PREMIER ISSUE. SUMMER 2001 • 5$ US

PUiLlStin EOITOR

TECIINICAL EOITOR A$lOCIUE EDITOR

OESHUI ANO LAyon PROOUCTION .ANAOER

CONTRIBUTORS

ISSUE NUMBER 1 • SUMMER 2001 SPECIAL TUNU

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MACHI.EGUN

EDITORIAL I LOVE TATTOOING, I REALLY OO ... BUT I'M WORR1ED ••• LAST TIME I CHECKED, TATIOOING WAS SUPPOSED TO BE FUN. Sure, we're trying to do a good Job and make mOMy. but after twenty years of doing this, what I remember and care about most IS the stuff that was fun. It used to be, the guys who weren't having "un were the ones who weren't too good at tattooing. It was like they were so worried 5Omebody would figure out they were lousy tattooers that they'd meet all interaction head-on with negativity. Maybe the trouble With tattooing now is that nobody apprentces. A lot of scary guys don't want anybody to start tattooing. $0 nobody wants to be responsible for teaching-50 people just don't learn. They tattoo, but they don't know much about being a tattooer. and they for sure don't know anything about the equipment .

Md'::!dtil,., Will v.,1,uw-lu a'lid .. from fundamentals like changing a capaCitor. to advanced theory about frame geometry. If it's about tattoo machines and equipment, we're going to bok at It. Hope-fully you'll learn 5Omething, work on your eqUipment, tattoo better, make more money. and have some fun.

ThiS IS not gOing to be a about tattoos It will be a

about tattooing, and especially about tattoo machines Our project .... aeh,ng uk", its name from the 1950's land-speed record sett,ng JEt car. the Green Monster. Our objeCtive IS to attain a speed of 300 Hl. which will make the Green Monster the world's fastest running tattoo machine. It's easy to make a machine run 150 Hz. but to double that, you must know how to efficiency. What we learr from pushing the limits gets translated into

... ill'st of all we're going to try and have some fun, so if something seems funny, laugh at it . So this IS how I propose to make controlling the machine precisely. things a little bit better ... first of making an everyday machine run all we're going to try and have exactly how you want it to A lot some fun, $0 if something seems of tattooers say that kind of stuff funny, at It. If something doesn't maner ... ,f you think about doesn't make sense ... don't act it, those are the same guys who like It does, ask somebody, ask a mostly are no fun. and are trying stupid cuestion. Let's face it, ,f we to make $Ure nobody notices that were better educated, If we were they don't know nothing smarter. we probably wouldn't be tattooing. So we're going to go over 50me pretty basic stuff The m.:in focus of Machinegun

If they can't dig thiS ... they cen't dig what tattooing has become. , for one, won't miss the'iC

Ell'Oti DEVICE ItiC. tM

Bill BAUR lo,,,,, "".1 <"I'Y"IJI'. 1OO1 N" Plrt of ,,,,, ""'9><'" mey boo "p'od,,,..;,, tt.o"

DEAN BYRNES IIIIOtilU STUGELE CECiliA BEUOVIC

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eRnUL StlELlltiG BILL Bun, DOtitiA BARTOLltil. CECILIA BEUOVIC, DUti BYRtiES . STACEY CASE. AtiDRU JotltlSOti FLO W, tlAVID GARtiEAU

CONTENTS

Project Machine: Til e Creell Monsler POWl'r .• l!trough lire IJiwwillg s/(lge .

Machine Measurements .,., .......................... ,.

Interview: East coml "ou/ f'xpmu/s ilHO cyber sllUce . 5.' 111 Cifi'rri ,/i.i(:U.sS{'S

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lattooillg, muchillP buil./i"l!- "mllris websi te's Discrtssiou '"or""' ............. 8 Machine Parts ................. ,.,.,., .......................... ,.

Readers' Machines: Hill Hula'r' .• Milli .. " Vol/fir Muchiue ,. Cmig Driscoll: I ,ookill ' doi/l ' it Ihe righl I<"U)",

Keith S ,ewurt: 25 yeurs (IIul II /01 o/mur/,i",'s hiler.

How To: CUllill,l( SprillgS,

Shop Space: Pre""III;"U ojCru .•.• -Cm'I""'i",,t iou iu 'l'I/lOoiug . ....... .

Tattooing, What Happened? Cu/buck Murhiu,'s.

What's Your Problem? Techuin.I "'''/ mw;hille .

Autoclave Cookbook: Nil" 'Illd FmllJ,s.

Coloring Contest ....... .

Classifieds .

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MACHINEGUN

T5 1444 LIGHT-WEIGHT Lightnl bar wit prodo.Ke the A must fa aetting IMler! up into 15(l 's Of without (1o!.i:Jg out point gop 01 4lorttninll stroke length.

T51445 MID-WEIGHT Sets speeds in range of 110 10 1 Hz while maintaining PfClpei point gop OM stroke length.

T5 1446 HEAVY-WEIGHT Modmum size bilr gives IIIIIximum wvighllo m«hine down to speeds OfOIJlld 100Hz wilhout need of inueolins point 9!lP Of Slrokl Ie"!llt..

-sp PERFORMANCE II you wanl it from your tattoo machine you've galla gel ilfirst in your springs and armature bar. Tru-SpringTM armature bars and springs are monufodured under exoding quality (ontrol conditions on modern machinery to give you the ultimate in performance. Speed'controlling weighted armature bars in (oniunction with the widest range of spring gauges in the industry ensure you (on get your mochine running right.

Springs and bars sold individually or in (omplele kits. Look for Tru-SpringTM products of your tattoo supply shop-or tall

ell 1.800.427.8198

a •

THE PLANNING STAGES OF BUILDING THE WORLD'S FASTEST TATTOO MACHINE. The most important measurement that can be made on a machine is the speed that it runs at. Machine speed determines if a machine will work as a liner or a shader. Most tattooers have no idea what speed their machines run at. Some are using a liner for a shader, and some are trying to outline with a machine that should be a shader. They could easily fix this, if they could measure and control the speed of their machines. Speeds of 100 to 120 Hz are common for shaders, and speeds as high as 150 Hz are used for liners. The Green Monster will break the 300 Hz barrier. We're not building this machine just to go fast. By making it run at maximum speed, we will learn what the limitations of each part of the machine are. Once we know that, we can figure out how to overcome those limitations, and engineer a better running machine.

The old adage dime gap for a liner, nickel gap for a shader implies that to adjust speed, you should adjust the point gap. Adjusting point gap is the least efficient way of adjusting machine speed. It will change the sound of the machine a lot, but not the speed.

Consider this, if you can tattoo into the permanent layer of skin with the short stroke length of a liner, why do you need a longer stroke length on a shader? Shaders have a longer stroke length to slow the machine

down. A long stroke length is difficult to tattoo with, and there is the potential of tattooing too deeply into the skin. Length of stroke is very important, and should be established during the planning stages of building a machine. Most people are running an armature bar that's too heavy in their liner. To compensate for that they have to run overly hard springs, the end result being they need lots of voltage. They also generally run an armature bar that is too light in their shader. They compensate for that with soft springs and a big air gap, the end result again being they need lots of voltage. Speed should never be attained by running an overly long or short stroke length. To tattoo, you need

PROJECT MACfUNE

FYI In the late 1950's, Walt Arfons came up with the idea of building a car powered by a military surplus jet engine. In 1960 his jet car, The Green Monster, ran 342 mph at Bonneville. The Green Monster also set records for 1 /4 mile top speed from a standing start in 1961 and 1963.

PROJECT MACIlINE

a worku'l9 stroke length of at least 1/16 of an inch_ You can lock down tha t stroke length,

the two should answer some questions about frame material. Usually when guys work on

and st,lI get a machine to run any speed you machll'les, there's no plannlng ... but iI little want, even 300 Hz forethough t will go a long way.

The most effiCient way to Increase speed IS to lighten the armature bar. To increase the speed even more, we will have to reduce the point gap and the air gap on the machine to the minimum. The problem is, reducing the air gap will leave us with a s troke length that is too short_ We're gOing to build a cus tom frame that will se t t he t ube vise approximately 112 inch fo rwa rd of stock (se e diag ra m be low). Th is extension of the frame base wi ll g ive the mach ine ma)l lmum stroke length wi th a minimal air gap. We wi ll ba lance the short air gap with a short point gap_ The front spring wil l be super ha rd, and will be balanced with high back sprong pressure. Those factors will create ma)limum speed with a proper working stroke length. We're going to make two frames, one of alummum, and one of brass. Comparing

IN THE NEXT ISSUE We're going to get to work building this thing. comparing the frame materials. trying different CapaCitors, Iremember we'll be running at 300 Hz) and cutting springs for the monster. We' ll be insta ll ing a custom armat ure bar t hat's not on ly light, bu t It w il l mount the front spring at a much higher angle t han usua l. We' ll d iscuss how this affects the follow through of the contact points, and what fol low through is and how It affects your machine.

As distances increase from the fulcrum point, length of working stroke increases while size of air gap remains the same.

1. the fultrum point

2. the size of the air gap

3 . length of working stroke with tonventional platement of tube vise

4 . length of working stroke with tube vise moved forword on e xtended fra.".

