The customer should remove the bandage in about two hours and rinse it in cold water to remove whatever blood there is and gently blot it dry. Two hours is about the average time it takes for blood to start clotting and scabbing. If it has not clotted by that time, the cold water will close up the pores in the skin and hold the rest of the ink in. It is the cleaning process while it is healing that makes a tattoo look nice and sharp. Tell them to rinse it off with their hands. A washcloth or towel could really feel rough and it might start it to bleed, which you do not want to happen. It should then be blotted dry with a clean paper towel. No wiping or scrubbing, just blotting. The towel should be a white one, unscented and have no designs on it. Some people are allergic to the scent and dye in the towels. They should use the smooth side of the paper towel to keep from irritating it as little as possible. Fresh tattoos are very sensitive. When it is rinsed off, apply a little Bacitracin to keep it from drying out too much. (If it is a black tattoo, a little rub of alcohol on it first, before the ointment, will keep it clean and sharp. Black tattoos heal faster than colored ones.) The ointment should then be blotted dry after a fifteen minute wait. Again, use the smooth side of a white unscented paper towel. The tattoo will absorb as much ointment as it needs in that amount of time. If they don’t blot it dry, the excess ointment will collect unwanted bacteria. Blotting up a tattoo means blotting it dry to the touch. If you feel your hand over it and it slides across, there is too much ointment on it. If it is rough or crusty, the ointment was not on long enough.
Don’t keep it covered with a bandage. A tattoo is on the skin and it must be exposed to air to breathe, which speeds up healing. The only exception is when straps or certain articles of clothing rub against it. Tight clothing should be avoided and clean loose fitting clothes should be worn until the tattoo heals.
The ointment and blotting treatments are to be applied four times a day. Make sure that this is understood. As a tattoo heals, it feels smooth and velvety. A tattoo has healed when a scab falls off by itself. A black tattoo heals in about four days and a colored one takes about a full week.
Water is the worst thing for a healing tattoo to be exposed to. When in the shower, the customer should cover it up with a good layer of ointment. This will act as a protective barrier. Don’t get water on it until the scab falls off. Try not to put it directly under the water and work around it. When a scab gets too soaked with water, it swells up and peels off too early, messing things up. Drill these procedures into the customer. It only takes a few days of good care and they will get a great looking tattoo, if done right. When not done right, it will look faded, weak and not very bright. It will be worth it to them to take good care of it, because they are going to have the tattoo for the rest of their life.

Posted on September 2nd, 2008 by admin
Filed under: Bandages | No Comments »

Stick them in the three needle hole in the needle bar jig for tightening just like a three needle group. When soldering on a liner bar, remember that the top needle in the needle group triangle is the good one, and as usual, the bar rides underneath.
Let’s move on to shaders. It may sound strange, but one of the most useful tools for constructing shader needle groups is a rectangular hone. Measuring about 1×3 x 1/4 inches, they are inexpensive and can be purchased from your tattoo supplier who also has a shader needle kit available. A leveller can be made from plastic, plexiglass or glass and measure about one square inch. These two items are used in conjunction with each other. In making the six needle shader, first select six good needles and double check them with an eye loupe. Lay them flat on the stone bunched tightly together, but flat, one next to the other. The sharp points should extend about 1/4 inch off the end of the stone. While still holding tight the needles on the stone with the thumb, take the leveller and very carefully push the needles in slightly. Make sure you touch all six. This ensures that all six are in alignment with each other. This is important so none of the needles are sticking out more than the rest. While still maintaining pressure with thumb so the group is tight, flat next to each other, and level and in alignment, now proceed to tack the end. The stone works great because it will absorb flux, won’t make a mess and can be used repeatedly. When fully absorbed with flux, just wrap it up in a few paper towels and use a new stone. The towels will eventually draw out the flux and in about a month you can use the stone over again. Have a supply of stones handy so that you can have one available at all times. Tightening isn’t really necessary with shaders if pressure is maintained while tacking the groups. It may take some time to do this efficiently, but with practice you can get it down pat.

Posted on August 12th, 2008 by admin
Filed under: Needle Making | No Comments »

It is often said that a machine is no better than the person operating it. This can also be applied to tattoo machines. A tattooist must have confidence with his machines and must learn to run them properly, not have them run him.
Tattoo machines may vary in appearance but they all run basically the same, and perform the same function, driving a needle up and down very fast, perforating the skin and driving ink in as the operator steers it along while leaving a trail behind. This is done when the machine is connected into a power source and turned on, a full electrical circuit runs through it. When this happens, the two coils become magnetized (an electric magnet) and attract the metal armature bar down to it. As the armature bar moves down, the needles move down. When this happens, the contact points separate from each other, causing a break in the electrical circuit. As soon as this happens, the machine stops, the coils become unmagnetized and the armature bar springs back up. This makes the needle go back up. When it springs back up, the contact points touch each other and make a circuit again, and this starts the process all over. The machine becomes magnetized and unmagnetized and the needles go up and down. This happens extremely fast, too fast for the eye to follow. All that can be heard is a buzzing, as the circuits separate and contact again.

Posted on July 22nd, 2008 by admin
Filed under: Machines and Power Sources | No Comments »