Scratchy/Double Line

Notice how its like 3 thin parallel lines? This entire practice is like this and Ive noticed it on a few other practice skins.

This is a closeup.



I tried going over a few lines again, but its still like that.

Oh and I was using a 7rl and coils.

get an eye loupe and look at your needles, they may be out of whack, bent spread apart etc.. a piece of paper towel may be in the needles causing seperation, again the eye loupe will tell. dried ink if you took a break for too long could also be the culprit, these may or may not be the problem, any one else? im guessing bent needle from rubber practice skin.

Could be the needle, so do not rule that out. Look at them before you put them in the tube and make sure you are not getting a snag on the needles as you insert them. If the needles are good, then I would say try this:

1. Make sure your needles are stable in your machine.

2. Kick up your lining voltage and try the same hand speed, slow hand speed & faster hand speed.
(you can get thick or thicker lines from a 7RL) Practice a bunch of lines till you get it down.

Start with your machine:

Setup your needle tube and band. Just run your power supply and make sure your supply is all good, run your machine slow, medium and fast to do that.

Then run your machine and find a real nice buzz and a consistent fast hit for your needles. That is your starting voltage.
Now draw a bunch of line on practice skin just 2-3 inch straight up and down. Push or pull out some lines at different voltage and hand speeds. and find what looks good. Then do a skin of S & reverse S, then circles, then squares. See what looks good and play with your machine, adjust the contact screw and make it run slower or faster, do the same with your voltage. You will find what works.

See the hard thing is you are self learning like the rest of us. The only way to learn is try new things. I know you said you do not have a lot of money, but keep saving. And in the mean time learn to master your liner, put a stiffer spring on it and put a softer spring on it. Play with it. Swap some coils out. Springs and coils are not a lot of money. Pretend your machine is the only machine that is available to tattoo with. Can you make it work? You would have to if you wanted to tattoo right?
Put the time in to learn and master your craft and their will be no stopping you. Good Luck :thumbsup:

I had the same problem when starting out and it was down to poor machine tuning.

if you want to try different springs just buy a feeler gauge and a set of tin snips the pair will cost you next to nothing
and you will get a full spring kit out of it.

I think we all suffered this at some point. If its not the needle, crank up the power so it sounds like a remote controlled aeroplane and try again with quicker hand movement.
If it looks good, reduce the power and speed to suit you, until its nice and crisp.

Tattooz said:

crank up the power so it sounds like a remote controlled aeroplane

Click to expand...

I love it, thats the best way Ive ever herd it describe :icon_mrgreen:

Tattooz said:

I think we all suffered this at some point. If its not the needle, crank up the power so it sounds like a remote controlled aeroplane and try again with quicker hand movement.
If it looks good, reduce the power and speed to suit you, until its nice and crisp.

Click to expand...

Yea I had to crank it up a few volts and go slower to finish it. But it was still noticeable a little.

Now this may sound like a very simple mistake, and i am not judging at all, BUT....... That looks very very much like a line put down with a RS and not a RL?
Look at the spread of a shader through an eye loop, then look at that line. Its a good possibility you are using a crap Chinese (White box) needle, and quite honestly, they dont give a shit what they are made like.
I may be wrong, but it is very suspect, and it looks like something that neither speed or power would avoid.

CrazyFrog said:

Now this may sound like a very simple mistake, and i am not judging at all, BUT....... That looks very very much like a line put down with a RS and not a RL?
Look at the spread of a shader through an eye loop, then look at that line.

Click to expand...

You can line with a RS its just like using a 'Trad' needle, a RL needles are preferd for lining because there tighter.

As for the cheap chinese needles that could be the case because they are made poorly

CrazyFrog said:

Now this may sound like a very simple mistake, and i am not judging at all, BUT....... That looks very very much like a line put down with a RS and not a RL?
Look at the spread of a shader through an eye loop, then look at that line. Its a good possibility you are using a crap Chinese (White box) needle, and quite honestly, they dont give a shit what they are made like.
I may be wrong, but it is very suspect, and it looks like something that neither speed or power would avoid.

