The Work Area
The area where the actual tattooing is done has to be considered the “STERILE ZONE,” so never allow clients’ friends or onlookers beyond this obvious point. The decking should be covered with an elite grade of inlaid linoleum that does not have to be waxed. Wax and carpet in this area are forbidden, as bacteria thrive on and in both surfaces.
The worktable top should be covered with formica or high grade, non-porous Micarta, colored white. White shows dirt, dust, blood, ink, etc., more readily and sure looks good. A cover for the table and its contents can be made from a clear plastic or white #70 Denier nylon, coated with Scotchgard. This cover will protect the area from dust and dirt when not in use, and that area of the table that is not used when tattooing is in progress.

When you open the shop, put on a plastic apron and a good grade of commercial rubber gloves. Prepare a solution of Sodium hypochlorite 5.25% (1/4 cup of bleach to 1 gallon of water), and wipe down the table and chairs. Use the same solution on the floors, and re-cover your table. 70% alcohol is excellent to wipe down the table with, but it is also flammable. One may want to weigh its advantages against this disadvantage.
The work area should be well lighted at all times, even when you are closed, as bacteria like the dark. Utilize an air conditioner and a ceiling fan to not only cool, but dry the air and keep it circulating. Hot, dark spaces invite bacterial growth; a humid, stagnant area also adds molds and fungi.

The Tattooist
As we well know, bacteria love hair and the subaceous glands that lubricate it. If you wear a beard, it should be cropped short and your hair arranged in such a manner as not to compromise sterility. If you think it’s clean, have your doctor culture it for you. The results will shock you.
Keep your nails clean and cut short. They should be free of hangnails that can cut and puncture surgical gloves. Wear clean clothes and be fully clothed, e.g., shoes, pants, shirt. No rings or watches should be worn. The wearing of latex gloves (or vinyl) is MANDATORY while you are tattooing. A lap cloth of a disposable type is a good idea, as it should be changed between clients. If you have a skin disorder, such as an eczema on your hands, you are not to tattoo until it is resolved.

Posted on September 1st, 2008 by admin
Tags: angel tattoos, cross tattoos, fairy tattoos, foot tattoos

Some areas of the body are easier to tattoo than others. On a male, the easiest places are the forearm, upper arms and legs. The most popular and easiest areas for the female are on the shoulder blades, breasts and hips. The fleshy portion of the upper breast (above the nipple) is the easiest spot for a woman to get a tattoo. Women seem to take a tattoo a lot easier than a man. This is due to the fact that they have a naturally higher threshold of pain and also an extra layer of fat in their skin than men do.
Some thought should go behind the actual placement of tattoos, such as the size and shape of the design as opposed to the size and shape of the skin area being tattooed. A large flying bird spanning left to right would look a little awkward on a skinny arm that hangs basically up and down. Try to use the lines of the tattoo to enhance the curves of the body part, this will be making more of an artistic statement than just slamming any tattoo in any position.

Use a design that is compatible in size and shape to the area it s going to be on. For example, on the forearm, use a long design that goes up and down the arm from elbow to wrist, also taper it so it conforms to the bulge in the upper forearm and slims down as it comes down to the wrist area. Small, rounder shapes work well on shoulders. Large, round ones on the chest or back. Oblong designs are great for biceps and legs.

Small tattoos don’t usually look that good on large areas and seem to get lost. Large tattoos squeezed into small areas are confusing and usually the entire picture isn’t visible from one angle.
Sometimes what looks the best isn’t necessarily what the customer wants. It isn’t your job to argue with them, after all, they’re always right, but it does help to make a few suggestions and to state how you view things. People will usually consider what you have to say.
The direction a tattoo faces also should be considered. Although the customer always has the final say, a general rule to follow is that a tattoo that is in profile (or partial view turned) should always face to the front of the person. That is, don’t have them pointing backwards to the rear. Some examples are shown on the following page.

Posted on August 20th, 2008 by admin
Tags: cross tattoos, fairy tattoos, girl tattoos, star tattoos

If you are working on an arm or a leg, grasp the back of it.  Squeeze firmly, but not so tight as to cramp your hand or bruise the more sensitive person.

If you are working on a back, chest, breast or bottom or somewhere where you can’t grab the back of it to stretch, you will have to stretch it with your free hand. You do this by cradling the tattoo area between the “V” formed between the thumb and the forefinger. Make contact with as much finger skin on the area as possible to make more “drag” to hold the skin better.

