Machines for 2012...special bits & pieces

I mentioned in my last post that there was some "speciality items" to be made...
That particular Machine Order requested that the two Machines each have a Thin Armature & include a connection for a 3.5mm Mono Audio Socket.

This request didn't present any problems as I'd run the very same connection on my Old Machines back in the 90's.
Designed & made a simple Bracket (includes a welded screw) with which to hold the 3.5mm Socket.
In this case the connection is located on the left side of the Frame because the customer is Left Handed.

Brackets made to hold 3.5mm Mono Audio Sockets (3.5mm Plug in foreground)

Closer view of  the Bracket, Socket & Plug 

Next it was time to start assembling all of the components into their Frames.
Because each of the Frames is totally handmade, there's a number of slight differences between each of them & their components.
So I first need to assemble each one to work out if a Yoke is needed & then make one to suit each individual Machine...a time consuming process, but necessary.

By the end of the day I'd simply run out of time to complete some Yokes & the assembly for one Machine, so those will be next Monday's job.

Machines for 2012...spring into action

For quite some time, Monday has been my only day off & it's become my "Machine building day".

Managed to get all those Frames for the first batch painted in the super tough Clear, a big Thanks to Anthony.
Also managed to get all of the sets of Springs marked out, punched & cut, ready for the assembly stage.

Here's all the Springs cut & with the hand tools used to make them... tedious work

A closer view of all those Back Springs...

...and the Top Springs...those round discs are from punching out all the holes.

There's a couple of "speciality items" that I still need to make for two of these Machine Orders...
...so they'll be part of next Monday's jobs.

Machines for 2012...the first batch

Time just seems to be flying past me...so here's my first posting for the year 2012

Spent my break between Christmas & New Years building Frames for the various Machine Orders.
Everything is totally handmade using nothing more than a bench vice, hacksaw, hand files, Oxy-Acetylene torch, Pedestal Drill & a Linisher.

Managed to get all the Frames completed, although I'd of liked to have been further along in the process.
These Frames will be painted with exactly the same Clear coating as used on the Lucky Museum Machine.
After that, the next process will be assembly & hand making a set of Springs to suit each individual Machine.

Here's some photos showing the Frames assigned to containers holding the various parts for each Order.
Each Frame is engraved with it's own code number which you'll see in some of the photos.
This code number helps me to keep track of which handmade part suits what Frame & who's Order it is.
An example is the photo with all the Quickchange Clamps, each with a number related back to a Frame.

Ordering Machines...if you're interested

For those of you interested in owning one of my Machines, then here's what you'll need to do.

Please send me an email that states which Machine type that you're wanting...

• Liner - Heavy Armature
• Round Shader/Color - Heavy Armature
• Magnum Shader/Color - Heavy Armature

I'll then send you a reply email to confirm your Order & clarify any details I might require.
This reply email will also state the cost of the Machine as well as the Postage & Insurance costs.
All Orders will have an Invoice supplied & payments can be made via PayPal


Important - Please Note: 
Because each Machine being ordered is totally handmade, tested, tuned & then run-in, all of which means...

• no two Machines will be identical, only similar looking.
• there is NO STOCK being made or kept of these Machines. 

For those of you that have already sent emails placing Orders.
Be assured that I'm presently working on those Machines & should have them ready for the New Year.

Lucky Museum Machine...all finished

When I first started out to build this Machine, I set myself a deadline for it to be all finished...
...ideally the first week of November or the second week at the very latest!!

So first thing tomorrow morning (Monday 14th November), this Luckys Museum "Hugo" Machine is off to it's new home at Luckys Tattoo Museum in the States.

In the last Blog post, this Machine had just been fine tuned & tested on myself, leaving only the running in process to be completed.
The running in was already well under way, with a large tattoo already completed & a full arm sleeve being outlined with it, when Murphy's Law struck...
...a broken Top Spring & it was exactly what had previously happened to the Magnum prototype.
Given that it was from that very same batch of Spring material, I decided to totally change the Top & Back Springs to a different, but already proven material that I'd only just acquired.

Of course that meant I now had to redo all the fine tuning & testing again, then repeat the measuring, to be followed by the strip down, then chrome plating, etc...
...my deadline was now fast running out..!


Utilise those resources that are close to you:
Where I'm building all of these Machines is at a factory owned & operated by some friends, one of them is a young guy named Anthony who's a Spray Painter.
Whilst discussing how this Machine build was progressing, Anthony suggested he could spray paint the Frame & thus regain me some of the already lost time.
Anthony chose to use a super tough paint that when dry, is totally impervious to any solvents, most of which wouldn't ever be used within a Tattoo Studio anyway!!
Anthony also chose to use a Clear, so that it could always be seen how this Machine was constructed & that it was totally hand built.
So a really Big Thanks goes to Anthony.

With the Frame all nicely painted & rock hard, I moved straight into the reassembly & then retuning.
This was followed by some quick tests on my foot again, just to be sure that everything was working well.
The final result, a voltage range from 10V through to 11.5V & drawing no more than 0.31A.