Click to expand...

I thought I mistakenly used a shader too but I checked the package and it said liner. It was a cheap chinese needle though.....I have over 200 of the damn things lol.

ive bought dome cheap needles 9rl to be exact from ebay, then got some free sample 9rl from needleboy.com and the difference was night and day. The ones from ebay were really loose, held them up to a round shader and they looked exactly the same. The ones from needleboy.com were nice and tight like a liner should look.

mikefuup said:

ive bought dome cheap needles 9rl to be exact from ebay, then got some free sample 9rl from needleboy.com and the difference was night and day. The ones from ebay were really loose, held them up to a round shader and they looked exactly the same. The ones from needleboy.com were nice and tight like a liner should look.

Click to expand...

Thanks, I just ordered 25 7rl and 25 9rs from there to test.

Im hoping the needles have been my problem all along, wish me luck!

CrazyFrog said:

Now this may sound like a very simple mistake, and i am not judging at all, BUT....... That looks very very much like a line put down with a RS and not a RL?
Look at the spread of a shader through an eye loop, then look at that line. Its a good possibility you are using a crap Chinese (White box) needle, and quite honestly, they dont give a shit what they are made like.
I may be wrong, but it is very suspect, and it looks like something that neither speed or power would avoid.

Click to expand...

This would be my guess as well.
Although it says rl doesn't mean it is. the chinese made junk isn't quality 95% of that stuff is just thrown in a package. for practice its fine, but real skin, it's a no no....If it comes down to cost, or insufficient funds, then wait until you can save to get quality stuff. you may have paid $15 for a box of 100 needles, but i guarantee you'll have to toss 70% of them out.

Tattooz said:

I think we all suffered this at some point. If its not the needle, crank up the power so it sounds like a remote controlled aeroplane and try again with quicker hand movement.
If it looks good, reduce the power and speed to suit you, until its nice and crisp.

Click to expand...

Awesome. Best way I've ever heard that explained.

How tight are your needles? Cheap needles tend to be on the loose side. Papillon supply has some super tight needles. They are a little pricey, but they are the best I have found.

TattooJay said:

Could be the needle, so do not rule that out. Look at them before you put them in the tube and make sure you are not getting a snag on the needles as you insert them. If the needles are good, then I would say try this:

1. Make sure your needles are stable in your machine.

2. Kick up your lining voltage and try the same hand speed, slow hand speed & faster hand speed.
(you can get thick or thicker lines from a 7RL) Practice a bunch of lines till you get it down.

Start with your machine:

Setup your needle tube and band. Just run your power supply and make sure your supply is all good, run your machine slow, medium and fast to do that.

Then run your machine and find a real nice buzz and a consistent fast hit for your needles. That is your starting voltage.
Now draw a bunch of line on practice skin just 2-3 inch straight up and down. Push or pull out some lines at different voltage and hand speeds. and find what looks good. Then do a skin of S & reverse S, then circles, then squares. See what looks good and play with your machine, adjust the contact screw and make it run slower or faster, do the same with your voltage. You will find what works.

See the hard thing is you are self learning like the rest of us. The only way to learn is try new things. I know you said you do not have a lot of money, but keep saving. And in the mean time learn to master your liner, put a stiffer spring on it and put a softer spring on it. Play with it. Swap some coils out. Springs and coils are not a lot of money. Pretend your machine is the only machine that is available to tattoo with. Can you make it work? You would have to if you wanted to tattoo right?
Put the time in to learn and master your craft and their will be no stopping you. Good Luck :thumbsup:

Click to expand...

This really helped me also thank you so much for the info

mikefuup said:

get an eye loupe and look at your needles, they may be out of whack, bent spread apart etc.. a piece of paper towel may be in the needles causing seperation, again the eye loupe will tell. dried ink if you took a break for too long could also be the culprit, these may or may not be the problem, any one else? im guessing bent needle from rubber practice skin.

Click to expand...

I remember Darrin White use a loup to look at needles before he worked on my leg. He threw a few out, due to flaws. I never even thought about it.