Rotary Machines

Hi, Has anyone on the board used one of the rotary machines that seem to be all over the net now? They sounds great, but remind me of homemade "guns" with an old cassette motor in them. I'm ready to invest in a new liner but I don't want to drop a hundred and twenty bucks on junk when I could just invest in a top notch coil style machine. Bud

And absolutely no one bothered to reply with "get an apprenticeship"?? This board is getting to be dulllll reading.

Never used one myself mate. A bit dubious about a machine that does both lining and shading without having to be tuned. Not to sure bout how that works.

Hey Vegas, On a serious note, I don't know if you've ever been blessed with an old cassette motor gun ( I won't call it a machine ). But you would take a small round piece of steel and solder it to the side of the shaft to create an offset rotation. These apparently work on the same premise. But they have little links between the motor and needle. Long one does lines and the short does fill work. Or at least I think that's the way it goes. I've decided to invest in a coil style machine as I can't seem to get any feedback as to how good these things are.

i did my homework and contacted a few friends of mine. Your not far off the mark with your description there mate. But the consensus view seems to be they are pretty shit. so youve made a good choice by sticking to a coil machine.

Rotary guns are no good for lining because of the rotary action,,, it won't do a straight line,,, they are really great for black / grey shading but not solid colour or anything so if do alot of black & grey buy one for the shading aspect.....but they don't really do well for anything else,,,,

There are plenty of really good artists who use rotary machines. Like the Cheyenne Hawk. http://www.cheyenne-tattoo.com/english/hawk.shtml It appears to me, if you learn how to use it, you can get the same results as coils. Shading or linework. But use whatever you are comfortable with. This guy has been using the Hawk for quite a while. And I think the results speak for themselves. www.tattooandy.com

Don't be so quick to judge rotary machines before you try them. I've switched over and I'm never going back to coil. It's made a big difference for me.

I've been using the hawk since May and will never go back to coils. I love never having to do any maintenance and it always runs perfect. www.skindeepinktattoo.com

I use the Rapier Rotary tattoo machine that we have invented and designed. The machine is lightyears ahead of a coil machine. Coil machines need to be adjusted and tuned on a regular basis, the Rapier is maintanence free. It works the same day in and day out with no tuning needed. Its lightweight [2.5oz.] very versitile, and fully adjustable in stroke,power,and needle give. You can check out my demo on my sample page on my website: thetattooedpirate.org or you can call at757-407-7336. The Pirate

Rotaries forliiiife... Run better, much more dependable, they actually put it in better w LESS trauma therefore better healing. The weight is much easier on the wrists (lets prolong the health of our joints kids). I used a cheap stealth for 2 yrs works awesome. It has its drawbacks but for a hundred bucks or so it CANNOT be beat. The australian swashdrive however is the best machine Ive ever used... Coils never ever again-ISAACDAVISTATTOOS.com

I recently bought some neo tats. they are really nice. it takes some getting used to as far as technique. I cant line well with them, but a couple of artist who used to work here did everythihg with them.

A machine is only as good as the person operating it. Some machines may make your job easier than others, but if you're good, you can make a good tattoo with a crap machine, if you're not so good, well, it goes the other way. I've recently acquired 2 identical rotary machines that I use for lining, shading, black & Grey, and solid fill. The machines work great and I feel that the work that I could have done with a coil machine was easier to do with these particular Rotary machines. Just like anything else, you get what you pay for, so if you invest $20 into a Rotary machine, it's not going to be the wisest investment, but if you get a good one, you won't be disapointed with its performance as long as you figure out how to get it to work the way that you want it to; the same goes for Coil machines. -KRYSTOF