Machine Building 4...trading places

Although it's been awhile since my last post, I've still been busy with the building of Machines.

Doing my bit to support Aussie Tattooing
Chris Cashmore is a good friend & a fellow Machine Builder.

While talking with Chris about buying an InkJecta Rotary, he suggested that we could do a trade...
...so putting my Jeweller skills to work, I came up this "Special" version for him.

Jolly Magnum with hand worked Tri-Color Inlays into Frame & "Black Opal" Coil Covers.

And here's the trade...an InkJecta Specific 3

Machine Building 4...on the other hand

Although it's been quite some time since my last post, I've still been busy with building Machines.

Having completed everything related to the Dan Robinson Snr Tribute Machines, it was now time to get back onto completing the Batch 4 orders.
And amongst those orders there were several requests for Left Handed Machines.

It always pays to plan ahead:
From the very beginning, I'd deliberately designed my Frames so they could be built Right or Left Handed.
Designing everything in CAD with tangs to accurately locate components within each other makes assembly easier, but the real bonus is each component can now be the opposite way, making a Left Handed Frame.

So having already planned ahead for just such a request, I proceeded to make the "Jolly Lefties".
The following photos show some of these completed Jolly Leftie Machines.

These two Jolly Lefties were ordered as Thin Armature Liner & Magnum, both to suit 3.5mm Audio plug.

Another view of the Jolly Leftie Thin Armature Liner. 

Another view of the Jolly Leftie Thin Armature Magnum. 

And yet another Jolly Leftie Thin Armature Magnum, this one to suit Clip Cord.

Machine Building2...out they go!

I'd mentioned in a previous Blog post that I still had to build some "Aussie Old School" Machines.
Part of this included a 3.5mm Audio Socket & required a Bracket to suit these Jolly Frames.

Well here's those last two Machines, now all run-in & finished, ready to go off to their new homes.

Left to Right:
Thin Armature Liner with Rubber Block to suit a Straight Shaft Needle Bar...pure "Old School".
Heavy Armature Magnum with the standard Pin to suit Grommets or Nipples & Eyed Needle Bars.

Brett Stewart's Tattoo Museum

Back in April while attending the Rights of Passage Show, I managed to catch up with Brett Stewart who is well known for both his Tattoo Supply & Museum.

The Australian Museum section already has some of my very early built & modified Machines which were made for Beans in the late 80's.
With my return to Machine building again, Brett was most interested in obtaining some of my newer ones.


The Hugo Machines
Batch 1 Machines were named Hugo Machines, which saw the very first of that Batch, Machine #1, going off to Jimmy Whitlock's Luckys Tattoo Museum.
From that Batch, there was a grand total of 11 Machines built, the other 10 were documented on the Blog here.
The last numbered of those Hugo Machines was #11, known as the "Tester" with a set of Lucky Coils.

But what hasn't been documented until now, was that there were actually 13 Frames made in total...
Because I was a Jeweller & being that those Frames were all hand made, I played it safe & so made a couple of extras just in case there was a possibility of a "reject" Frame.
In fact there were two "rejects":

• One had a slight twist within the Frame which was only detected in the final stages & whilst trying to straighten this Frame, a weld cracked making it a reject. This Frame was completed & is stamped.

• One had a 1.5mm drill bit break whilst drilling a pilot hole, which couldn't be removed, thus making it a reject. Although this Frame never reached the point of completion, it has been stamped for Brett.

Although these two Frames aren't complete Machines, I'm guessing in some ways they could be of more importance to Brett's Australian Museum, as normally they'd just have been thrown out as scrap metal.


The Jolly Machines
Batch 2 Machines are the current design Frame & are named Jolly Machines.
This new style of Frame started out as a set of 4 x prototypes, with the very first of them being #12,
having followed on from the last numbered of the previous Hugo Machines.
I've decided to set up this #12 prototype Jolly Machine just like I'd have run it back in the 90's.

• Thin Armature 

• Rubber Block to hold a straight Needle Bar (no Eye Loop)

• 3.5mm Audio Socket & Plug to suit as the Clip Cord connection (Aussie Old School)

In some of the photos, you'll see that I still needed to make up the Bracket for the 3.5 Audio Socket to be attached, but otherwise everything else was done.
And just like with any other of my Machines, this will also be getting tuned & run-in.