Posted on August 13th, 2008 by admin
Tags: angel tattoos, design your own tattoos, fairy tattoos, flower tattoos

Needle making is an art and science in itself. It is not just some process that is performed, but an acquired skill to perfect. You want to make your own needles to be strong, but to achieve a high level of skill in this field, the technique has to be practiced over and over again through the course of many months. Just like anything in life, the more you do something, the better at it you become. This is very true with needle making. It can become really frustrating at first and it seems you will never get it right. This is the time not to quit, but to just keep trying. Stick at it, and eventually you will be making needle bars as good as, or better than the ones you get from your supplier.
The following equipment is needed for making needle bars:
Solder Gun: A good one with a pistol grip for easy maneuvering, and developing
a lot of heat quickly. Solder Flux and Solder: This must be stainless steel flux and solder for soldering
stainless steel needles and bars. Absolutely nothing else. Tinning Fluid: For tinning the tip of the solder gun so you don’t burn the tip
through from high heat. Stainless Steel Shader and Liner Bars: To accept needle groups. Needles: Stainless Steel Sharps #12 needles. Eye Loupe: The highest power of best quality. A 15 or 20 power loupe is recom
mended. Needle Jigs: A great time saving device. These are manufactured (at the time of this writing) by only Spaulding & Rogers Mfg., Inc., others are copies. Clippers: Small pliers for wire cutting. File: Small file assortment (jewelers) Stones: Sharpening stone, around 1″ x 1/4″ x 3″. Plastic Aligner: Make yourself. 1 square inch x 1/4 inch.
This equipment is not stored out in the tattoo shop but in the back room or at home. Keep it somewhere quiet where you can concentrate on what you are doing. Once you get going, you will most likely tattoo all week long, and on Sundays or free nights, make your needles for the upcoming week. You are going to be making a lot of them, about a week’s supply or more at one time.
Before even starting, following the suggestions of the previous chapter on needles, you should have a good supply of needle bars (both liners and shaders) already on hand.
The pre-manufactured needle bars should be examined very carefully. Study them to see how they sit on bars, how the needles are soldered, which side is soldered and all the small details like arrangement of needles and order of grouping, etc. Before you begin, read this entire chapter several times and try to perform all of the steps in your head as you go along so you have some idea of what you are trying to do.

Posted on August 4th, 2008 by admin
Tags: angel tattoos, cross tattoos, design your own tattoos, fairy tattoos

Needle making in itself is an exact science. This is the process of actually sol-dering the needle groups together as a unit and then soldering this unit to the needle bar. As a tattooist, you will no doubt be doing this yourself in the future. The entire process is explained in detail in the next chapter. For now though, do not attempt it because you already have enough to do. The beginning tattooist should purchase needle bars (with the needles already on them) from a reputable dealer in tattooing equipment. There are several reasons for this. First, you will get to know what good ones look like. Needle bars from a supplier are just about always perfect and made by an experienced professional. Study them and get to know all the aspects of the various kinds. Second, it gives you a chance to start building up a collection of needle bars. When the needles are no longer useable, the needle bars still are, and can be used over and over again. With care, they can last for many years.
A tattoo needle’s lifespan is very short. If you get three médium tattoos out of one, you are stretching it. Needles cannot be sharpened and when they are used up, solder them off and save the bars. Many professionals use one needle for one tattoo. If it is a big tattoo, it may take two to three needles. This ensures sharp needles all the time. Don’t keep using the same needles. Use them once and get rid of them. Be liberal and you will be better off.
Needle groups used for outlining come in four common sizes. Needle groups are the number of needles on the end of the liner bar. They are one needle groups, three needle groups, four and then five needle groups.

Posted on August 1st, 2008 by admin
Tags: cross tattoos, design your own tattoo, fairy tattoos, in loving memory tattoos

This chapter requires some careful study since it covers a simple but important process. This process is putting needle bars in tubes and adjusting the tube, bar and machine for proper tattooing. This will become second nature after awhile. Never, ever rush this process because if you’re not paying cióse attention to what you are doing, the needle tips are going to get all damaged. You are going to have to do this every time the tubes and needles are sterilized and the machine has to be put back together. If business is good and proper sterilization is done, you could be assembling machines several times a day.
Tubes and needles should be sterilized the fírst thing in the morning, assembled and wrapped in clean tissue until needed later in the day. Since this process is done for every tattoo (sterilization, assembling the tubes, needles and machines), it is easy to see how a person would rush this process, especially if people are waiting. (In this day and age, you have an obligation to every customer to be sure that this procedure is done correctly).
The key is to be absolutely familiar with the correct assembly process and make it a point to concéntrate every time the tubes are assembled.
New machines bought from suppliers should arrive properly set-up, but the tubes and needles are not sterile. They still have to be disassembled and sterilized. They should be studied to get familiar with a properly set-up machine. It is a good idea to buy at least two machines in the beginning. This way one will be already assembled from the manufacturer as you take the second one apart. This will be a good guide in case you forget how they go back together. Hopefully, any confusión here will be avoided with the information presented in this chapter.

Posted on July 25th, 2008 by admin
Tags: angel tattoo designs, angel tattoos, design your own tattoo, fairy tattoos

Tension is achieved by the rear spring. Remove needle bar and holding machine in left hand by the tube, depress armature bar with left thumb and ease it upwards until contacts meet. There should be enough tension so you can see the front spring rise a little more when contacts meet and you release your thumb - then you’ve got it right. You can buy a gauge from a tattoo supply house to duplicate this same tension when you replace the rear spring.
When coils are set where you want them, add a drop of liquid thread to the machine screws the last time you turn them in. This will assure a secure and tight fit. This can also be done with the two screws that hold the posts.
If you choose to wind your own coils, use #24 insulated magnet wire and a hand turned coil winder. Use a point file to keep points clean.

