Some new posts from the new book!
http://learntattoodvd.com/2013/04/tattoo-machines-and-electricity/
Tattoo Machines and Electricity
C.R. Jordan's thoughts on the tattoo industry and becoming a tattoo artist in the modern western tattoo culture.
Some new posts from the new book!
http://learntattoodvd.com/2013/04/tattoo-machines-and-electricity/
Here is a bit from welcome tattoo DVD – Disk 1
You NEED this DVD if you want to learn how to tattoo… Just buy it already!! (Or burn a copy from your friend, and upload it to the internet…you know you wish someone else would make a boot leg already!)
When you attach the armature bar screw, and the flat washer to the armature bar, make sure not to tighten down the screw until you have inserted both springs. On a typical tattoo machine, both springs will slide right under the flat washer.
Remember, the rear spring will be
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This is a sample clip from “welcome tattoo Disk 1″ Tattoo Apprentice Training series DVD. You can get this DVD from many vendors online, or you can find it on Amazon.com -
If you purchase “Basic Fundamentals of Modern Tattoo” You can get a discount from Tattoo Books Online.
When attaching the armature bar assembly to the rear spring mount, check that the rear spring is flush with the mount area, specifically, the clip cord lead input. The clip cord will actually insert into the input hole, making contact with the rear spring and completing the electrical circuit.
Now, the rear spring mounting screw with the flat washer is attached, but not tightened.
Keep in mind that the greater the amount of rear spring overhanging from the frame toward the coils, the less resistance will be needed for the coils to pull down the armature bar. This plays a role in tuning, also the width and gauge of metal used in the rear [00:48:00] spring will play a role in tuning.
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Again, with an Allen key, remove the rear spring mounting screw from the rear upright of the frame, setting it aside with the flat washer. Next, he will remove the armature bar screw separating the rear spring, front spring and the armature bar. If you use an O-ring, this will separate as well.
The rear binding post is next. Removing the rear binding post mounting screw will allow the rear binding post, insulating washers and flat washers to separate from the frame. [00:36:00] The capacitor wire lead and rear coil wire lead will also separate.
This is a sample clip from “welcome tattoo Disk 1″ Tattoo Apprentice Training series DVD. You can get this DVD from many vendors online, or you can find it on Amazon.com -
If you purchase “Basic Fundamentals of Modern Tattoo” You can get a discount from Tattoo Books Online.
Now, he is removing the tube vice screw and setting it aside. The coils will be removed shortly, but before that, here’s a look at a one and a half coil setup. You will notice that the yolk is used on the frame base between the frame and the coils. This is because the frame he is working with here is made of aluminum and electricity will not flow through the base of the frame.
The yolk creates a horseshoe magnet effect giving the machine a stronger magnetic field, stronger than if each coil were to be working independently. Beware if you have shim washers between your yolk in the bottom of the coil cords. They might be used as a way to create a proper gap between the armature bar, and the top of the coil cords. Ensure you do not lose them and the coil mounting screws are removed.
After removing the front and rear coil mounting screws, the coils can be removed from the frame, then the yolk and shims. [00:38:00]
Again, he has shown here keeping the pieces together as a way to make the reassembly much easier.
This is a disassembled aluminum framed, one and a half coil tattoo machine.
[00:40:00] Use plastic wrap on your workstation to keep it clean. You will need to have several rolls of this stuff handy. Do not skimp on paper towels, plastic wrap and disposables. You will need to get it in your mind that no matter how small the tattoo, these things are factored into the initial set up costs.
Within the armature bar assembly, there is the armature bar, front spring, rear spring, optional O-ring, rear spring mounting screw, armature bar screw and flat washers one for each screw.
Check this out, I found the popular book Basic Fundamentals of Modern Tattoo book for sale for $15.00
How long will that price last? I don’t know – check it out though.
So, here is a bit more information on working with me on a project called TattooRadar.com
If you are interested…
Check out these reviews for Basic Fundamentals of Modern Tattoo (on Ama on.com)
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book!!!, March 8, 2013
By Jimmy – See all my reviews
Ama on Verified Purchase(What’s this?)