PHYSICAL MEASUREMENTS

1. back spring pressure 2. weight of armature bar 3. front spring gauge 4. point gop 5. front spring length 6. back spring width 7. back spring gauge 8 . back spring ang le of de fl ection

lsee diagram ·0 right) 9. back spring length

10. front spring angle of deflection 1 1. air gop

ELECTRONIC MEASUREMENTS

speed duty cycle follow through voltage

8. Back Spring Angle of Deflection

B

Bad spring ongle of defle(tion must be mecsured wirhofll front spring on ma<hine.

Angle of deflellion may be meosured A. as on angle in relation to machine frame 8 . or as a distolKe between (entre of front (oil

and armature OIK! front spring is mounted on armoture, tie measurement between front (oil (ore and armature is the air gap.

MACHINEGUN

AND 9tlNG A TATTOOm

Bill Baker. the deal ... ith O-ringl1l 'm 101nllo tell YOII right off Ihe bat - I ean't 'land it. Seth Cif.ffl: It makes the machine sound better. Like. it's a qUick flK to make it sound good, but you've got to bump your volts up by at least two or three. I say take them off and throw them away. You know, I think a lot of it comes from Mickey Sharpl..

He WIll II. produd of Ihal time. How many machine. do ),ou think he's made?

Well, let me think I've bought three or four machines from him, a while ago. One was #141, one was #86, and one was like fi ve-something ... and now the Mlcrodia ls are up to around 3500.

If II. guy sold that many machines, made that milch mone)'. ",'hydldn'l any of it 10 back Into re.eareh, why didn't any of It go Into II better machIne?

I believe an awful lot of bow I. tt_ look, or lI'hether a tattoo I, done well , I, machine related. You cannot talloo lood with a crappy ronnln, machine.

You know what, I think you can. You could do a tattoo with a sh,tty machone.

MACHIN£6UN

. - •• •

Yeah, I could conlpensate for II r1ghl. left and centre - but I think there's thin,s I can acwmpll.sh wllh a bener machine.

If you take each of the variables that exist step by step, I thonk that you have no choice but to do better tattoos.

I agree - and I think Ihal ),ou can" just somebody a machine, and sa)' this is a lreat running machine for everyone. Buttha!'. kind of how I 11'85 taught. I didn't even know these van able. existed.

I know, the guy I worked for used a pair of Spau lding Supremes ... both exactly the same, The onlyd ifference was nickel shader - d ime liner.

Oh golly, here we go with this. Well, you know - that was it, one

went eeeeeeee. the other was uhh hhh unghhh hh hh, and they were both running on those Spauldong toaster

Yeah, those are: amuill'. Putting out about 30 volts.

Yeah, I'd like 10 run aboul tII'ehie rubber bands on that machine, plea",. Beeause on zero thallhin, II pullin, out eight ' ·Oltl.

That's what I'm talking aboutl

--.',.-.

I want to talk alK!utthe names of the part, on a tattoo machine. We all know lI'hat we're: talking about , bUI we ha>'e 10 IG throu(th a lot of effort 10 describe 1110 each olher. The back sprllg shd' II where )"Ou boltlhe back spring ontu the flllme. &1 I've itllloo)'1 (Ailed thallhe spring saddle. II illhe sprinl saddle?

I would know what you're talkin" about

Would you?

Yeah.

Sollie guy. don't - 1 wish we just had one term that we all used,

Right - like a un iversal word.

r Ihlnk there Is .tartlng 10 be a ned fnr Ibis language. When guys would lei together once a year at a (on'enllon, and bave their machines III Ihe pocket of their jealls, and take them oul and lo .. . look at whatI'm dollll ... they'd point to partl, or they would IITlle a leiter, and. draw a lillie diall'llm, and I'm doinll this and I'm doinlthal. But on the inlernet, If. completely lall,uage, and I think U's 4ifncultlo explain to somebody. eve. talklnllo Ihem - jusl wltb "nluage - what part of the machine you 're talklnll aboul - or how that machine i. runnlnll.

1

Right - exactly_

I think It just doesn't exlst - maybe we should just start pushing It,

Right.

And lell gu)'ll - we want to call It Ihls a nd we Wilt to callI! Ihal .

Yeah. it's definitely interesting It's something that I've thought about Because people don't know what you're talking about. When you say yoke to some one, they think you're talking about a tLbe vise.

This whole language thing II really a bIg deal to me, As far as )'our website goes , i, the machine discussion area your whole site? Or 15 It part of your slle?

That's just part of the site. The whole site went up at the same time. The first forum thet went up was real Simple, there was,'t a really good structure to It It was real loose you couldn't read the post easily, you really had to search through mem_ We changed over to the new one on December 28

Kight around New Year, 2001 , Yeah.

5u that'. only three months allo.

Yeah, and that one has gotten, as of today, close to 36,000 hits.

ThaI's good, I know on the internet an)'body can have an opinion, 11'. like a soap box all tao .tand up on, one a t a time, and say whatever they want -&ome body Is In charge, a little hit like a ring master of the whole ordeal - and I assume you, right?

SC Well, the only kind of poSi tion have, In tha t sense, is making sure that stuff doesn't get out of hand. I really try and encourage people to bnng up certain topics.

Do you bave a topk that you poIt for tnem to respond lo? Or do you ju. t let it develoj)?

I think it's a little of everythltlg A lot of the topICS that I post are just everyday shop stuff. Stuff that I think is funny A lot of t imes somebody wil l post a technical quest ion like 'why should I not

use grommets'? for example. That one got so muc, attention. 'IoIhat helps a lot is Aaron C01les on, and he'll break stuff down for people. People have a lot of respect for him.

Yeah It'. true.

So when he says thiS is what I use, and thiS is Nhy, and explains It step by step. You wouldn't beheve how many people are like, 'Oh my God, I changed over to u51rg paper towels now Instead of grommets and my tattOOing IS so much bette( It's unbelievable to see.

I think Internet Is a better venue fur apprentl[eship than IIny uther fom) of It ever could be,

You think?

Yeah, Inally do, It'. kInd of crazy, but you can pul • question oul , and you know there's II little bit of beln, anonymous, &0

you caD ask a reat dumb que. lion without feeling too!»d.

And you're getting all that input from so many different angles Somebody can really get a good objective response from everybody. Not just from cranky old biker who's doing It his way.

And eve. if he'. right ninety pertent of the time, stili wron, ten percent of the lime, And even hi. ninety percent that's right - bn't the only way,

Exactly.

So I think It'. really an limning thing, If &Ornebod)' want. to get on your site ... they've got to be regl.tered . .. rlaht?

To post Anybody can get on and read the posts.

Yeah, wbkh I've dOlle ,

SC Right, aU you have to do to register is click register or log In, you'll pick a screen name and a password, then you hit enter. It sends you an e-mail to confirm, you respond to the e-mail and that activates your account That's all It is, really, JUs: reglstenng

Does It ro.t an)1hing?

SC It doesll't cost anything to register -It's a tota lly free thing I just do It because it's fun. It generates a lot of interest

INTERVIEW

Right, all you have to do to register is click register or log in, you'll pick a screen name and a password, then you hit enter.

MACH EGUN

in the site, people check out the information on the shop,

II seems like It's manageable righl n()W, bul we're talklng about something that's only been going on for a few months - wtJat are you going to do?

I th ink what's going to happen eventually is I'll probably get on there two or three t imes a week and the other guys who are real ly into it, and involved with it the most are going to keep it going.

I think that the websile probably adds a wtJole other cast of characten 10 everyday life in the s hop , I'm sure thalthere's 50me talk in the shop a ooul wtJat 50 and 50 said last night.

It's definite ly a topic of d iscussion around here. The forum's been a big th ing for us, and it's been a lot of fun.

H()W long has the s hop been open?

I opened it in July of '99, I was Little Vinnie's for two and a half

years. Before that, I had been in a shop in D.C. cal led Jinx-Proof, we opened that place in September of '96. I stayed there for nine months, It was a seventy-five mile commute from where I lived. I did that five days a week and was done. I was moving anyway and Vinnie had just opened up his new shop, which was six miles from my new house - so I went to work for Vinnie. Stayed there for two and a half years, and just got restless with dealing with the steady flow of walk-in customers. Wel l, you know how it is .. ,they're trying to run a tight ship, and try ing to do things their way

And you've got Ideas- that are youn- I'm sure Ihat was part of the motivation of you getting your own place going.

Pretty much, Really, every shop I've worl<ed in, every single shop I've worked in I've always had something to say about how things were run, I'm that kind of person.

Yeah. I can see it.

like, it always upset people, and I always understood why, You know, if I can't keep my mouth shut, what am I going to do?

Well, open your own shop,

MACHI.EGUN

goddammil.

Exactly, they'd say if you don't like it, go open your own place, And now I've got my own p lace and I'm fuckin' scared to death.

The s hop looks really cool. I'm sure you've !leen getting lots of good response.

Yeah, when I first got the place, I had one sta tion in the back, reception area up front, and some framed old

But I missed worl<ing with my friends. Matt Rinks is here ful l-time now, and Nancy takes care of the walk-ins, it's cool, everybody here gets along real ly good.

