Blowouts from going too shallow?

isp206 · 8 Aug 2022

Hi all, I've been lurking on this forum for several years and finally am here to ask a question. Is it possible to get blowouts from going too shallow? I've been tattooing people for about 4-5 months now in my apprenticeship. I went from not stretching enough/not getting ink in one pass, to now getting blowouts. I've tried keeping the machine vertical, angled, slowing hand speed, speeding up hand speed, and lowering voltage. It's happened on hips (tight, thin skin), shoulders, ankles, basically everything. I see those little black lines/webs spread when I'm pulling the needle and I panic.
I run the liner at 7.3v or less (it hits hard) and usually use a tight or loose 7 needle grouping. Liner is SOBA bolo liner.
Ink is Dynamic triple black ink.
2mm-ish hang out and I haven't tried riding the tube since I have trouble seeing the needles already LOL.

Thank you

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whippet · 8 Aug 2022

Going too shallow will not give blowouts, though a slow hand can literally overload the line with pigment creating a raised line, but this generally heals out.

Placement and ‘thin skin’ areas can contribute to blowouts through tattooing too deep.

Triple black and extra black inks have smaller pigment molecules that sit more tightly together to appear ‘more black…BUT they are also more prone to blowing out. I wouldn’t recommend lining with triple or extra blacks etc, until youre fully competent in achieving solid lines without blowouts.

Needle config also plays a part. The tighter and sharper, basically those that penetrate easier, are much easier to blowout with. I would say that 3s, 5s and 7s can be problematise if you’re still developing your skills, while bugpin or tight versions of these sizes are even more problematic.

Maybe move up to standard 9s, or try some 7 or 9 power liners, #14 gauge needles (0.40). Basically try to increase the surface area of the needle tips and this will help.

I don’t know the machine you mentioned but with no give rotaries (most of them) this has become more of a problem for developing tattooers, as the needle will ALWAYS travel to the full extent (depth) of the cycle, while with coils machines and some rotaries with give, the skin can decelerate the needles and stop them from travelling further than necessary.

The fact that you’re lining with a coil machine and getting blowouts would tempt me to get someone to watch me tattoo and try and explain what’s going wrong on the flesh.

Do you tattoo on reelskin or similar? If so, try and put in solid black lines that you can’t detect if you run th e back of your fingernail over them, basically with no damage to the surface of the skin. If you pulled the skin on both sides of the line it wouldn’t tear or open up at all. This would give you a good guide on your depth control.

MalligaMallan · 8 Aug 2022

Also having a very low angle of the needle can cause blow outs, due to the ink getting in more "sideways" so to say.

A very bad drawing (made on my phone) to show this:

isp206 · 8 Aug 2022

whippet said:
Going too shallow will not give blowouts, though a slow hand can literally overload the line with pigment creating a raised line, but this generally heals out.

Placement and ‘thin skin’ areas can contribute to blowouts through tattooing too deep.

Triple black and extra black inks have smaller pigment molecules that sit more tightly together to appear ‘more black…BUT they are also more prone to blowing out. I wouldn’t recommend lining with triple or extra blacks etc, until youre fully competent in achieving solid lines without blowouts.

Needle config also plays a part. The tighter and sharper, basically those that penetrate easier, are much easier to blowout with. I would say that 3s, 5s and 7s can be problematise if you’re still developing your skills, while bugpin or tight versions of these sizes are even more problematic.

Maybe move up to standard 9s, or try some 7 or 9 power liners, #14 gauge needles (0.40). Basically try to increase the surface area of the needle tips and this will help.

I don’t know the machine you mentioned but with no give rotaries (most of them) this has become more of a problem for developing tattooers, as the needle will ALWAYS travel to the full extent (depth) of the cycle, while with coils machines and some rotaries with give, the skin can decelerate the needles and stop them from travelling further than necessary.

The fact that you’re lining with a coil machine and getting blowouts would tempt me to get someone to watch me tattoo and try and explain what’s going wrong on the flesh.

Do you tattoo on reelskin or similar? If so, try and put in solid black lines that you can’t detect if you run th e back of your fingernail over them, basically with no damage to the surface of the skin. If you pulled the skin on both sides of the line it wouldn’t tear or open up at all. This would give you a good guide on your depth control.

Thank you, this is super helpful! I was originally tattooing on pound of flesh, so it’s super thick and If i wanted, i could basically drill into it without going through the other side. I’m going to try changing the ink and needle sizes.
Do you think voltage could be contributing at all?

whippet · 9 Aug 2022

isp206 said:
Thank you, this is super helpful! I was originally tattooing on pound of flesh, so it’s super thick and If i wanted, i could basically drill into it without going through the other side. I’m going to try changing the ink and needle sizes.
Do you think voltage could be contributing at all?

Probably not the voltage. Higher wrap coils have a stronger pull on the armature bar BUT the trade is that they dissipate the current more slowly. Voltage on a coil does not correlate to speed in the same way it does in a rotary machine, springs and air gap determine the speed of a coil machine. You’ll know that there is a sweet spot on any coil machine set up and that’s what you’re aiming for. You seldom hear over-cranked coils used in any credible tattoo video online, and that in itself tells you something.

Focus your development on depth control and ensure that you ease in and ease out of the skin at line end points, as people say, like an airplane landing and taking off, same whe you are turning a line around (like the end of a leaf)…lift your tip up.

Blowouts from going too shallow?

isp206

SOBA Bolo Liner

whippet

MalligaMallan

isp206

whippet

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