This review is from: Basic Fundamentals Of Modern Tattoo (Paperback)
I am in the process of opening my own shop with gifted artists and basically doing an apprenticeship as an owner. I purchased this book as a basis for tattoo theory and machine familiarity. I also purchased my equipment and machines 2 weeks later. Upon receiving my equipment…I could easily identify all parts of the machine, do a complete breakdown along with tuning. Set up and take down of the work area along with awareness of cross contamination and many other aspects was very insightful. I was educated with different perspectives while the author remained impartial and lets you choose what works for you. There are also many recommendations for making purchases from reputable manufacturers of tattoo supplies and equipment. I highly recommend this book for anyone curious about the basic art of tattooing, starting out in a venture or seeking general knowledge before you trust someone to decorate YOUR body.
5.0 out of 5 stars LOVED IT, March 7, 2013
By christopher hundt – See all my reviews
Ama on Verified Purchase(What’s this?)
This review is from: Basic Fundamentals Of Modern Tattoo (Paperback)
I’m a person that can read something an do it. That’s just how I learn. I can pick up anything I want. This book was everything I was looking for an more. Would love to see more from the same author. If he would like to look me up on facebook an give me pointers that would always be welcome. Other wise thank you for a good intro book.
Christopher A. Hundt.
Click Here if you need help with the Portal or the Forum (specifically registration)
I need some volunteers who are interested in working on some side projects w/ me!
Let me know if you are interested! Some of the projects will earn you money, some will earn you free tattoo equipment.
Requires posting gear reviews online, and writing gear reviews and some product promotion stuff. Also working on a Tattoo Encyclopedia, and a Free Online tattoo training program (book work stuff – no actual tattooing) just as a supplement to an apprenticeship.
I am looking for people who do not tattoo yet, people who are apprentices, and people who are pros!
Let me know if you are interested!
eMail me ASAP, I only have a few positions open.
JoinTheTattooArmy @ TattooBooksOnline.com
This is some information from CR Jordan’s new DVD Training series for Tattoo Artists. The following is a rough transcript from “Welcome Tattoo DVD 2″ (which is the second part of the series). Welcome Tattoo and Basic Fundamentals of Modern Tattoo (the book) are a MUST have for any tattoo artist.
If you are going to be a good tattoo artist and not just a tattooist, you have to know the tools of your trade. That is why I emphasi e that it is so important that you are able to not only tune your tattoo machine but repair your tattoo machine and pick the right types of needles as well as building your own needles, so you are going to need a lot of supplies to do that. Before we go into building your own needles, I want to talk a little bit about the types of needles. If you are brand new to tattooing or you are an apprentice and you are still just trying to figure things out in this industry, it might be a little bit confusing to see all these different types of needles available for sale.
There is four major types of needles that you can purchase. There is going to be rounds. There is going to be mags. There is going to be flats and then there is going to be tight rounds. Now, there is couple different variants of mags. There is going to be woven mags and stacked mags and curved mags. When you talk about rounds, you are going to see loose rounds and tight rounds. Flats are pretty much flats. They are what they are.
Now, it gets even more complicated than that because after we look at the needle configurations, we can talk about the actual needles themselves that make up the needle configurations. Now, I am not going to emphasi e too much.
Okay. Once upon a time when I became a tattoo artist, apprentices were the ones in the shop that had to make the needles. It was very tedious. There is fumes. You burn yourself and it is a pain in the ass. However, now it has gotten so cheap with all of the needle suppliers typically coming from overseas that it is very hard to find tattoo artists these days that have the time or even the knowledge on how to make tattoo needles, so I am not going to go too far in depth with the needle building right now but we are going to go ahead and talk about the actual needles themselves that you are going to buy prepackaged. It is really important that when you buy needles prepackaged that they are blister pack sealed. This is going to ensure that those needles are sterile and that they are certified.