RIght, and there's stuff happening, but you can't tattoo every single person who wan15to get tattooed by you, and build machines ever:t'day, and handle the website, and everything else, right? Whlch are all good problems to have. "but" ,

Well, what I've tried to hash out for myself is starting next week I'm tattooing three days a week and that's it, Whether I'm in the shop or not. That's a whole other story. So three days of appointments, and at least two days of machine bui lding,

O,K. 'cause I was going to ask would you even consider letting the machine building drop? I would hope not.

No, probably not. because rea lly think I've got something that's going to do good for people, that's real ly going to make people's jobs eaSter,

I agree with you, When did you actually slart laking Ihls sluff apart?

As soon as I started tattooing, When I was probably about fifteen, when I first got tattooed, I guess, maybe a little b it before that, a fnend from high school and myself kind of rigged up a little cassette motor deal, and of course, marl<ed each other up a little bit with some stupid little shit, and it was just kind of one of those things where I'd bring kids home from school and marl< them up every now and then, Right around the same time my brother, Adam, ordered some stuff from Spaulding and Rogers, and he was marking up some kids too, It got to the point where when he was at

his day job, which was being a brick layer, I'd come home from school early and 'jack his stuff and try and put something on somebody before he came home from work,

'Cause he'd have the high powered Spaulding sel-up , wtJlch means you could reaUy do 50me talloolng then.

Adam got an apprenticeship with the same guy I later did, Close to a year, maybe eight months before I got there.

1i()W long did he stay there?

He was there for about a year and a half.

a pretty long lime . .. for that kind of environmenl ...

Yeah, it was pretty scary. It was definitely a lot of crazy biker stuff, you know,

Yeah, and there's a lot of unwritten code of the hills, or kind of code of ethics sluff Ihal doesn't really make any sense, And It's kind of hard, especially !leing a punk<rock kid, to go 'you im()W wtJat? I Just don't buy Inlo any of Ihis crap,'

Right.

But you have to . .. and you don't im()W no !letter, and It's tattooing, and you're over-whelmed, ,.So eventually you got mixed up there, too, and then }'OU got !letter equipment, obviously,

The fi rsl machine I was handed and told 'use th is thing', was a Paul Rogers, Mad Bee. And sure as shit the first th ing I did was tear it apart and break the wires in the centers of the coils, you know.

Good thinking, First thing, .. so there's me try ing

to solder up into the core, I seriously tried to do whatever I cou ld to put this th ing back mto working order so I could put it back in the box and pretend I didn't touch it. So I was g iven some stuff to use, it was obviously his and I wasn 't to take it with me, While I was working there, I met a guy named T Swartz, he was tattooing out of his house, and he gave me a couple of machine frames and a couple of pairs of coils and gave me some tips, as far as not fucking things up, Pretty basic stuff. He showed me how to make needles. When I was worl<ing at

the shop we used pre-mades so when he came along he was like 'what ale you doIng?! You gotta build your own needles, you gotta make mags' - he kind of set me straIght, In that regard. Then I left there, and went, well, I tattooed out of my apartment A lot of the early Insp'r.3t1on fO( puttll'lg machines together came from Tom Beasley

Yeah, he Jusl had that thing about tlnkertng _ and worklng l+i th machlne. _

Right, my brother worked for him for a whi le, and while my b rother was there, I'd go to the shop. When I was tattoOing out of my apa rtment, they let me use their autoclave-wh ile I was waIting for the 'clave to run I sure as hell wasn't sltt ln' on my hands-I was digging through his shit, you know. and I went and got tattooed by him - and watched Intently every little thing that he dId. He spent a lot o f time WIth Paul Rogers, and pIcked up a lot of stuff- not that Paul Rogers IS the end-all, but I think he was one of the first guys that really started to delve Into the real functIon of the machIne. And I think it's gOing the dlrectlon he would have wanted it to go.

Ir. funny, people really romantklz.e this whole old-school thing.

It's like all these guys tha t are just so stuck on doIng tradItIonal tattoos-and you would thmk that they're trying to stay true to whatever-but Sailor Jerry, for example, was all about moving forward. and progressing. These people are Just trying to repl Icate what he was doing in 1965.

Or Ihelr perceptlun uf what he WM dulng In 1965.,. 1f he WIUIlhem.

It's not doIng hIm or them any justice - it's really 9O'ng agaInst what all that was about I think what Aaron is doIng is way more along the lines of what these guys would have expected

Yeah, they " "ere Just 60lng ,,·halevar they WII ld do.

There was a reaSOf'l these guys weren't uSIng hot pink pigment. It was because they dIdn't have it So, what happened

when I left the shop. the guy took all my equipment that I had managed to get, I had bought a couple of machInes and a bunch of tubes. He knew he was gettIng nd of me, but I didn't know he knew I had some money saved. and It was lIke, 'hey, you need to get your own place, you need to get a new car, you need to buy th,S eguipment" .. . so he completely made me exhaust all my savIngs .and then fired me, changed the locks on the shop, and kept all my stuff

U's amazing how they do it. And 11'8 so lame, Irs JUIlihe l ame, all the tJme,

Yeah, some old school shit. I got lucky and my friend Pee Wee, who also apprentIced at the same place-he had left already-he went to go work at Dragon Moon, WIth my brother. He gave me a couple of Philadelph,a Eddie's machines. Some of the early United stuff, the real shorty machlnes- he gave me a couple o f those to use, and a power supply. Mid< Beasley set me up WIth a Job at Tattoos by Lou In M,amI. I drove down to South Beach, and Lou took a look at the machines and was Ioke, 'what the?? Vllhat're you do,n? Let me re-spring these.' I was, what do you mean re-Spflng them?

Uke ","hal are )'OU lalklng about? So he comes back the ne)(\ day, and

he gives me my machones ... and they each have two fron t springs on them, of like real th in, like 13 gauge stock. One was a little shorter than the other, you know what I'm talking about?

Yeah 1 knuw. And I thought they ran like crap. I

couldn·t bel ieve what he handed me back. But it was my first exposure to somebody not USIng O-nngs. So tha t was thaI. I couldn·t hang on M,am,-I stayed there for like ten days and came right back to BaltImore. Then I drove up to New York to try and get a job WIth Bruce Bart, up in Hunter MountaIn. That dIdn't won. out, It was Just too faf, I didn't want to be away from Baillmore So I Cilme back and got a Job In a total ghetto shop.

Wbal )"ear are we talking about now?

INTERVIEW

A lot of the early inspiration for putting machines together came from Tom Beasley.

MACHINEGUN

J

INTERVIEW

Jonesy Roundbock

Joncsy Squarcback

MAOIINE6UN

March of '95. I stayed there until September of '96, \oVhile I was there, this guy, Danny Dflngenberg had Just started making coils and stuff. I managed to get a hold of a couple of pairs of his coils Somewhere along the line, I'd gotten a couple o f National Delu)te frames, and I pot them together with his coils_ Gradually I figured out that I could buy equipment to cut and punch my own springs, and I bought a roll of feeler gauge stock and started putting these Jonesy frames together Matt Rinks and Brad y Duncan got some from me, and Tim Hoyer bought one from me a long time ago. People that I knew were getting them from me, The only real difference that I was doing between liner and shader was I'd bend the front spring up higher to make it a liner, and make ,t a little stiffer. When I was selling these things I showed one to Mike Malone, and he's like 'what is thiS?' You know, it could have been either a liner or shader. Kind of middle of the road. So ... back to the drawmg board. So I called him up and he's like 'Look, I'm gomg to lay It oul for you: So he tells me, like look, this is the d ifference. This is why a shader runs the way 1\ does, and he got into how thick the pigment IS, compared to regular black outline pigment, and the speedier out liner is tha t way for a reason. Your shader has to be slow and punchy to push tha t pigment because the pigment can't keep up With the needles if they' re going too fast , and YOU' re making all that blood. and all those holes, and no pigment is going in. So t hen It was like, O.K. how do I make It go slower? It was an obvious thing_ increase the distance between the armature bar and the spring shelf. Make a longer front spring that has a little more give to It ... and It seemed really obvious to me

Were you altering the aesttletlc of the frames - did that even enter your conKiousnus, did you even care?

Well, when t got those brass National frames, they're a bit square".1 was taking them to a belt sander; and I was gnnding off all the hard edges, making it look like a rolJnd-back. Filing the shit out of them-I'd buff 'em real nice, sometimes putting some patina chemical on there, and engraving my name real fant)' on

See, well thaI'. good ... there wa!I &Orne 0' that going on, too. Not Just mechanical.

Right, it was probably more aesthetic than mechanica L I guess one of the ma in th ings I was doing, only because I had seen it on Paul Roger5 machines, was I had some base plates made with the tube crusher collet, and I was cutting the chudc off the Jonesys.

Right out oflhe box - brand new?

Yep Nothing wrong with them, no repair needed - just cut it off It was because I was trying to replicate the Paul Rogers machines that I'd seen.

Buill', a pretty btl change 10 whack off part of ttle frame, It reaJly Is.

Yeah, and most kids my age who were not in tattooing all that long hadn't seen that much. They were usmg a fight out of the box Dennis Dwyer machme or a Spauldmg mach ine or someth ing like that. Danny's coils were rea lly neat, they h"d that cool c-c lip thing on top holdmg the washer5 on there- those machmes were kind of gimmicky you know.

