Axys Valhalla, Inkjecta Flight Nano, or Stigma-Rotary Spear? I really need help choosing

Hello everyone,

I have spent hours researching which high end tattoo machine I should purchase, as I feel it is definitely time for an upgrade….. I would really love some advice from tattoo artists that have used these machines. I have been leaning toward the Axys Valhalla, but recently have been swaying toward the Inkjecta Flite Nano (purchasing the additional stoke length cam set). I am really looking for a versatile machine that can outline, black n grey shade, as well as color pack….

Hello mate .
I haven’t used any of them , but from what I have seen from lots of YouTube vids a lot of people rate the bishop wand packer and shader as really good . Some use just the packer for amazing work. Worth a look
I’m going for the packer when I get a bit of money .

s

Im following because I just purchased a Valhalla based on the amount of great reviews from a year or so ago. But recently, over the past few months, Ive spoken to multiple people who have had to return them for repair because of the cam breaking and the problem never got sorted out. The replacements had the same issue. They were selling like crazy on eBay not that long ago but now theyre just sitting. One sold for less than $300 the other day actually with all the additional grips. Mines been up for sale but I havent had any interest and Im wondering if its because everyones heard about the issues with the cam now.

You're on the Tattooing 101 forum....search for Tattooing 101 on youtube....they recommend the Inkjecta

I could say the exact same thing back to you, apparently you haven’t seen the Axys Valhalla video they posted as well lol… maybe double check all the videos next time you want to be condisending toward someone for no reason…
Anyways, in both videos they really like both machines but it was two different instructors… I was wondering if anyone had used both machines and had a preference with reasons as to why they preferred one over the other… I also noticed they said the Inkjecta may have a little tougher time pushing over a 9RL, and the Valhalla pushed an 11RL with ease in the separate review video… I have been dead set on the Valhalla until I saw the issues people have been coming across, also it does not have torsion bars to adjust the give which would be nice…

wrighty said:

Hello mate .
I haven’t used any of them , but from what I have seen from lots of YouTube vids a lot of people rate the bishop wand packer and shader as really good . Some use just the packer for amazing work. Worth a look
I’m going for the packer when I get a bit of money .

s

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Thanks for the reply! I really like those as well, but I am really looking for a tattoo machine where I can adjust the cam. I am looking to get an all-in-one liner, shader, packer…. Down the road I probably will add a bishop to my collect though

Johneff said:

Im following because I just purchased a Valhalla based on the amount of great reviews from a year or so ago. But recently, over the past few months, Ive spoken to multiple people who have had to return them for repair because of the cam breaking and the problem never got sorted out. The replacements had the same issue. They were selling like crazy on eBay not that long ago but now theyre just sitting. One sold for less than $300 the other day actually with all the additional grips. Mines been up for sale but I havent had any interest and Im wondering if its because everyones heard about the issues with the cam now.

Click to expand...

I also noticed that a decent amount of people have been coming across this problem which made me start looking into other machines. I was dead set on the Valhalla, until I did some further research… I also would like to be able to adjust the torsion bars to adjust the “give” or whatever you would call it… As for the common somewhat malfunction the Valhalla seems to have, I wonder if they ran their machine without a cartridge in it. I noticed there are several warning saying to never run without a cartridge in it, and maybe they forgot or didn’t notice the warning. If so, then that makes sense as to why this malfunction seems to be happening to some of the users…

I noticed you said you are currently selling your Valhalla, may I ask why your are selling it? I am assuming due to the cam issue you have noticed?

My main 3 pen style machines are the Valhalla, Bishop wand packer and Xion Spektra (I also have a Chinese clone with 4mm stroke that can lay lines in like a dream…unusual I know).

Spektra went back to the states after less than 10 weeks use, they replaced everything and returned but I hardly use it, I find it weak even with the 3.7 cam.

I do use the Valhalla on a short stroke for black and grey shading but find it struggles to push bigger needles and power liners (#14).

So my go to on a daily basis is the Bishop. It was the most expensive, as I ended up with the power wand and critical battery BUT I’d buy it again every time over the other two, and I feel like I wasted the price of 2 machines finding the Bishop.

However….a couple of colleagues have Spektra Flux machines and for heavy duty stuff like blackout and real chunky lines I know they wouldn’t swap these either.

A thought on where we are today:

Not so very long back the default (or at least most common) stroke length was 3.5. Then we started seeing makers up the stroke length, Bishop has a 4.2 and a 5mm machine in the packer and liner options, Vlad Blad goes up to 5.2 (I believe), Spektra Flux is 4mm, new Acus machine has a 4.5 option and Cheyenne has just announced the Sol Nova 5mm, jumping up from their previous 4mm ‘long’ stroke.

Maybe this is all coincidence but seems the general consensus is moving towards longer strokes as general purpose machines.

Also….there seemed to be a resurgent interest in coil machines at the recent Blackpool TatCon in the UK.

I think people are realising that while rotaries offer ease of use and maintenance, compared to coils they often just lack the punch to sink ink effortlessly. Maybe this is why so many builders are upping stroke length, which does require an adjusted approach to general purpose tattooing. I can do most things with my Bishop packer, including a lot of black and grey and small config lining, as wel as the stuff it’s designed for.