegetable oil and has a different scent, and uses Triclosan instead of Ethyl Alcohol as an antibacterial thus making it far less harsh on the skin

Thanks for the clarification!

I’ll most likely be getting that book pretty soon

The soap is for the initial cleaning before applying a stencil. Since it works pretty well for applying a stencil I’ll use it for that too. I’ll be using antibacterial wet wipes for the cleaning during coupled with a plain paper towel to dab up the excess ink. I think I’ll just stick with regular shaving cream and disposable razors for the…[Read more]

Pretty much the cheapest stuff I could find that had good reviews. The tattoo machine is a hand made 10 wrap coil from china which is pretty heavy and made out of quality materials, my power supply is a plain monster point dial with a scissor pedal which I’m going to upgrade soon to a round star pedal

edit:

This is my…[Read more]

Regarding needle depth, I’ve heard that it’s supposed to be between 1.5 to 2 mm.

What I don’t know is does that mean maximum with the a bar pushed down, or is that beforehand protruding from the tube when the machine is at idle.

And what exactly does ride the tube mean? I assume it means set the needle flush with the end of the tube and put the…[Read more]

https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/1005710_10151546873904475_642906056_n.jpg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc3/q71/s720x720/10653_10151546873974475_991274840_n.jpg

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/1012605_10151542200139475_1664800628_n.jpg

Welcome! I haven’t been here long myself but this forum has already proved to be the best source for information I have found yet, you won’t be disappointed

That was an extremely helpful post! I’ll continue this down in the questions section and I’ll post some of my work that I’ve done with strictly the 1rl in the show your work section as well. Not too bad, but it is pretty dark. I’ve only been using Black Onyx by Millennium MOMs btw trying to keep it simple.

Thanks to everyone for the welcome and…[Read more]

That looks awesome, especially when you factor in the freehanding

I don’t think I see anything obviously wrong with this, good job!

In my experience the most commonly referred practice skin is a honeydew melon. But you’ll want to remember when you get to real skin that you will need to keep the skin stretched tight or the tattoo won’t be even close to having straight lines

I’ve heard that white is especially difficult to work with. Not that I could offer the best advice but have you tried using a uv light (blacklight) during your process? You’ll probably be able to see what you’re doing a lot better once that ink shines out a bright blue instead of nearly invisible.

My best guess