Bullhat'. 0,1(, because a lot of that 11 aesthetic, and guys would think, 'wow thl. looks cool.'

Right, they don't have to use that chrome mad1ine with the Spaulding-spar1c1y bllJe coils With the tiny, tiny little capacitor.

00 you II(lW think you'd like to make a macbine thaI'. different, or have you JUlt got a .t)1e In mind, aDd )'UtI like how illooks.

Well, the frames that I had cast are the same design as the Johnny Walker frame, which ended up beIng the Spaulding Supreme-It's the same frame, wJthOlJt the koIe In the SIde It's a lot thicker, a lot heavier frame, and It'S made of iron, I've got some brass ones, too.

I! would be about the same size, then as the one. Mkkey 800 Mickey 8 making, The same bulc frame style, 8 little bigger than the Supreme.

Actually pretty much the same size as the Supreme and pretty much the same geometry. I real ly wanted some of the older castings when I dId the first run, but those old castings were impossIble to get. I only did a few of t1em because I wanted some for myself, and for my friends. More and more peopie kept asking for them, and now I'm up to my elbows in it.

And once laaln.II'.like no mailer wIllch direction )'011 tum, )..u just end up wiler.: the trade seem. 10 t.lnk II "''IIIlIJi)'Oll.

Exactly-the !hng WIth the machines is I don', advertise \'1em-1 mean-I've got my little thIng on ttle web, but I don't do any magalIne advertJsing with it. I want them to be avail3:lle, but I don't want them to be in evef)Ofle's face.

When you tel out to cast the frame, you went to I n original bule desl(n. Ther.: • number of frameS In talloolng that have been arouoo since the beglnnlni. I don't think many IU)'J know abClulthem, ""lIkh is kind or. ,hame. What would you Illy would be the four or five mOll importanl frames?

Oh man ... the Jonesy, the Johnny Walker. Ernie Carafa did a frame, somebody told me it was a Waters design ... real square, upright leans back slightly, and there's a slot at the top of the upright -so there's a little dis!anl;e for the top binding post to move. This frame was particularly a paIn i, the ass because the rubber bands dick't make contact WIth the needle bar un ess you routed them behInd the Upright.

II's. Gnldeline !lachine, IIOkIlhrough Guideline like In '82 or 81?

The Bulldog thInk was important because It was one of the first frames that was made speofically to be th,S design

for this purpose. And I thmk there have been very few frames that were Just for a specmc thing - I think that was definItely a technical pwotal point_

So that tltves us foor. These &r.: alJ mechanical thlnlls - rould)'oo lell me wIlat do you Ihlnk I. the _I beautiful frame ever,)nst to look al7 ... Yoo could tell me a car, I'm

'32 Ford - ....... at is the '32 Ford of frames? I don't know.

I want to know.

Those Paul Rogers, the V frames .

Doe5it go on your Iill then?

SC Yeah, the thIng is, though, I thInk that that's another one of those frames that's middle of the rood. I don't think tha t frame had a speak functIon in mind

Can)'Oll take lhat V frame and f\.Ilt? Yeah.

The problem In'tjust the frame, II's the Innalure tnal's ln It,

Ex.act:Iy. That's the thing where I've been compensatillQ At this point WIth the machines I have to figure OIJt what I'm gOIng to do. One of the things that I'm really concerned WIth is makIng the machines available, but at the same tome making them reall) good uke look at the Sharpz scenario, the more he makes, the worse they are ... ax! I don't want to get to that point-I want people to be able to get good ones from me.

What if .5Omebo4y came to you. and said - 'Seth, don'l be 5lUllld - you could make a Jot of mODe)!; all yon have to do Is gIwl me the rights to this. nisei up the little factory - we'U knock out Ihounnd& or the$C thlllfs - well run full paae ads - we11 be ridJ.'

Fuck that. I'd never do that

INTERVIEW

Seth Ciferri, Cultom Mochine

Seth Ciforri, Custom Machine

MACHINEGUN

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Machine Parts r

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0 0 @ 0 @ @ 0 @ @ CD @ @ 0 @ @ 0 <9 @ 0 @ @ 0 @ @

DATE: NAJ,lE: , L ______________________________ ___ ____________________ ___ __ •

.--------------------------------- ------------ -----------, An important part of discussion is the ability to understand one another. In an attempt to get us speaking the same language, please fill in the blanks, identifying the various parts of the tattoo machine, using the words you usually use to identify them. Remember, there is no right or wrong answer. When you are done, please fax to 613.384.9583, mail to 692 McKay St. Kingston, Ontario, Canada K7M 7G2 or email info@machinegunmagazine.com.

DAT E, APRIL 2001

(0 o CD (0 o CD (2) CD CD e @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @) @ @ @ @ @

, BILL BAKER

TOP BINDING POST

CONTACT SCREW SET SCREW FRONT SPRING BACK SPRING SPRING SADDLE BACK BINDING POST FRAME CAPACITOR

BACK COIL YOKE FRONT COIL COIL SHIM fRAME BASE TUBE VISE fRAME UPRIGHT

COIL CORE ARMATURE PIN ARMATURE BAR CONTACT POINT FORWARD BACK UP DOWN

DAT E, 4/21/01

" SETH B. ClFERRI !Am;

(0 o (2) CD o CD o CD CD e @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @

fRONT BINDING POST CONTACT SCREW

SETSCREW FRONT SPRING BACK SPRING SPRING SHELf REAR BINDING POST fRAME CAPACITOR

BACK COIL YOKE fRONT COIL COIL SHIM COIL SHELf TUBE VISE UPRIGHT (fRAME)

COIL CORE NIPPLE ARMATURE BAR CONTACT POINT fORWARD BACK UP

DOWN

DAT E' MAY 2001

" CHUCK ELDRIDGE !AIlE

(0 o (2) CD o CD o o CD @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @

TOP BINDING POST CONTACT SCREW SET SCREW FRONT SPRING BACK SPRING SPRING MOUNT BACK BINDING POST fRAME CAPACITOR

BACK COIL YOKE fRONT COIL COIL SHIM

fRAME BASE TUBE VISE fRAME UPRIGHT

COIL CORE ARMATURE PIN ARMATURE BAR CONTACT POINT FORWARD BACK UP

DOWN

READERS' MACHINES

But BaJurs

A..C IT'S A SPAULDING SUPREME THAT I BOUGHT NEW

IN 1982. I've always used It ilS a liner. In 1988 I replaced

the frame with the frame from another Supreme that I

had, but wasn't using. The newer frame has a swing-

gal e t ube vise. The tube vise of the orig inal frame had

finally become unlixable. I didn't really change much

on the machine after that lor a long time. Occasionally

I'd monkey around Wi th Ihe springs -and I worked on

the tube vise, fe-drilled and tapped It In the early 90's,

Mostly the machine doesn't give me any trouble and I

use It every day. In 1997, when we first developed the

meter at Eikon, I completely rebuilt this machine ... took

It all apart-restyled the frame, stripped off all the

chrome, fe-did the wiring and heat-shrink. Worked on

it for about a week-got it looking more or less how It

does now. and got it running better than it ever had

In February of 2000, we put a prototype Tru.Springl"

armature bar and springs on thIS machine. That got

changed to a production armature during the summer,

and the machine hasn' t been changed since. The Tru-

Spring'" bar got the speed up to about 160, which I like

better, _before I cou ldn't get the speed over 150. W,th

a lube and 3 needle liner it now runs about 135, whICh

works pretty good for me. I mean, mostly I can follow a

stencil, anyhow. I've been using thIS machine for almost

20 years and during that time I know I've outlined over a

million dollars wor th of tattooing WI th it.

MACHINKUN

READERS' MACIiINES

WHEN WE ASKED CRAIG DRISCOLL A .K.A . 5/ 2 TA12 TO SEND US SOME PHOTOS AND SUPPORT TeXT OF THE MACHINES HE'S CURRENTLY RUNNING, WE WEREN'T REAllY READY FOR WHAT'S VISIBLE PAST THE A TO Z OF 5/ 2 TATTOOING. Craig has always been a careful machine blJilder with a neat and tidy color coordinated style. Still obviously meticulous, he's left the painted frames and matching wires back in the 90's. His machines have always run in a no-nonsense way. Now they've got that no-nonsense look. first machll1es I had were Supremes ordered from Spaulding and Rogers as a kit, unassembled. How hard could they be to put together? Once I got down to it I thought it was easy, once done, they worked. Now a 'working" machine is a lot different f rom 11 urunning" machine. Without proper training and e)(perience anyone WIll learn this the hard way, on former friends." Craig's been setting up good running and good looking machines for himself. and a lot of other tattooers since 1997. Over the years he's developed some ideas and rules that he applies to all the machines he sets. First of all, no chrome. Ne)(t, no dip-cord, he switches things over to RCA plugs and he's gone as far as to completely remove the rear binding post and mount. There will be absolutely no glitter tape on the coils of a machine Craig set up. lastly, but maybe most importantly,

No"",," a is a Iot f:ro.-n.. a :rn..a.ch.ine. """i"t;ho-ut proper a.n.d..

learn thia the h.ard.. "",,"ay. fo:r:rn..er friends.

