Hi from a newbie!

Hi everyone I’d like to introduce myself, I’m a ceramic artist and avid tattoo collector. I create ceramic pieces of functional and aesthetic art, I’ve definitely always been a fan of finding my true self and individual style wether it be art, fashion or body mods (I’ve only got tattoos, stretched ears and my septum peirced! Lol…it’s not much compared to lots of other people but it’ll do me just fine!

I’ve been getting tattooed for the last seventeen years. I still have LOTS of space to go though and I’m looking forward to having my hands done soon.

I’ve bought a cheap eBay machine to start practicing tattooing and I’ve successfully done an orange but I’ve noticed that my needle slips sideways in the cartridge so I started trying to research why and how to fix it and found this site which I’m hoping will shed some light on why the needle slips.

Basically, when I’m doing a line the needle slides to the side of the cartridge and then when I take the needle out of the ‘skin’ it twangs back to the middle…I have no idea why or how to fix it.

thanks to everyone involved with making this site run, it’s been so helpful already and I only joined today!
Taa, InkedOutMiss666

Hello Xandra, and welcome to the forum!

I don't have much tips to give to help you with your issue, unfortunately. To me it sounds like you're either holding the machine in an awkward position, or using too much force when tattooing. Like going too fast with your hand in accordance to the speed of your machine.

Hopefully the others on here have more info on this particular issue.

What sort of machine are you using? Also, are you using cartridges or standard needles....if using standard needles, are you using the correct tip for the needle size you are using? My first thought when reading your post was that maybe you are using a small lining needle in a flat tip instead of a round or diamond tip to fit the size of needle you're using.
Sorry, just read your post again and you mentioned that you are using cartridges. Maybe try another brand of cartridge.

MalligaMallan said:

Hello Xandra, and welcome to the forum!

I don't have much tips to give to help you with your issue, unfortunately. To me it sounds like you're either holding the machine in an awkward position, or using too much force when tattooing. Like going too fast with your hand in accordance to the speed of your machine.

Hopefully the others on here have more info on this particular issue.

Click to expand...

Hi, thanks for your reply, I’ll try to make sure I don’t go to fast next time. It’s been a while ‘cos I’ve been so busy.

Big Pete said:

What sort of machine are you using? Also, are you using cartridges or standard needles....if using standard needles, are you using the correct tip for the needle size you are using? My first thought when reading your post was that maybe you are using a small lining needle in a flat tip instead of a round or diamond tip to fit the size of needle you're using.
Sorry, just read your post again and you mentioned that you are using cartridges. Maybe try another brand of cartridge.

Click to expand...

Hi, it’s been ages since I’ve tried my machine cos I’ve been busy but I’ll have another look as what needles I have in there and I’m so new to all this that I’m not sure what needles I need to use for what so I’m going to write out a chart and put it on the wall so I can have a visual guide. Thanks for your response.

InkedOutMisfit666 said:

Hi, it’s been ages since I’ve tried my machine cos I’ve been busy but I’ll have another look as what needles I have in there and I’m so new to all this that I’m not sure what needles I need to use for what so I’m going to write out a chart and put it on the wall so I can have a visual guide. Thanks for your response.

Click to expand...

Oops I forgot this bit, it’s a cheap eBay machine, I’ll get it out and have a look at the brand, it’s a coil machine. One of the el cheapo Chinese eBay jobbies….I wanted a really cheap one to see if it was even a thing I was interested in learning. i know that cheap tools often are so hard to work with that they hamper your progress so if I can’t sort out my issues I may have to upgrade.

If it's a coil machine, I'm assuming you would be using standard needles (needle grouping is soldered onto a bar).......if the needle is moving sideways, then I think you are using the wrong size tip for that needle, or a flat tip instead of a round tip if your using a liner needle or a flat tip that is too big for the flat or magnum needle you're using.....problem should be solved if you use the correct size and type of tip for the size and type of needle.

I get what you’re saying about testing the water with a cheap machine…I did the same thing and ended up spending way more buying cheapy after cheaply when returning to tattooing after a long break. Sadly some of these machines are so bad they fail to get close to replicating serious tattooing and you may be put off by the inadequacies of the machine more than the other challenges to learning.

Good value machines do exist and maybe 2nd hand would be a better option.

Also, in the current state of tattooing, some might say you’ve upped your degree of difficulty in learning by going down the coil route, when rotaries pretty much offer consistency out of the box. Unless being led by the words of others I find it hard to accept beginners justifying the ‘must start with a coil’ approach, especially as most pro tattooers now use rotaries…there’s a reason. I know, I used coils for many many years and only fully understood them in the last couple of years of using them.

I think I for speak for others when I say tattooing can be a very emotionally rewarding practice, the ‘gold rush’ on money is probably over now so there has to be something. Adding hurdles to your journey might just deny you this pleasure long term.