Good morning to all my fellow ink addicts , hope u are all well ,,,,, has any of u used one of these cheap stencil printing machines of eBay ,, what are your views ? Do they last long , are they easy to use ???? Thanks hope u all have a nice day ,,, Steve
Tattoo Stencil Machine !
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Well there's no link so I can't tell what machine you have been looking at. My machine cost less than *£100 and yes it's ok. Only had since Christmas so can't comment on how long it will last. Some stencils I do by hand like portraits but I use my machine for numbers and script. With the cheaper machines you have to hold the paper tight as it pulls through the machine or it can crease. Hope that helps.
can you link me to somewhere i can buy one?
Just went to have a look. Don't know much about them myself.
tattoo stencil machine | eBay
tattoo stencil machine | eBay
Viper65
Basic
I got one like that and in my opinion they are pure rubbish...(just my opinion though). I used it a few times and it was apparent that it was much easier to just hand draw the stencil. I would save the money spent on this and use it wisely somewhere else!!!!
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U get what u pay for ,,,, that's the reason I got original cheyenne machine ,, I don't believe in copy's ,
I have a 9 pin dot matrix printer it's ok.it depends on the line drawing how good the stencil is
unless you are really busy, they are not really needed and for anyone who is just starting out i would say don't buy one and spend your money on something else, with doing stencils by hand you get to know the design much better than if you use a machine, lets face it how long does it take to do a stencil by hand, 10-15 minuets, i always do mine the night before, ready for the next day.
i've been thinking about getting one of these, the little designs like script, mandala's they could be handy for i think and save a lot of time and stress
hoever more big precise pieces nothing can beat a hand stencil i think
or can it? i've been seeing some amazing stencils lately with people using newer copier machines that even carbon the shading too, i saw something on facebook the other day i need to try and find it :/
hoever more big precise pieces nothing can beat a hand stencil i think
or can it? i've been seeing some amazing stencils lately with people using newer copier machines that even carbon the shading too, i saw something on facebook the other day i need to try and find it :/
I bought one & its great. For the last few years iv been hand drawing them and its a great way to learn the design your going to tattoo & something those starting out should deff do.
But... I found that everytime i traced a design it lost something, a little line out here and there, nothing big but enough for me to notice & i felt that it didnt retain the clarity or preciseness of the original.
Now the stencil is exactly as the original design & the only errors are due to tattooing/ technique & not from the stencil.
You need to give yourself every advantage you can and if you start with a great stencil, that gives you (me) more confidence when tattooing.
The other good thing is if you put a stencil on wrong & cant reuse it you dont have to spend ages redrawing it (and probably rushing it) when you have a client sitting waiting.
But... I found that everytime i traced a design it lost something, a little line out here and there, nothing big but enough for me to notice & i felt that it didnt retain the clarity or preciseness of the original.
Now the stencil is exactly as the original design & the only errors are due to tattooing/ technique & not from the stencil.
You need to give yourself every advantage you can and if you start with a great stencil, that gives you (me) more confidence when tattooing.
The other good thing is if you put a stencil on wrong & cant reuse it you dont have to spend ages redrawing it (and probably rushing it) when you have a client sitting waiting.
these are not for me,I'm just old I like making stencils the old way.then you can add to the design or take away from it.you can have 5 people who want the same tattoo but all 5 are different just by adding or changing design slightly.but if your busy then these are a god send.each to their own really.or just free hand your design straight on to the skin it all works at end of the day.
Considering the extremely realistic tattoos of today I think if you're to "play with the big guys" it's absolutely necessary to have these machines. I agree about everything you both say. Doing stencil by hand is a good way to learn your design and all that, but you always seem to get a more simple design. You always seem to loose some essential lines here and there, as said.
Jamie, was it maybe a machine like this you saw on fb? You can print out directly from the computer or wacom with this.
If I were to do realistic tattoos I would definitely see it as a good (and necessary) investment.
https://instagram.com/p/2B4bNlj2H0/
i agree with losing small amounts of detail with tracing paper but it's not very often we use it any more, most of my designs are printed out on to paper and i use that for the stencil, that way you shouldn't miss anything.
So you have a thermal copier?
No i don't have a copier and never will have one of the cheap ones, i had one when i started out but the quality of the stencils where terrible, there is lots of good points and probably just as many bad points, it's one of those subjects where nobody is right or wrong, you just have think, will it be beneficial, if you do a lot of walk ins and most of your work is from flash then i would say you need one but for custom work, everything should be ready to go and you will be surprised how much more information you get from doing a hand stencil than using a copier, there are quite a few on here who have been to AJ and he would of told them the same, he's been tattooing for many years but still does his stencils by hand, purely so he can relate to the design, as he tattoos and identify potential mistakes.
I agree with using a machine and hand drawing, firstly I have an old dot matrix printer which i sometimes use for script when every line needs to be spot on, you can lose a little something by hand drawing, sometimes it matters, sometimes it doesn't.
The advantage of hand drawing a stencil to me is it gets me familiar with the design, where to push, pull, start and stop, positioning of the hand etc. I think along the lines of a rally driver would "walk" the circuit before driving it to get familiar with it.