MACHINEGUN

he hand cuts the springs for any machine he's settIng up. "My favorite machine is a J,m Dandy that was given to me for a tattoo. The guy hated the machine because he couldn't get It working properly. I gave it ali the treatments, dechrorn ing the frame, filed down the edges, rounding out the angles. I cut a toonie to mount the RCA plug on the spring shelf, cut 18 gauge stock for front and back springs bending them oh so much for the ideal gap and stroke. Got rid of the rear binding post , replaced all the screws and bolts with matte black he)( screws, wIres and COIls were ali fitted WIth heat shrink. I then tuned it up to working speed and threw It on the Eikon meter to do the final adjustments to the gap, filed to a point, meeting the front spring tIp perfectly. She runs at 110 Hz., 40% duty cycle, 9.5 volts WIth no load, and looks good. Gotta look good too!" Sure, CraIg makes It look easy, but he says "making a good looking machine is easy. But don't forget to always be 100klOg good whIle doing It the fight way."

SINCE 1976

READERS' MACIIINES

AFTER TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF TATTOOING IN MONTREAL, KEITH STEWART KNOWS WHERE HIS PRIORITIES LIE. He doesn't spend his t ime working on machines-he spends his time doing tattoos. After all, that's what tattooers get paid for, isn't it? "I don't work on my own mach ines_ I buy the

machine-it works good- I don't touch it," Almost no one who tattooed through the early nineties got away without going to a few conventions and buying at least one Mickey Sharpz machine. Over the years, Keith has bought a lot of machines. "That original Mickey Sharpz I bought at a convention in 1992. I did a lot of tattooing with that machine, and not just out- line, I'd color them in with it, too." For the past t hree or four years the only machines Keith has been using have been hand-built by fellow Canadian o ld-timer, Mack Bregg. Kei th can't say enough good th ings about Mack's machines. "A lot of the new companies have picked up on a lot of his stuff, copied the t hings that Mack is doing here." The Mack machines are of the super-adjustable, super-mach ined variety. Lots of t ricky mill-work and ·0· rings. A far cry from the first machine Keit h bought from an ad in Easyriders Magazine in 1976. A lot of people tattooing today weren't even born then. "I usually have about nineteen machines-I keep the ones I really like, but I've sold a few, or I g ive them as gifts."

High-Mileage Mickey Sharpz Big Brass Mack Machine

I

There were two major problems with what we were doing back then. We hadn't built the first meter yet, so I couldn't read the speed of my machine. I couldn't tell how most of the things I was

doing to my machine affected it. I was guessing what I was doing. Worse

than that, we really only had a couple of unknown spring gauges to work with. Once we started using feeler

gauge stock to make springs, we could create an exact spring force. If we needed more force, we would cut another spring out of

heavier gauge stock. If we needed less force, we'd make a spring out of lighter gauge stock.

You need to choose the right combination of front and back springs to get a machine running right. If you follow some basic rules, you will be able to

change how your machine runs. More importantly, you will understand how to get your machine to run the way you want it to.

IIOW TO

ToolI and lDiUeriail needed .0 ....... e and In •• all .prinll' FEELER GAUGE STOCK variou3 guuges METAL SHEARSjor ell/ling/eelcr gauge sloel .. PU NCH SET for plwcilillg holes in feeler gauge stock RULER AND SCRIBEjor marking mCflsuremcn/s Q/lfeeler guuge stQ{'k HEX KEY SET, SCREWDRIVER Jar lig/llening and Ioost'ni,l!! screws Ilml rllOI1II1 springs 011 the machine

VISEfor bCfldillg SIJriligs METER 10 fine tUlle lIIuc/rinc speed UIU/ com pure olle spring 10 flllOther

MACHINEGUN

Ta •• oo Sprint!

The SPRINGS on a machine control : • VOLTAGE the machine requires • SPEED of the machine • LENGTH of stroke on the machine

FRONT SPRING determines machine speed. • HARDER FRONT SPRING. Machine will run faster. • SOFTER FRONT SPRING. Machine will run slower.

BACK SPRING provides the force that puts compression on the front spring. SPRING FORCE is determined by these factors:

• LENGTH OF SPRING, Longer spring acts softer, shorter spring acts harder. • WIDTH OF SPRING, Wider spring clcts harder, ncllTower spring acts softer, • GAUGE OF SPRING. Heavier gauge is harder, lighter gauge is softer. • ANGLE OF DEFLECTION. Greater angle of deflection on back spring creates more force.

In most cases the springs on a machine are t he correct lengt h. Back spring length is critical. If it is too short or too long the needle bar will not run down the center of the tube.

Make measurements from machine before removing old springs.

1. Measure the distance from the center of the screw on the armature bar, to the center of the screw on the spring shelf. or saddle of the frame.

2.Using t he d iagram or orig inal spring as a guide. mark spring stock with a scribe. Showing overa ll length, placement of holes to be punched, and where the spring will be bent. It is ve ry important to mark the gauge of the spring stock somewhere on the spring, for future reference.

3.Using shears cut spring stock to correct le ngth.

For front spring-once length, bend, hole p lacement, and gauge for front spring have been marked, cut front spring to length.

4. Mark spring stock with a scribe showing taper of front spring. Mark this on both sides of the spring stock.

S.Taper must be cut f rom narrow end

•

of the spring, towards the back of • the spring.

6. Cut one side, then turn spring over to cut the other.

7. Punch holes in spring stock where marked.

8. Put spring in vise, lining up bend mark w ith the jaws of the vise.

9. Slowly, with even pressure bend spring. Check angle of bend with diagram or origina l spring.

Insta ll new springs onto machine, with front spring over back spring, on armature bar.

•

IIOW TO

• •

• , I - :-E - --r ,n

I * ,

MACHINEGUN

I flOW TO

o

-•

mark spring stock with a scribe

•

o

MAOIINEGUN

!lOW TO

o

MACHINEIiUN

I

IN '1'1\,I"I'(HnN(;

TATIOOING CAN BE A SERIOUS HEALTH RlSK TO THE TAlTOO[R, THE CLIENT, AS WEll. AS EVERY PERSON WHO ENTERS A TAlTOO SIIOP. Tattooists have an e lhiuJ, if nOllegal responsibility 10 see that proper procedures are In place that ensure exposure to health risks are minimized. Many Individuals carry blood borne infections, withO\.lt displaying recognizable symptoms of illness. Any tattoo shop Is open to contact with a variety 01 viral and bacterial Infections. The application of protective, preventive procedures Is needed at all limes, for every client, without exception.

Cross-contaminatlon refers to the unintentional transmission of Infectlon from person to object. then from the contaminated objecllO another person. In a tattoo shop. this most common ly occu rs In the work area, or Is II result of Improper IHocedure during the cleaning and sterilizing of contaminated Instruments.

Hepatitis viruses can remain active on a surface for a period of days to weeks, depending on the environmental conditions. A contaminated object. surface, or instrument can become a common link between two or more people, and transmission of infection can occur from client to client. The posslbillty of client to staff, and staff to client transmission must also be considered. If correct procedures are established and maintained, the possibility of disease transmission can be minimized.

ZONES

Infection control requires that a shop environment is considered In terms of separate areas or zones. The zones are established by usage-reception area, work area, cleaning area, and washroom. The zones should be designated as clean or contaminated. The Integr ity of these zones, once established, must not be compromised .

MACIIINEGUN

SIIOP SPACE

'I'A'I"I'OOIS'I'S IIAVll AN 11'I'III(;U, II' NO'I' UlIiAI, IUlSI'ONSIIIIU'I'Y '1'0 Sllll 'I'IIA'I' l'UOI'IlU l'IUl(;l!InJUllS AUtl IN l'IA(;ll 'I'IIAT IlNSIJIUl IlXl'OSIJIUl '1'0 IIIlUTII IUSI.S AUll )IINUIIZllI).

A contaminated zone is an area in whkh there has been any exposure of bodily fluids, especially blood. Overs pray created during the tattooing procedure may contain mIcro-organisms which can settle and survive on surfaces, establishing <In area as contaminated. Any person entering an area which is potentially contaminated must be aware of this fact or access to this Mea should be restricted.

An area in which any possible exposure to contaminants has been eliminated is a clean zone, this area can be maintained through disinfection and strict adherence to procedure.

Contaminated zones in a shop should be contained. and separated as much as possible from the rest of the shop. This area should not be accessible to anyone, except staff and the client being tattooed. Any person with an uncovered, fsresh tattoo, should not be allowed outside the designated contaminated zone. The tattooist should never leave the work area with contaminated gloves on.

The reception area of a shop should be established and maintained as a clean zone.

The area where instruments are cleaned prior to sterilization must be considered a contaminated area. There should be no l)ublic access to this area.

The area in which tattooing is done should be considered contaminated as soon as the session begins. Before the next client enters this area it must be returned to a safe. clean condition. The preparation of the tattooing area Is disinfectlon after the previous appointment. During the tattooing procedure <lny surface or object in the room that the tattooing is being done in may become contaminated. The tattooing area must be e<lsily cleaned. Waste receptacles should h<lve a large opening without a lid. Plastic bags should be a heavy gauge which will not easily

tear or puncture. Materials that will be needed during the tattooing procedure should be laid out for each session. They should be easily accessible to <lvoid unnecessary hand contact and consequent contamination of counter surfaces, drawer handles, and cabinet knobs. A disposable cup of water should be used to rinse the machine tube during the procedure, as sinks are problematic due to the difficulty in re-establishing cleanliness.

