Ghost Lines/Needles Showing

Hi all,

I have been tattoo'ing on fake skin now for around a year. I've been using reel skin to try get as close to skin experience as possible.

Recently I have started tattoo'ing my own thigh to see the difference between fake and real skin.

Equipment:
Axys Valhalla
Killer ink precision 9 liner
Dynamic triple black ink

Initially when I first started I was sinking lines fairly well, not perfect but the ink seemed to be going in. This was when I was using smaller configurations such as a 5 round liner.

I've been trying to do traditional style pieces on my thigh with a 9rl running at 11v with a 4.2 stroke. Needle set 2mm out and going in just before the tube while trying to get the best stretch that I can. I've tried different voltages and pacing of my hand while pulling lines but it seems to be getting worse - I now seem to not only be getting ghost lines but appear to be getting this weird effect where I can see the individual needle groupings?

I have only tattoo'ed myself and intend to keep it this way - any help would be massively appreciated as I'm losing my mind!

I've tried to attach pictures of what I tried today but it wouldn't work - quick links:


Apologies if it's not allowed.

worth mentioning - I have tried running the 9 liner at 9-12 v and still seem to get the same needle config lines.

Thanks,

Dave.

Hello and welcome to the forum Dave ? The guys on the forum who use those bigger configurations will definitely have some tips and advice for you ??

Bigger configurations have that problem if you are running your lines to fast or to shallow.

When using a rotary with larger groupings, you have to push the needles into the skin for them to penetrate and you have to slow down the larger the grouping gets to saturate the line. Angle is also important with these larger groupings.

I'd say, from looking at your pictures, try to push down so you get the needles to penetrate. Slow hand speed and little by little, increase the force of you pushing down until you get a nice black line. If you see a grey shadows around the line you have gone past the dermis and too deep.

Try to have a perpendicular angle to your line work so that the line is the thickness of the needle.

Definitely looks too shallow. Slow down and try slightly more depth. Don't be afraid to go over a line twice if its not fully saturated on the first pass.

Thanks all - really appreciate the help. I'll try the above out and see if that helps - I've been trying to let the rotary do all the work so will try to add some force.

yeah agree with above, also last time when I was using 9rl 0.35 I keept cleaning it because there was all the time someting getting in the needle and stops it from good penetration

OldBlue13 said:

Thanks all - really appreciate the help. I'll try the above out and see if that helps - I've been trying to let the rotary do all the work so will try to add some force.

Click to expand...

I could be wrong, but it seems to me like heavy coils would do alot of the work for pressure but with light Rotary's you need a slight bit of hand pressure with bigger groupings. Depending on machine hit and speed and where abouts on the body. I've done enough scratchy not deep enough lines on myself too. I completely agree with what alot of people say about finding the right vibrations in your stretching hand. Just a shame that can't really be learnt without practice

Forgot to mention, stretch is super important. The tighter you get that skin the easier it is to penetrate

Coils have it easier not only because of the weight, they also have a deadstop with a hard metallic slap when the armature bar hits the coils. T

That metallic slap makes sense. Yea agree on the stretching, super important. Dunno about anyone else but on them soft spots like inner thigh I also put downward pressure with my stretching hand to take away abit of bounce

Turn it up and slow down your hand speed

Did you have plenty of ink in the needle ? It also looks like your not getting a good enough stretch,it not easy high up on your thigh to get a good stretch