Superior Tattoo Equipment
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Tattooing on Dark Skin

Coffee colored skin can be tattooed with most colors. Those with darker skin, it is best to tattoo with black, grey and red. For those with extremely dark skin, Ichiban Sumi Black tattoo ink is recommended. Of course, this limits the type of design that can be used, as some designs require the separation of colors to work. Important, when tattooing dark skin, the level of contrast you need in order to make the tattoo stand out, thin lines can easily get lost while thicker bolder lines are more apt to show well on dark skin. You may need to go over the skin more than once or twice to get a stronger contrast, just be careful.

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Corrective / Camouflage

Examples of Corrective / Camouflaging
  • Creating beauty marks / freckles
  • Blusher for the sheer pleasure of looking healthy
  • Areolas of the breast, to darken, enlarge, redefine irregular, recreate nipples
  • Create illusion of hair or hairs
  • Cover scars
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    Making a Stencil


    Making Stencil Using C6 Stencil Paper:
    1. Take out Interleaf sheet protector. This is the loose sheet protecting the carbon. (looks like onion skin)
    2. You will need a pen or pencil

    3. Use firm pressure to copy your drawing on the top (white) of the Spirit Master sheet.
    4. Cut out stencil. Stencil will be on the inside of the top white sheet.

    Preparing the Skin:
    1. Apply your green soap solution to the area to be tattooed. Lightly scrub the skin removing the soap with a paper towel.
    2. Apply green soap solution to shave the skin smooth with a safety razor, preparing for the stencil transfer to the skin.
    3. Apply Stencil Magicto the skin for the transfer of the tattoo stencil. Now apply the transfer paper onto the skin.
    4. Allow time for the stencil to dry and then rub a very thin coat of Vaseline or A&D ointment on the area and you are ready to get started.
    5. During the tattoo work from the bottom of the stencil to the top. This will help avoid wiping the stencil away when cleaning the skin.

    After Care:
    Use "Tattoo Magic Lotion, it is enriched with Vitamin E and Aloe to help promote quicker healing of tattoos.

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    Machine won't run

    1. Make certain the power supply is plugged in to the wall outlet securely and that the wall outlet has power. Check that the foot switch and clip cord connections are secure.
    2. Broken wires in the clip cord due to wear can cause a loss of power to the machine. The components inside footswitch can also fail with time, bothe are difficult to identify where the failure might be. It would be wise to have both an additional clipcord and footswitch on hand to determine which item may have failed. It also gets you back making money while ordering a replacement for the failed component.
    3. Do a visual inspection of the machine checking for any bare wire touching the frame, this causes a short. If you find a bare wire touching the frame remove the clip cord from the machine and either insulate the bare wire using a small piece of electrical tape (temporary fix only). Replace the component as soon as possible.
    4. Check the contact post to ensure that there is no obstruction between the end of the post and the spring. You may need to file the end of the contact post that touches the spring to ensure a clean contact area. (File contact post daily as a preventative measure.)

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    Machine Diagram
    Move mouse over diagram to see description and click links


    Tattoo Machine Diagram Contact Post Front Spring Armature Bar Grommet Needle Bar Lock Screw O Ring Rear Spring Rear Spring Screw Upper Clip Cord Post Lower Clip Cord Post Thumb Nut Coils Tube Vise Needle Tube Capacitor Yoke Contact Post Grommet Armature Bar Rear Spring Screw Coils Thumb Nut Needle Needle Tube O Ring Black Oxide Screw Frame Frame Frame Frame Coil Rear Spring Tube Vise Tube Vise Tube Vise Coil Frame Frame Frame


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    How Do I adjust my machine?

    1. The gapping between the contact post and spring needs to be a nickel width for shading and a dimes width for lining.
    2. To Set the gap hold down the armature bar ( see diagram above) with your finger and turn the plastic screw until you can move the contact post, adjust the contact post to the proper gap release the armature bar then be sure to tight up the plastic screw again.

    3. You will run the power supply slower (about 6.5 - 7 volts) for shading and faster (about 7 - 9 volts) for lining.
    4. You can also refer to the Tattoo Artist Guide - Click Here

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    How Do I set the spring tension?

    This video provides step by step instructions on adjusting your spring tension properly.

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    How do I setup my Needle & Tube?

    You will see the proper way insert you needle into the tube to prevent from barbing or damaging your needle.

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    What are the different type of needles used for?

    There are four main types of needle groupings. Some have one specific use and others can vary depending on how the artist is using it. Below is a general explanation of the needle categories and how you can use different types of needles.

    Rounds
    We carry rounds from single needle to 14 round. A round needle looks like a perfect circle if you’re looking at the needle grouping head on. Depending on the art piece you’re working on they can be used for thin, medium or thick outlines or for shading in full color.

    Tights
    A tight needle has one basic use and that is for outlining. It’s similar to a round, it is grouped like a circle, but they are clustered tightly together. There are different names people call tight needles such as: liners or a round tight. Depending on how bold you want your outline to be, we carry tight needles with 3 to 14 needle groupings.

    Flats
    The flat needle groupings are great shading needles. These needle groupings are all straight in a row and lay tightly together. They can be used for filling in solid color or can be used for applying unique artistic techniques (for example waves or clouds). Our flats range from 4 to 15 needle groupings.

    Magnums
    The other shading needle option is the mag or magnum. A magnum needle has two rows, and is spread out. There are 2 categories of them, regular or double stacked. Double stacked just means they are clustered more tightly together and standard magnums are spread out a little more. They can be used to fill in solid color or like flats you can use different techniques to apply distinctive effects.

    To see the complete list of all the needles we carry, hit the “Needle and Tube Chart” button. Also, check out our grey wash pigments from Ichiban Sumi, they work great for those special techniques created with the flat and magnum needles.


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