DISPOSABLE ITE MS

Disposable items should be used wherever possible. Disposable caps should be used for pigment. Disposable ra20rs should be used once only, then discarded. Items that will be re-used, such as tubes and needle bars. should be made of st<linless steel and sterilized after each use.

NON.DISPOSABLE ITEMS

Items that are not disposable, and cannot be sterilized must be covered with a disposable plastic barrier, to prevent contamination from reaching surfaces. Anything that wi ll be touched by the tattooer during the tatlooing procedure must be covered with plastic bags, such as, spray bottles. clip cords, and tattoo machines. PlasUc backed napkins should be u:;ed to create a disposable work surface. When removing plastic barriers, care must be taken not to contaminate the area it was covering.

SURFACES AND OBJECTS

Objects and surfal.:es In the tattooing work area that are either not disposed of, sterilized after one use, or have not been covered, must be brought to a high level of disinfection. Efficient chemical disinfection requires exposure to the disinfectant for a signilil.:ant amount of time, for many products it is as much as twenty minutes.

MACHINEGUN

SHOP SPACE

1. Surl a Ce Iiisinlecta nt

2 . Wa s h Bottle Ba g

3 . Wa s h Bottle . Reduces a erosol a ssocia ted wit h s p r a y bottle .

4. 1/2 Ta ck SUrla ce Ba rrier. a n y sur18 ce .

5. Sterilization Pouch with indicat or. Dated with one instrument in e a ch pouch.

6. Dispos able Pigment Ca p

7. Clipcord Ba g

8 . Lental Bib . :Jisp os ab le surfa ce barrier.

9. ll a chine Ba g .

MACHIIIEGUH

ThIs Is dlfflcult In a busy shop environment, where clients are seen consecutively In the same work area. [xtensive use of disposable plastic barriers, such as dental bibs, will reduce the need for chemical disinfection of the work area between clients. Counters and tableto l)S that have not been covered have been exposed to airborne particles which may contain contami nants. These areas must be wiped down with detergent germicide, and left to air dry between appointments.

T he task of choosing an appropriate product for cleaning and disinfection of Items such as tables, chairs. counter tops and floors can be very confusing. Some time must be spent becoming knowledgeable about the available produc ts. and what is needed lor the shOI).

spec.lilc questions should be asked about any produc t under consideration:

• What are the recommended uses of the product? • What Is the active antimicrobial ingredient? • How is the IHoduct used? • Will the l)fod uct damage surfaces or equipment? • What is the p roduct's I

Ask for documentation on products. If a sales representative is unable to p rovide technical information about their product, speak to someone who can. If the supplier seems incapable of providing substantIal data, look elsewhere for another product.

II' C;OIUUl(;'I' l'IUK;llnUIlI,S AIlI, I,S'I'AIIUSlIIln ANn MAIN'I'AINlln. 'I'DE I'OSSIIIIU'I'Y 01' mSIlASI, '1'llANS)IISSION CAN liE )IINUIIZlln.

New l:mxlucts for cleaning and d isinfection appear on the market constantly. liowever, the active ingred ient used in these products is generally the same as contaIned In many older products. It should be an active antimicrobial agent. 11 you are unC<!rta in about a d is infectio n product, o r I)rocess. coosult the municipal health department. Health department persoonel have access to inlormatioo that makes them a valuable source of assistance. TI ley should no t be regarded with fear o r suspicion.

When a tattooing sessioo is completed, the instruments that are to be sterilized mu,<;t be taken to an are,l designated for cleaning contaminated instruments prior to sterilization. Thorough I)re-cleanlng to physically remove all mailer is mandatory prior to sterlllzatlon. It Is nearly Impossible to clean the small spaces between needles In multIple needle configurations, re-use Is strongly discouraged. Any object to be sterlll zed must be physically clean prior to sterIli zation. Any l)1lrtlcles left on the instruments can Impair the sterilization process.

Ultrasonic cleaning is not a substitute for sterilization. It should be consIdered as a cleaning process only. Ultrasonic cleaning is p referred over manual cleanIng, fo r It has more effi cient penetratlon into the small spaces of tubes. A major concern Is the risk of nIcks or cu ts by anyone scrubbing the Instruments by hand, as well as exposure to Over-Sl)ray and splatter. These should be considered as common potentials for CTOSS<ontamination.

Items should be packaged and sealed in autoclave bags. and dated prlor to sterilization. Care should be taken that the llackages are completely dry before they are stored. "The maximum time a sterlllzed pack can be stored is debatable. Parler/ plasllc l:leel pouches are said to be safe fo r sIx to twelve months. Contamination is event-related, not time-related. The conditions of storaKe and the amount of handling to which the llacks are subjected are more important determinants of contaminat ion . Sterile packs should be kept on closed shelves away from moisture or I)()ssible contamination, and hand led as l illIe as possible I)rior 10 use." 2

MAOfIMEIUM

SilOP SPACE

IIANlIlI'ASIIING ONE 01' Hili sun'u,s'I'. ANII )IOS'I' un'on'I'AN'I' )llIANS 01' l'nEvt:N'rlN(;

The use 01 gloves is [lot a substitute for hand washing. Hand washing remains one of the simplest. and mosl important means of preventing crosS-<Olltaminalloll . Hands should be washed with soap and water as soon as gloves are removed.

lW.E.AN8 OF' STERIL.IZATION

Effective methods for sterilization are relatively limited . There <I re live methods commonly used to ster ilize instruments: Autoclaves (s team under pressure), Dry Heal Ster ilizers (hot air oven). Chemical Ste r ilization (Gluteraldehyde). Chemical Va\XlUr, and Ethylene Oxide Gas.

The most suitable sterilization system Is determined by the tolerances of the instruments being sterilized. An autoclave remains the easiest and most appropriate method of sterilizatIon available lor tattooing because the Ins truments being s terilized can withstand high temperature and steam under pressure.

An autoclave accomplishes s te rilization III much less time than a dry heat sterilizer can. Sterilization of unwrapped instruments takes 20 minutes at 126' C (260 F), and 30 minutes at 126'C (260'f) for wrapped lnstruments.J An autoclave raises the boiling point of water to 121 C (2SO-f) by Increasing the air l)reSsure by olle atmosphere (15 psi or 103.4 KPA).· Autoclaves use dis tilled water to prevent scale del)()sition on Ins truments.

Dry heat sterililatlon is used mainly for materials that cannot be sterilized safely with steam under pressure, e ither because of the pressure or the steam. Dry heat would take one hour at 170 C (340 f). or two hours at 160 C (320 F).s TIming must s tart when the entire contents of the sterilizer has reached the peak temperature needed for that particular load. Some wrapping materials are Intolerant of dry heat, which complicates storage of dry heal processed Instruments.

Chemical sterili latlon has many Umitations, and should only be used for Instruments that are intolerant of heat. Gluteraldehyde products are the only chemicals that are sufficiently sporicidal to accomplish sterilizat ion. u:posure time is long (6 - 10 hours). During Ihis period 01 immersion. no other Ins truments may be added or removed from the bath. as this Interrupts the ]HOCess. Because of toxicity. gluteraldehyde baths must be covered and left in areas with good ventilation. Glutaraldehyde mus t be thoroughly rinsed off instruments with sterile wate r before they are used.

Chemical vapour sterilization uses a combi nation of alcohols, formaldehyde, ketone, water and acetone. heated under pressure to produce a s le rllant gas. Temperatu res used are 260 F - 270 F ( 126 C - 132 C) at 20 10 40 pounds pressure. It requires 20 mInutes at temperature. and adequate ventila tion Is required.

Ethylene Oxide Vapour In Chamber - lime duration of cycle varies by temperature and concentration 01 gas. Relat ively low operating temperature means ethylene oxide sterilization is suitable for re latively heat-sensitive ilems. Adequate venti lation is required and exhaust of ventilation must be controlled. An indicator str ip or tape shou ld be included on each sterilizer bag. Most sterilizing bags or pouches have a process indicator on them. A process Indicator is printed with an ink that changes colour wi th eXI)()SUre to

MACHINE6UII

heat. steam or chemical vapour. A colour change indicates that a pouch has been processed. but it 15 IIOt proof of proper steriliza\lon.

A sterilizer should be tt!sted at least monthly to ensure that it is functioning properly. Biological monitors or spore tests are small strips of paper, or ampules containinl( living non-pathogenic resistant spores. The b io logical monitors are placed in hard to reach areas of the sterili zer, and then cu ltured. If the spores have been sterilized they will not germinate. Some biological monitors must be returned to the company for culturing. and some come with a colour indicator that Indicates prol>e:r steriliZation.

S HARPS D I SPOS A.lL

Needle configurations should be discarded directly into a sharps container. KSharps containers must be disposed of by one o f the following methods:

• removed by a licensed biomedical waste management company. • tilkf'n to a hospital or laboratory which will ensure prope r

dlsl>05al. • autoc1aved and disposed of with general 6

'\lVAJi8TE DISPOSAL

The disl>osal of j>otenUally cont aminat ed waste is generally legislated municipally. Local health departments can provide information about a tattOOist's responsibility as it pertains to waste disposal.