Then the two Hugo Frames & this #12 Jolly Machine will be going off to Brett's Australian Tattoo Museum.

The two reject Hugo Frames.
The lower one has the broken drill bit within the Spring Landing.

Here the broken drill bit can be clearly seen in the Spring Landing.
It can also be seen that I did try drilling it out.

Side by side view of both the reject Fames showing their Spring Landings. 

The #12 Jolly Machine awaiting it's Bracket.

Each of the Frames is individually engraved by me, here the engraved #12 can be clearly seen.

Thin Armature, Rubber Block & a straight Needle Bar.

Another view of the #12 Jolly Machine.

The now completed  #12 Jolly Machine.

The complete #12 Jolly Machine showing the Bracket & 3.5mm Audio Socket.

Machine Building2...tune & run-in

Lots been happening & although it's been awhile since posting anything, I haven't been idol.


Are we there yet..are we there yet..?
At present, all 12 of the Batch 2 Jolly Machines are fully assembled, having been Soldered & Shimmed just like all of those Hugo Machines from Batch 1.

Ten of those Jolly Machines have already been fine tuned & are now currently being run-in by the
guys at Eternal Ink in Berwick.  (Please note the Studio name change!)

What about the other two..?
Those remaining two Jolly Machines require the "Aussie Old School" 3.5mm Audio connection instead of
the current standard spring style of Clip Cord.
This kind of "speciality item" has been mention previously in an earlier Blog post here.

Being that the Jolly Frames are a totally new Frame, I'd not had the opportunity to make any Brackets for this particular option, which meant I couldn't finalise their assembly for the tuning & run-in.
The design for the Bracket is simple enough, so I'll be making up a number of them this week.


So for those of you with Orders for Batch 2...expect an email from me within the coming weeks.

Machine Building2...components into sub-assemblies

Thursday's are now my day off, so here's what I've managed to get done...

Components into Sub-Assemblies:
As with anything mechanical, a Tattoo Machine contains various components that when coupled together, they'll form a sub-assembly...
...in this case these's two sets of sub-assemblies that will each form a Top & Bottom Binding Post.

On a standard DC Coil Machine, both of these Binding Posts are for the (+) Positive connection & so will have some form of Insulators to stop any short circuiting to the Frame which is the (-) Negative connection.
Top Binding Posts are obviously at the "top" of the Machine & contain the Contact Screw, which in my case are always made of Sterling Silver.
Bottom Binding Posts are typically positioned at the bottom of a Frame & is where the Clip Cord will go.

I like to have them all assembled & ready to go when I start the final assembly into a complete Machine.

And that same basic principle also applies to the Springs...
...Top Spring, Back Spring & the Armature when put together form another sub-assembly.
So here's a couple of photos showing the Spring sets being marked out & cut.

Lots of sub-assemblies...Frames, Binding Posts & Springs.

Top & Back Springs all cut, their holes punched & all sharp edges linished smooth.

Machine Building2...black oxide finish

Here's a quick update on where the Frames are currently at...

Black Oxide:
With all of the Frames linished, reamed & stamped, it was now time for the Black Oxide treatment.
Being that it's a specialised process, I simply drop the Frames off & pick them up the next day.
They come back with their Black Oxide finish, but they're also covered with oil to minimise any rusting.
So obviously my next job is going to be a thorough cleaning & remove all traces of that oil from them.

Here's the Frames just back from getting their Black Oxide finish.

A closer view of the Frames.
Note that the surface texture is just a thick covering of oil over them.

Another close up view of the Frames with their Black Oxide finish.
Note that the surface texture is just a thick covering of oil over them.

Machine Building2...linish, ream, stamp

Linish:
Next on the agenda was to now linish all of the edges & surfaces of the Frames.
I'm using a special Scotchbrite Belt to remove all the various file marks & give the Frames a nice satin finish.

Frames laid out in preparation for their linishing.

Frames on the left & the Scothbrite Belt all set up & ready to go

Another view of that Scothbrite Belt used for linishing.

And so the linishing of the Frames begins. 

Closer view of the freshly linished Frames.