Once the machine is just right, never make any further adjustments. The more it’s run and the older it gets, the better it will function.
On the left side of the machine you will see where the wire from both coils are soldered together. Squeeze some G.E. Silicone rubber into this area to prevent bare wire from short circuiting on frame. As a matter of fact, it’s a good idea to do this all around between the base of coils and base of frame to prevent moisture from entering coils. Use a toothpick to smooth.
While the machine is running, there will be continuous arcing. Most machines come equipped with capacitors to eliminate arcing and cut down on point wear. If you put them on yourself, use one that is 25 volts and 10 MFD. This isn’t critical and you may want to experiment with different ones.

Posted on July 24th, 2008 by admin
Tags: cross tattoos, fairy tattoos, girl tattoos, tribal tattoos

After continued use, the front spring that holds the contact point and the back spring that holds the armature bar to the frame will weaken and should be replaced. If your coloring is getting sketchy, it could be weak springs; one or both of them. If they are weak, they won’t have enough bounce to penetrate the skin anymore and are springing back before any depth is attained. Before removing spring and armature bar, put a mark on the side of the armature bar and continue the mark across the center of the washer on top of the front coil. (See Diagram.) After you have made your repairs, be sure both marks line up when replacing the armature bar. This is important because the armature bar has been seated in on the top of the front coil and should go back in the exact same place for top performance of your machine.
To replace the springs, take needle and bands off, loosen the set screw on the front binding post and back the contact screw out four or five turns. Then loosen the rear screw on top of the machine and remove the entire assembly consisting of the rear spring, the armature bar and the front (contact) spring.
Remove the screw that is holding both springs to the armature bar. First, put the screw back in the hole in the rear spring and start it into the armature bar. Make sure you still have both washers on the screw, on top, above the springs. Next, put on the front spring, placing it on top of the rear spring and under both washers. This front spring will just slide on the screw. Tighten finger tight. Before replacing assembly, take this opportunity to buff your contact screw, removing any pits.
To replace the assembly, slide the rear spring under the loosened rear screw, making sure the rear spring is back all the way against the screw and under both washers. Tighten finger tight.

Posted on July 24th, 2008 by admin
Tags: design your own tattoos, fairy tattoos, girl tattoos, star tattoos

Tattoo machines run on direct current. In the beginning, you may want to use a battery set-up. They are simple and cheap at first. The drawback is they have to be maintained and charged.
You can get a good Power Unit for less than the price of two batteries. A Power Unit is handy because it can be plugged into the wall socket, and is fairly trouble-free. Excellent units are available on the Market today. Even if a Power Unit is used, a battery set-up is a useful piece of spare equipment to have around.
Also, if you have a cellar, you may want to use two 12 volt auto batteries and a trickle charger. If so, use caution as overcharged batteries are highly explosive, and you don’t want any battery acid around the area of your work.
A rheostat mounted on a bakelite panel provided with connecting posts may be available from your tattoo supply house.
Power Units come in different sizes. Buy the best one that you can afford. A good power supply is very important.

Posted on July 22nd, 2008 by admin
Tags: butterfly tattoos, cross tattoos, design your own tattoo, fairy tattoos, tattoo art

This list is not totally complete, but it is a good guideline to get you started. Few people can purchase it all at once and must slowly put it together. Don’t be fright-ened by the long list, all the equipment is quite small and portable. Compared to other businesses, this list is pretty simple and not as expensive as some practices can be. Buying in order of importance and practicality first seems to be a smart direction to follow.
Tattooists must have an organized área around them for any kind of efficient work. The universal approach is a work table in front of the worker for proper and easy location of Ítems. You may make the table, but the best and most professional one you can afford would be a wiser choice. It’s important to make sure it is fíat, sits sturdy, and is easy to clean and keep clean. It should also be large enough to hold everything you will need. It is advisable to have a knee cutout in the front of the table (rather then solid) so the customer on some occasions can get right up cióse to the table to keep your reaching to a minimum. A standard table is about 20 inches wide, 48 inches long and a comfortable height off the ground. The top can be fórmica, finished hardwood or preferably stainless steel or glass. A small sink with hot and cold faueets should be mounted in the top off to the side. Sit in a chair beside the sink, facing the farther end of the table so the sink will be on your right side. If you are left handed, everything will be the opposite.
Everything should be within easy reach. The things used most often should be located the closest to you, and the Ítems used less often are located further away. The items used the most are things like caps full of ink, the carbolated vaseline and the spray bottle of green soap. Also, the lamp and paper towels should be within easy reach. Slightly further back, but stül within easy reach, is the spray bottle of alcohol, extra ink caps, three washes to clean the ink out of tubes when colors are changed, going from the first distilled water to the second distilled water to the alcohol last. A little further back are bandage supplies, extra needle bars, tubes and inks, with machine rack just barely within reach to hold spare tattoo machines or another machine with a different set-up. One for outlines and one for shading and coloring.

Posted on July 22nd, 2008 by admin
Tags: cross tattoos, design your own tattoo, fairy tattoos, girl tattoos, in loving memory tattoos