All right. Let us talk about what exactly is a tattoo needle. When we say tattoo needle, we are not really talking about a needle, a single needle like when you go get a shot from the doctor like an injection, hypodermic needle. What we are talking about are more along the lines of what a sewing needle or a pushpin needle is. When tattoo artists say I am grabbing a tattoo needle out of this box, they are really talking about a group of needles that are soldered together on a needle bar, so when you will hear me talk about a needle, I am really talking about the group of needles.
The needles themselves are different diameters and different tapers and different lengths. When I talk about diameter, I am talking about how big the actual individual needle is when you look down the needle at the measurement of the radius of the needle. When we talk about taper, we are talking about the very tip of the needle, how it is sharpened essentially, how blunt or how sharp the needle is. There is also textured needles, needles that have been hit with some type of a sandblast material that puts little pits into the needle. Some say that when you have these little pits in the needle that it is going to carry a little bit more ink in those pits when it punctures the skin and it is going to put the ink in a little bit better. A common needle that has gotten a lot of popularity in the past couple of years is called the bug pin needle and these are just really small diameter needles and there is also, I think, long and short tapered bug pins.
This is some information from CR Jordan’s new DVD Training series for Tattoo Artists. The following is a rough transcript from “Welcome Tattoo DVD 2″ (which is the second part of the series). Welcome Tattoo and Basic Fundamentals of Modern Tattoo (the book) are a MUST have for any tattoo artist.
Once you have figured out what type of needles you are going to use then you have to figure out what type of needle configurations you are going to use. The configurations are going to be the rounds, the flats, or the mags. Now, diving deeper into the round types of configurations, you have the loose rounds and you have the tight rounds. Loose rounds are typically going to be also referred to as shaders and tight rounds are going to be referred to typically as liners. When we talk about mags, we have a couple of different options there. We are looking at woven mags, stacked mags, and curved mags.
Let us talk about flats. A flat needle configuration is typically going to be several needles placed side by side next to each other and then soldered together onto a needle bar. They are flat. They are all just laying flat in a row next to each other.
When we talk about mags or magnum needles, we are talking about woven or stacked mags typically. Now, a stacked mag is going to be a flat needle configuration soldered on top of another flat needle configuration. Typically, the configurations are going to be one less needle on the top of the stack than what is on the bottom. An example would be ten needles on the bottom and nine on top. The top needle stack is staggered so that the top needles are in between the bottom needles.
When we talk about woven mag configurations, it is a flat needle configuration where typically a ra or blade is stuck in between every other needle and it is woven in and out between that flat configuration and it is then soldered so that every other needle is a little bit higher than the one before it. This simulates a stacked configuration. However, it uses less needles and you can get a little bit more ink in with a little bit less trauma. The gradients on a stacked mag compared to a woven mag are going to be a little bit finer or a little bit better blended on a stacked mag depending on who you talk to.
Then that brings us to curved mags. Curved mags are either
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Looking at this example of a mag configuration, we can see 1215CM. Once again, the 12 is for the gauge of the needle, 15 means there are 15 needles and then the CM means curved mag. Now, it does not say anywhere on here if this is a stacked mag or if it is a woven mag, so that is where you have to know the difference and you have to be able to look at it inside the pack or know when you are purchasing them what type of needles you would like and those are the ones you are typically going to stick with.
A lot of artists actually are only going to use maybe five or six different types of needle groupings. I know some artists who only use three or four different types of groupings because they tattoo the same style over and over. It is always good to have the whole variety of needles and matching tubes on hand just in case somebody walks into the shop and you have to come up with something that is a little bit outside your comfort one and you need that tool that is going to make your job faster.
A long time ago, the rule of thumb for tattooing was you have to use a liner. You would outline your tattoo and then you would use your round shader or your flat shader and you would color in your tattoo. You would use some gradients possibly but tattoos were pretty much the same no matter where you went and almost all the artists tattooed the same style.
As the tattoo machine and the tattoo pigment technology has improved over the years, so have the needles and so have the artist skills. Now, there are really no
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(so this was just a teaser of what is coming on DVD2 – next month!) Stay tuned. You need to get DVD1 and the Book Basic Fundamentals of Modern Tattoo if you are thinking about becoming a tattoo apprentice!