Garbage containers should be lined with heavy gauge garbage bags. Never al10w bags to overfill. 00 not place hard or heavy objects In bags which could cause potent ial tears or punctures. Keep waste from contaminated areas out of clean areas. In all areas bags should be sealed, Ihen prom ptly removed. Waste collection receptacles and dumpsters should be kept locked awaiting collection.

Al though waste Ilroduced during the tattOOing process should be considered contaminated, it does flot fall within the scope of regulated hazardous waste. The Bloodborne Pathogens Standard uses the term. "regulated waste: to refer to the followi ng categories of waste which require sl>eclaJ handling at a minimum;

• o r semi-liquid blood or other potentially infectious mater ials;

• items contaminated with blood or other potentially infectious materia l and which would release these substances In a liquid or semi-liquid state If compressed:

• items that are caked with dried blood or other potentially Infectious material and are c31>able of releasing these materials dur ing handling:

• contaminated sharps; and

• pathological and microbiological wastes containing blood or other potent ially infecllous nlaterial.K 7

To ensure that everyone involved in the tattOOing process Is safe from exposure to infection through cross-contaminalion. it is important to follow proper methods of cleani ng, disinfection and sterilization. Adequate levels o f cleaning, disinfection. and sterili zation can be achieved quite efficiently and cost-effectively.

ENDNOTES

I £lll.lbelh lie .. ..,.,. PhO, aM ThomN louie. MO. I1tCPC. "S!erillulion aM Ollinkruon: llelpful Hinb In 0!rKf; n... CllW!yg Jouma] a ()l!:. (1",,).p.8O.

z C tlou .......... MO, CCf'P "The ... or en. tnlKl_ In the I'hrsidUli 0IIItt. - C..uniUN

PIgWriw IDUWVCMIU' Briljsh D+uUN ( 1992). ., 3 I:InmmorId. p. t. • OrullllnOlld. 5. 5 I)rulMlOlld, p. 8. 61)rullllllOnd, p. 16. 7 tIlrofKMnt hi_as Kuoum: PriaV lIIarrb 1993,

Dlv1 ,I(M1 of " llealth, ('.enerol lodultl)' SaIeIy vroe .... 51\0, Tltlo Calilorni. Cod! of Rt(Ulotionl, p. 8.

BIBLiOGRAPIIY lIloodlomc i'JJh ... ". RclO!J ru: Sin Frl/lCi.."" m.i.l.., of Octupltlonol Hnllh " Sllet)'. Ge""ra] I"du ltry Order. Section 5193. Tltlo B. Coli/omia Code of Rtlultliont. IlrulllfllOl\4, Oouglu C. MI), CCf'P The i'mtOlion Df Cn!;u Infrt1lQp 10 !be fllnklir!,1 oma:. lItitloll CoIwTOII. Commin ... on 0tIke Medicall'Tactioe AI.e_nl. CGItto: or f'il)'lirianl .... 5urgeoru. (I !I9l). lie ........ Fllukttt MD. 1'11.0 .. and Louie. l1IomoI M.O,

·Stf:riliullon WId Dillnledion: Hintlln 0tIke1'tKtK<!-Tbr rNW'I'D.Ioun:!aI mOO (1993), pp. 73-«1 JohnMn. ralitN,S/lIIU, Dovid 5. M5.Ch8. MPH, CCf'P', ..... .1 .. 11,_. """ MO, 0011. -Inrectlon Con"'" In i'byIki .... OfIlm" c.....!1.g Family lbnjrjao \ '(Il J6

pp. m2.Z2'J6. 1J:>n&,1la>1d. rtIoIo p( I'Ivpn IUd hl'lvpn MrtboJo pf 1ofC(!J1Il Cwl!!!! iD Ibc 1)lIogjQl fnxtu

IJ:>n&,IkMd. lltocription or I'rvper lllethodll u.... in !he 1)nooI", "'-" (1!1t1)

htboceos: fio,aJ &uk. Dtpartmrnl P( latIou •. Ottupalional 5m1y and

"*"1011 .. 11 ..... II f.oIe .... Rtgi.t.r Vol 56. No.

Simi. Mitlll.tl and I)akotl, Erik.lnkl:lioo Cwtrol: (ljojeal n.. AI_lalinn P( P"'/""I<Of\all'ieru:rs.

MACHINEGUN

I

MACHINE. UN

WHAT HAPPENED? lET ME EXPLAIN SOMETHING. NOT ALL SCIENCE IS GOOD SCIENCE. IN FACT, NOT EVERYTHING THAT IS PRESENTED AS SCIENCE, IS SCIENCE AT ALL. In any attempt to learn things. a systematic method of study is requi red. Initial ly a hypothesis is made, and it will be accepted to be true, until it is proven untrue. You see, the idea isn't to prove things are true .. ,it is to prove things are not t rue. In any case of trying t o prove things, accurate measurements must be made. A world without measurements would be a world of chaos ..

Imagine the police pulling you over, stating they were going to give you a ticket because you seemed like you were probably speeding. You wouldn't accept that. But tattooing has been functioning on a set of mechanical rules that are absolute guess work. There's even an entire list of non-sensical terms that describe nothing, that seem to be accepted by the trade. What does It mean to Hburn a tuneH into your machine? What exactly is a SpotH? What kind of yokels are you? There IS always an amount of voltage, that in conj\Jnction with a certain contact point size, will cause the machine to run smoothly-and guess what? That's why the contact point on the machine and the voltage on the power supply, are adjustable - so you can do that. Don't tell me about the sweet spot.

I can see you all, Just silting there, drooling, adjusting the point gap, then adjusting the voltage, a little up, a little down, mostly down though, 'cause them low volts is good, and all the time imagining you're working on your machine, just like the old

ti'Tle machine builders. Well you're not. First off, you're not working your machine, and secondly if you were like the old time machin e

builders you'd probably be drunk, but for :;u re you'd be a broke loser ir a trai ler park some p lace. And if you're O.K. with tha t , good-but d::m't make it al l out to be something that it wasn't . I'm not saying old tiTle tattoo machine mechanics shou ld be criticized as pecple-but to admi re how they did things ... to use their terminology ... come on-they had no ida" what they were doinG in point. the cut-back rrachine style.

Although I can admire the ingenuity that it took to develop the cut-back, I can't believe it was accepted as a viable so lut ion. Rea lly, it should have been a stepping stone to a simp le, more efficient solution. BaSically, the major o ld t imer problem was spring stock. They

rarely wou ld use a variety of spring stock-they'd fi nd something they believed was good and st ick with it. Now it's pretty d fficult to make a machine run faster or slower without chang ing springs-but they managed to do that with the cut back. By moving the contact Foints back on the front spring, the spring wi ll act hard. Imagine a long piece of wood, a 2" .... 4", maybe eight feet long, it wil l bend, or flex. Now, cut a foot off that same piece - same wood, same thickness, but it won't fie .... . The springs on a tattoo machine are the same - if the spring is long, it will flex a lot , if the spring is short , it won't. Not on ly is the front spring on a cut-back short, but it is usua lly pretty wide as well, making it even stiffer. This is going to give you a very short closed contact t ime on that machine. That is to say when the contact points on the machine touch there will be no flex in the front spring, so the contact points will open aga in very quick ly. Now if that front spri ng was very, very soft the contact points would touch, then flex up, then slowly flex down, and fi nally open. That's why a hard front spring wi ll make a machine run faster and a soft front spring wi ll make a machine fl.H'1 slower. So to take a machine and a lter it into a cut-back style means cutting and filing and moving that top binding post as far back as possible so that the contact point will be as far back as possible on the front spring. Now, you've got to imagine it'd take some half blind old goomer quite a while to do that , with his old fi le and a dril l-but at least it would give him something to do. But ju st cutt ing a heavier gauge of front spring would have accomplished the exact same thing. tf you're going to admire the o ld time machine bui lders, go ahead-but keep it in conte .... t. The fact that any of them would run a cut-back liner shows they were quick to determ ine a problem solved, when qu ite

a Simpler solution would have been found if they had just kept working at things in a scientific manner.