Ream:
After all of the linishing is completed, I then go through & individually hand ream all the Tube holes.
This helps to ensure that both 5/16" & 8mm Tubes (of good quality) will fit correctly into my Machines.

To ensure a nice fit for Tubes, each Frame is individually hand reamed.

Stamp:
I then go through & double check everything is square & aligned correctly.
Once I'm sure that each Frame is OK, I then individually stamp them C.CREED 2012

Frame in position ready for it's stamping.

Apologies for slightly out of focus shot...but the stamp was good.

12 x Frames all completed & stamped.

Machine Building2...file, drill, tap

File:
There were 6 x Frames left over that still needed to be cleaned up after being welded & brazed...
...so here's that process with accompanying photos.

Each of the Frames is individually filed as part of the clean up process.
In this photo, the last Frame is waiting to be filed.

A closer view of those Frames.

Drill:
This is part of that whole idea of "work smarter, not harder"
After the last of the 6 x Frames was finished being cleaned up, the next process is to set up for the drilling of the Quickchange.
Because all the Frames are now being laser cut, everything is identical & accurate, so all their holes are in exactly the same spot.
Knowing each Frame would correctly line up in the same position each time, meant I was able to design myself a Jig to hold the Frames, whilst drilling the hole for their Quickchange.

Next comes the drilling to give the Frames their Quickchange.
I've made things easier for myself by building a Jig to suit.

Another view of the Frame set up into the Jig for drilling the Quickchange.

Tap:
After all 12 of the Frames were drilled, the next process was to tap those holes to suit a threaded stud.

I'm using the exact same thread type as found on any standard American made Machines...

...that is 8-32 UNC
I've deliberately chosen 8-32 UNC in an effort to keep things uniform for anyone buying my Machines.
There's nothing more frustrating than reaching for the Allen Key that fits everything else & finding it wont..!

Each of those drilled holes needs to be tapped.

Machine Building2...let the Frames begin!

I've been busily working on the current Orders (Batch 2) for the newly named "Jolly" Machines.
In Batch 2 there's a total of 12 x Machines to be made & they're now well under way.

At present all of these Frames have had their welding & brazing process done.
Then each of those brazed sections is hand filed to remove any excess braze, of which I've currently completed 6 x Frames.

My intention was to take photos of them during each phase of the construction, but unfortunately I've gotten caught up with the actual building, rather than stopping to take photos.
I'll try my best to remember to take more photos when doing the next process.

Here's some photos of how they're looking so far...

All the Frames for Batch 2 are well under way.

Closer view of those welded & brazed Frames.

Closer view of  those filed & cleaned up Frames.

Machine Building 2...what name for a Frame?

Although it's not critical, it'd be nice to come up with a better name for these new Frames than "new style"!

My original Machines were based on a Bulldog Frame & so I named them after my then recently departed & much loved Aussie Bulldog... "Hugo" ...a simple word association!
...of course this all makes perfect sense if you're Aussie or happen to understand our humour!


What's in the name of a Frame:
Given that these new Frames are my "pirated" version of a Paul Rogers "J" Frame, it follows that the best name for them would be "Jolly"...as in the Jolly Roger used by Pirates...
...again some word associations & a good dose of Aussie humour!!

So there you have it...from here on the new style Machines will be simply known as the "Jolly".

Side view of the "Jolly" Frame

Front view of the "Jolly" Machine

Machine Building...comparing the "Testers"

I mentioned at the end of my last post...

"It'll be very interesting to directly compare just how close the two Machines fitted with Lucky Coils will run."

Well, I asked Justin from Eternal Ink to run some direct comparisons between both Machines...
...the Hugo Lucky Coil Tester & the new Lucky Coil Tester.

The two Thin Armature Machines that are fitted with Lucky Coils, sitting side by side.

Justin has run the Hugo Lucky Coil Tester for quite some time now & is really impressed with it...
Check out some of Justin's work using the "Hugo" Liner here & also here.
He's so impressed with this Thin Armature Machine that he hates having to give it back to me!

So what was the verdict from Justin of this new Lucky Coil Tester..?
..."It's pretty close, you can hardly tell any difference between them."

With that confirmation from Justin, I'll now move onto building all the new Orders using this Frame style.

The Hugo Lucky Coil Tester

The new Lucky Coil Tester