I tattooed hearts on two different people today and hand drew the stencil, it is surprising how you can lose detail, miss a certain arc or radius and it does look different, machines do have a place.
The advantage of hand drawing a stencil to me is it gets me familiar with the design, where to push, pull, start and stop, positioning of the hand etc. I think along the lines of a rally driver would "walk" the circuit before driving it to get familiar with it.
I tattooed hearts on two different people today and hand drew the stencil, it is surprising how you can lose detail, miss a certain arc or radius and it does look different, machines do have a place.
I do agree about there being no right or wrong in this, still it's interesting to discuss.
I also agree about getting familiar with the design when handdrawing, and discovering potential mistakes.
However these superrealistic photo tattoos, that are very popular now, I'm convinced would be completely impossible to do a handdrawn stencil of.
There are of course a lot of designs where there are no problems technically to do handdrawn stencils, maybe there are other benefits from using a machine though, like being more efficient. That I know nothing of as of yet. Maybe in a couple of years
I also agree about getting familiar with the design when handdrawing, and discovering potential mistakes.
However these superrealistic photo tattoos, that are very popular now, I'm convinced would be completely impossible to do a handdrawn stencil of.
There are of course a lot of designs where there are no problems technically to do handdrawn stencils, maybe there are other benefits from using a machine though, like being more efficient. That I know nothing of as of yet. Maybe in a couple of years
sometimes like this, looks damn great!! i think the one i heard copies images at maybe 300dpi or more, i would love to try one
would definitely give the upper handwhat's to say you can't use a thermal copier AND apply hand stenciling too? get the best of both worlds and the most accurate stencil
damn that looks so great! it's €562.03 however lol!!
damn why so expensive
these work good and are under $50 usd . if you serch yu can find them cheaper
check them out
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Pentax-Pock...150?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a50af8f1e
check them out
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Pentax-Pock...150?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a50af8f1e
Interesting - Pentax usually is a good brand.
Devinmichael
Basic
I feel like i get a much darker and cleaner stencil using a thermal copier.when i hand make stencils i canot get all the carbon to pick up onto my stencil paper no matter how hard i press .when i use my thermal copier it literally lifts every piece of carbon off the papper till u can see threw it and just plastic sheet
TattooedVoodoo
Basic
I am late to the game on this post. I use a thermal fax machine myself. I like hand drawing them also. Depends on the mood I guess. I do agree with Devin that the thermal produces a darker, cleaner stencil.
WilliamCaldwell
Basic
Not All Copies Are Bad. You can find good examples to
i do everything on a 24 pin dot matrix, I think i lose too much hand drawing stencils, but i do spend time removing the shades and fills to make an outline only for printing off. so hand drawing would be much quicker for that. Good and bad for both methods, so no rights or wrongs, just preferences i think.
TattooedVoodoo
Basic
i do everything on a 24 pin dot matrix, I think i lose too much hand drawing stencils, but i do spend time removing the shades and fills to make an outline only for printing off. so hand drawing would be much quicker for that. Good and bad for both methods, so no rights or wrongs, just preferences i think.
Are you using Photoshop or another program for that?
I have a thermal transfer machine and a thermal printer, I am liking the transfer machine better and I use Microsoft paint, picture manager and more recently Procreate on iPad for all image manipulation / drawings.
What's the difference between transfer machine and a thermal printer?
A printer will print direct from a computer via a lead, on the transfer machine you have your design ready printed out on an A4 sheet for example, feed it in the transfer machine and the carbon sheet comes out as your stencil, I am loving it this way, I can get a design on my computer, play about with it, copy and paste into Microsoft word on an A4 template then size it exactly as I need it or flip it etc, I can then keep my original design in a folder for future use, this way I have accumulated a lot of line drawing flash sheets, many of them my own created on iPad and can be used for stencils very quickly with out even switching on the computer.
Sounds great. But can't you get a stencil printed out directly from the computer on the thermal printer? The only difference would be turning on the computer, but apart from that.
And I don't understand the English terms exactly. Is a transfer machine an "ordinary" copier machine?
I have the luxury of both machines, one is a printer only direct from a computer, the other is a "copier" the advantage for me is if a customer comes and chooses a flash sheet from my collection, I just run it through the copier, it is far quicker than using my thermal printer and produces better results with thicker stencil lines if I want them, the thermal printer sometimes gives very thin lines, I am not saying my way is the best way or only way, it works for me to the point that once I get back from holiday I am having a clear out and selling my printer as well as some other equipment.
Okay, interesting, I didn't know there was this option too. Come to think of it, why wouldn't it work for me to print drawing i have on my computer on a stencil on my standard copier that I have connected to my computer?
And what thermal printer do you have and what will you charge? (then there's shipping too of course)
And what thermal printer do you have and what will you charge?
(then there's shipping too of course)My printer is a Pentax pocket jet, can't remember the model as 3000 miles away, it won't work on my windows 10 but worked ok on 8.1, 7 and vista, on fine line stencils the lines are too thin and the stencil can disappear in no time, probably down to the dpi.
Aaah I see now, you're in the US Enjoy!
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