Anyhow, they had no way of measuring what they were doing with their eqU ipment, so they cou ld never prove or disprove anything. That was just the way they did things.

cut-back

HISTORY OF NEEDLEMAKING The pointing of needles on hlgb-speed power-driven sandstones was Introduced about 1180. Jobn Mills, who took over the converted Ipsley Millin 1160, was probably experimenting wltb the Idea as early as 1165, when he was charged threepence for a ·thlng for the mill', and In 1166 for warps and stones, and again In 1767 for new poinUng stones, warps and pulleys. Needles were almost certainly being pointed by dry grinding in 1780. This 'new' process was almost certainly similar to the one developed by the London needlemaken a hundred yean earlier, and just as deadly. The first stones used were pierced wltb a square hole and filled tightly on to a square shaft. This was accepted practice for edge grinders at that time, but It was found that at the high speeds required to obtain a good point the stones tended to crack in the corners of the holes under centrifugal force and break-up, causing serious injuries and sometimes death. Disturbing as this was, It was not the worst aspect. The pointers worked In semi-darkness in order to see the points forming by the light of their own sparks. The whole time they were enveloped In clouds of dust. 11 was found Impossible for young men to become pointers until they had matured. The lire of a pointer was considered to be abnut seven years, few surviving to see their thirtieth birthday. They were well paid and refused any improvements In their working condilions for fear that their salary would be reduced. When S. Thomas and Son introduced J. C. Chambers' fan into British mills the pointers went on strike for twelve months. Ultimately a much greater threat was posed by Colin Banks' pointing machine. The pointers purchased the first one from him and ceremoniously smashed It up on the Redditch Church Green In 1854. Colin Banks used the money to go to Aachen, where he sold his Invention to the needlemaker Schlelcber of Schonthal and sel himself up with the proceeds In Iserlohn, selling out to Hermann Joseph Neussln 1860. He then returned home and built his nwn factory In Reddilch.

I

CI: One tnd 01 my dipcord is red. the uIher is black. Is for posiliYt and negative? If so, what's positive and negative on my machine?

A: There is no po5itiyt or nt<)alive on oil tattoo machine. There is a posi tive and negative on most, but not all, capacitors. The negative lead on the capacitor will be indicated, unless the capacitor is bipolar, in which case 1\ does not matter which way the cl ipcord is. The draw back with bipolar or non·polarized capacitors is thev have a much shorter life than polarized capacitors. The nt<)atlve (black) end 01 the cl ipcord should always go to the connection on the machine closest to the nega tive end of the capacitor. Generally in electronics the ground, or l1t<)atlve, goes directly to the frame. On a tattoo machine this Is general ly

If you're trying to save money, don't save rt on needles, it's only a few cents and will ultimately affect your work,

the top connection, at the sprinlj saddle. The lower binding post WOt.Ild be the positive, because it is insulated but you'll find as many machines with the at the bottom, as at the top - so check the capacitor.

Q; I know I should be coYering my machines with I plaslic big. but it seems !hat will causa my madlinM to GvHtJul Is Iflil possible?

A: FirSt of a ll, you're right. You should be bagging your machines. If you tran:lmit a disease from one client to another because you are ignorant 01 proper procedure, that W(luld be a terrible thing. But if you knew better, and just didn't follow pl"Of)tr procedure for reason, how could you live with yourself? Secondly, bagging your machine will not cause machine

Q: Whars lIIe difference between carllnn sl!tl needtes and stain· less stHt ne.dlts? ,"", also been hearing abo'" carbon plated neeelts - what are 111'11 A: The quality, or usability of a needle for tattooing cannot be judged solely by whal the needle Is made of. Cet1ainly, stainless steel needles are the only needles ttklt should be used for tattooing but not aU stainless steel need les are going to W(lrIr: for tattooing. The profile and diameter of the needle will determine whether or rKlt a needle will won.; for tattooing. Carbon steel is a softer metal ttkln stainless steel and consequently easier to grind. So, a less expensive material that 's easier to manufacture ends up being a less product. But not one ttklt should be used for tattooing. Carbon steel has a tendency to rust very quickly- and would

HlCHIIiEGUN

be constantly rxposed to liquId'; during the tattooing pr0ce5S. Carbon plated need les are generally nickel or chrome plating over a carbon steel needle - not some kind of carbon plating on a needle. Very inexpensive, very low quality. No plated needle should ev1!r be used to tattoo. The process of tattooing causes some on the needles. As the plating start> to wear, it chips and separates from the needles. Stainless steel Is a more eKpensive product. and very difficult to grind, espeCially at the diameters and to the toleraroces required to make a good needle lor tattooing. 115 high would be il$ only dralWilck. If you're trying to s.ave money, don't save it on need les, it's only a lew cenl$ and will ultimately affect your wor1o:.

0: lately my machines haye been losing power and sputter a bit when I"m workinll. r", only !lad my power supply for a par. and paid a ill! for it. Could it be wearing out alrudy?

A: No the problem is almost certainly not your power supply. Almost every time it's your clipcorti. The wire will break insiOe the r ubber coating, SO it won't be to your eyes, and it won' t just break one day, it slowty breaks down causing nothin<] but trouble. It sterns like it's your machine or the power supply-but really it's just the clipcord. They don't last forever- I'd guess you got a new clipcord when you got a new power supply - and abo ut a year, for a busy tattOOl'r is about how long a clipcortl will last. Always a 5j)are clipcord on hand, is the first thing to chKk when you have any mechanical problems- and it's usua lly the culp rit.

0: Some of !he guys I .... with are absolutely ani! about deanillg lIIeir lubes-but they·re going 10 get aulodmd anyway, so whafs Ihf big deal?

A: Autoclaving your equipment is not the same as cleaning 00 NOT KID YOURSELF! Things must be physica lly clean before they are sterilired. And I mean pedectly clean. Let's imag ine a tube that's been used to tattoo it's a bit dirty but you rinse it off, scrub it,. and it seems pretty clean. You bag it, and autOclave it later that week you set up with that tube again - it's steril ized- it looks clean but if there was a bit of dried pigment inslele the tube in some small comer that didn' t get cleaned away, it's still there. Once you start wor1o:ing ttkli bi t 01 dried pigment Now it's gone - disso lved into the pigment you' re using today. The problem is the comer of the tube ttklt was covered by that microscopic bit of pigment is now exposed-it was not cleaned because it had pigment on It. It also was not stenlired becal.lSe it had pigment on it This is a serious issue that must never be taken lightly. Know your review your procedure, iIIld never take short CUI$ with your procedure.

YOUR TECffNICAL l>IFFlCULTIES RESOWEl>

D, I'm looking at new pow!!' r .... notien some are 120 volt and some art 220 'lOt Is lIIere any iltvanlail to the higher voltage ptwfl' sUpjllits - wil!hey cIeIim more power? Wil I 11M to do Iny f.-wiring in my shop 10 use a 220 'l1li power supply?

A: In North America we use 120 vol ts. Thai's the voltage in your normal ele<:trical olltlet. Not so in other parts of the world. A ll of Europe in fact uses 220 volts. The power supplies that that are 220 voll ..... ;11 not more power to your machine, they a re designed to be used in other parts of the m rld . it's as simple as that.

Il: WhIt do the diffmnt numbers meill on a capacitor? A: There are two numbers listed on iii capaci tor. The first is the voltage ra t ing that a ppears as iI number fol lowed by a capital 'V'. This Is the rnaKimum vol tage the capacitor tan take befo re It fa ils. Two common ratings a re 25V and 35V. Generally a tattoo machine never runs above 12 vo lts SQ iii 25 vo lt rating is lots. The second rat ing is the capacitance rated in mic ro Farads. This is the ratio of the quan ti ty of electr ici ty and the vo ltage. In othe r words, the capaci ty of a capacitor depends on the amount of electri city it will hold at a certain voltage. Two convnon Sizes that work well for a tattoo machine are 22 uF and 47 uF. There are many different ratings available, but these two supply the right amount of enel"9Y fo r the way a tattoo nlitChine runs.

II: 0. of lilt guys! work with has a lib supply. lie claims IIIat his Ncbint I1IH b_ 011 low allps. ! 11m 110 idea whM !hat means. CIII! mtic:t !lit ImpS ItII my ,owtt supply?

A: No, you cannot, but you would not want to even if you COuld . By changing the setti ng on your power supply you are trying to cha nge the st rength of your mag ne ts. The way to ma ke a n e lec t roma gnet stronger or weake r Is to vary the amo un t of voltage. This Is the most accura te way to control your machlJ"le. By

"

I I I \ I /

reducing the amps, you are just iJ"lcreaslng the resista J"lce iJ"l the circuit, and choking back the amount of power that your machine can draw. By adjustiJ"lg the vol lage, you ate actually setting the strength of your magnets, and your machine will draw tilt amount 01 amps thai it needs. To do this you must make sure that you Milt a variable voltage power supply. One example of this Is a lab supply, but they

COf!/;niHld Of! p4J

MACHINEGDN

ConMUffd /rom p37

are generally overkill for tattooing. There are a feY>l supplies that are designed for tattooing that are as stable as a lab supply, but are considerably less rroney, and are more compact

Q, Why is blllt stet! considered by some 10 bt 1M but material fDr springs?

A: I am not sure why many people believe this, I think it is because that was all that was used for a long tUlle. Basically, it is blue because of the tempering process. It is m.lde of C.lrbon steel, lind tempered (heat treated) to mllke it lI! hard II The draw back Is that generally it is of fairly low quality. It is used in applications that are not as critical as the setup of a tattoo machine. To setup a machine properly, you must be able to vary the force of )'Our front and back springs. The most practical way to do this is to change the thickness of the spring. You could do it by changing the length, but this is not practical, because you could not line up your bar in your tube. Basically you want a wide selection of spring thickness, in steel that is very consistent,because a difference of 0.001" in thickness can make a big difference to how the machine runs.

f3a,uue 4- & SeIUd«4 .. ...... ..-/- tk t4tto<> MU4t"

solid oak 1011et seats. glove belle cove..s, QJstomiZed power covers and morel

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