Here's the finished product.

Luckys Museum "Hugo" Machine complete with Tube, Grip & spare Springs 

This Machine pretty much represents what I'd managed to learn as an Aussie Tattoo Artist, if you wanted to do Tattooing, you had to make the majority of equipment & components yourself.
So figured it was only fitting that I should also hand make a one piece Tube with a replaceable Tip.
I've not made this actual Grip, but had a number of them produced to how I used to make them myself, which includes the 3 grooves at the Tip end to identify my Tubes & Grips when working with other Tattoo Artists.


A quick trip down Memory Lane:
Next on my agenda was to get this Machine safely packaged & ready for postage to the States.
I started thinking about forms of packaging which included Bubble-wrap & other such things.
Whilst contemplating all this, my thoughts wandered back to the old days of seeing the Aussie Old Timers with Gladstone Bags & their Machines safely wrapped up inside...
...their Machines were always safely wrapped up within an old tea towel.
It's something of which I still do to this day when transporting the prototype Machines back & forth for testing to Eternal Ink.

So I thought it was kind of fitting to ship this "Old Style" Machine wrapped up in an "Old School" way...
...in this case it's a typical Aussie Tourist one.

The Luckys Museum "Hugo" Machine all safely wrapped & ready to go

Lucky Museum Machine...testing, testing

Since my last post, I finished making parts & doing all the assembly for the Luckys Museum "Hugo" Machine.
With that all done, next on my agenda was:

• get it running.
• establish it's optimum voltage range while drawing the minimum amps.
• fine tune it to work smoothly within that voltage range.
• test how well it will lay ink into skin.

Luckys Museum "Hugo" Machine assembled & awaiting tests

Why run tests:

I'll state here & now that I've no idea how others go about testing their newly built Machines...

...and nor do I profess to have all the answers needed to build Machines...

I know what works for me, so I'm following a tried & proven process that I've always used.

And in doing so, those same processes are continuing to work well for these current Machines.

Part of that process involves testing how well the Machine will lay (punch) ink into the skin.

Being a typical Old School Tattoo Artist, I only use myself as the "Guinea Pig" to run the first tests & have found my foot & ankle to be the best "test subject".

On the foot, you'll find the skin structure changes quite dramatically within a small space & so it allows you to test hard into soft skin, including taunt & loose skin. 

If you've got a preference for Big Liners, then you can quickly establish if the Machine is going to be up to the task of punching a large pattern into tough, hard skin.

I decided on using a 9 Liner for my tests...

...this Machine just pushed the ink in without any dramas!
I even used it like a Round Shader at one stage, just to see if it could keep up & continue laying ink in...

...this Machine didn't miss a beat!
Here's a photo showing my foot with it's new additions...
...they now join all those other test results from 20+ years of Machine building.

My foot with the results from testing this new Machine

I've tuned this Machine to run exactly how all the Aussie Old School Tattoo Artists ran their Thin Armature Machines...fast!!
As with all the Machines I've built, they're designed to work within a range so that you can use a variety of different sized Liners, using just that one Machine.
In this case, the Luckys Museum "Hugo" Machine can run 3, 5, 7, 9 & most likely an 11 Liner just by dialling up through it's voltage range.

This Machine has a voltage range from 9V through to 11V & draws low amps of 0.3A to just over 0.35A.

Lucky Museum Machine...aka the "Hugo"

As mentioned in the previous post, I'm building a Thin Armature Machine for Luckys Tattoo Museum.
The Museum is part of Luckys Tattoo & Medical Supplies which is owned by Jimmy Whitlock.


What's in the name of a Frame:
Whilst looking at the prototype Machines, Jimmy happened to mention that my Frames looked similar to a Bulldog style of Frame.
Strangely enough, it was only from looking through Jimmy's online Tattoo Museum that I'd recently found out that there was an actual name for this style of Frame...you live & learn!!

So I guess these Frames that I'm making are what you'd call an "Aussie" Bulldog.

All of which is kind of ironic because our beloved pet dog was an Aussie Bulldog named Hugo.
Sadly though after 11 years, Hugo is no longer with us.
So if these Aussie Bulldog Frames must have a distinct name to go by, then I'll just call them a "Hugo".

Hugo 

Luckys Museum "Hugo" Machine:
I've managed to make a good start & so have finished hand making the Frame.
All of the current Frames will be stamped with my name followed by the year they've been made, so in this case it reads:  C.CREED 2011

Still need to cut a Top Spring to suit, finish all the assembly, then it's time to do some fine tuning.
As with all my Machines, it will be run as is to allow everything to bed in properly, then measured, stripped down & the Frame will go off to be chrome plated to stop any rusting.
Once back from the Chromers, everything will be reassembled to the previous measurements, tuned & used a number of times to test everything is still all working correctly.
Then it'll be posted off to Jimmy for his Tattoo Museum.

Here's some photos of how it's looking like so far.