SFO Tattoo Convention Stories

ok so here goes.. i'm tired as hell, excuse the gibberish

sold copter 2 to grime. what an amazing guy. so much enthusiasm. he gave it back today so we can put an rca cord on it since he only uses that. rca rules.

my friend clay decker gave me an rca clipcord adaptor that is sick. the rca pug is CERAMIC inside so we can braze brass to it and add it to the copter 2, with bling..

sold the machine we called 'the nameless' to uptown charlie, a machine builder and collector and shop owner.

i mentioned to him i would kill for a first generation swashdrive and he said he had one almost new in the box.

without telling me, he drove home to wherever and got this thing, it's sick looking and historical too. in the box with extra clips and bushings and the directions.

he was so smitten with our newest brass tracker that he had to have it. he was mostly trying to trade me for the swashdrive, which i wanted very much.. i told him no like 300 times, and said i don't have money to buy museum pieces. he said he couldnt afford to spend any more cash so that was that. which i was relieved at because my partner had asked me not to sell it yet but to jus ttake deposit

at 630 the entire hotel lost power. some dim emergency lites but no outlets at all. this outage lasted til 8 - closing time.

at that moment me n my buddy clay decker were sitting next to his partner RICHARD STELL who was tattooing a rad looking tiger on a kid's leg. richard is a very intimidating person who was vocal about his dislike of rotaries in the past. his friends always said he was a sweetheart but i was terrified of him.

i mentioned to clay that our machines run perfect off usb and he was like yeah and then we can use one of those spelunking lights blah blah and before you know it we had rigged clipcord footswithch usb no rheostat.. i basically PUT the brass tracker in richard stells hand and said TRUST ME YOULL LOVE IT. richard shoved it right in there and took to it immediately, was hauling ass right away. his wife held the spelunking light.

all this happened as every famous motherfucker in the industry was standing around waiting for the power to come back on. it never did. many folks went home with unfinished work including DAVE HARTMAN. anyways richard sure was awful sweet to me after that. he was the only one that tattooed any more at the convention, 1 hour and 2 laptops worth of batteries later the tattoo was finished and looked awesome. richard quite liked the machine..

uptown charlie sold like 4000 dollars worth of shit right at the end an came up and offered me cash for my partner and the swashdrive for me, which i accepted.

Rotary Tattoo Machine Answers

Here are some answers to questions I have recieved about Special Technique rotary tattoo machines.

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when a rotary tattoo machine has a spring to make the 'hit' softer, it is called 'dampened.' we also say 'it has a dampening mechanism.'

this dampening feels nice to both artist and client. some dampening mechanisms have too many parts. more parts means more chances to break. i like to make the dampening with no extra moving parts, just a well placed spring that softens the 'hit' a little bit. ALL DAMPENING FEELS NICE and you don't need to adjust it on the machine. just turn the power up or down a little bit.

ADJUSTABLE dampening means there is a screw to adjust the tension on the dampener spring. i think these adjustable ones will break down too soon. i made a few, but i worry....

i think our Tracker machines like the first one in this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SXvQRj87aI will all have the dampening spring but with NO adjustment screw. two reasons for this: i don't want tattooists messing with my devices, and you should NOT be using one machine for every tattoo task. you should have at least 4 or 5 machines you use every day. no machine can be used by itself to support a tattooist's ENTIRE career. it just doesn't work that way.

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the machines get tested under the WORST and also BEST possible conditions. i put oil instead of ink in the tube and run all rubber real loose, and i also dry needle that hard rubber practice skin with metal dust and crap all over it... using a 15 mag a lot of the time. it really hammers at the machine's working parts. i really try to give these things some punishment before i send them out. i really go over these things in detail. if something is amiss, i find it right away. when i get all the parts to behave correctly, nothing will change the machine, even in the roughest tattoo conditions, for a year to two years. our parts are becoming more durable and easier to replace as we progress: this aspect of making the machines is a huge emphasis for us. we also buy extra motors well over and above the number of machines we make, just to be on the safe side.

you get a surprising look at other factors in tattooing when the machine never changes. i'm really concerned with nothing else other than showing tattooists this different and enjoyable perspective on their daily task. i've shut off basically everything in life, and devote ALL my time to stressing out about sending mechanical devices to england and switzerland and india.

my partner, brian campbell and i charge a lot for our creations because we know what it's worth to buy a product backed by people who are so devoted to their craft. right now we are obsessed, low-tech mechanical innovators, but we're both interested in machining, mass-production and even engineering classes. who knows what we will turn into, but the point is that we are so into making and sharing mechanical devices that you literally buy a piece of us when you get a machine from us. we have made roughly 60 machines at this time, and we'll have the same attitude after we've made 600 and 6000 machines.

Warranty and Shipping Details for Special Technique Tattoo Machines

Our machines are not suitable for apprentices or inexperienced artists. We only sell machines to professional tattooists with real shop addresses.



SHIPPING:
Included in the price of your machine is $25 to cover shipping and Paypal charges. If it's much more than that we will email you another paypal link to cover the difference. Shipping overseas can be expensive! If you live outside the USA please email director@specialtechnique.com instead of using our shopping cart.



Your machine will ship in 1-5 days after you place your order, and will arrive 3-5 days after that. Expect your machine within 10 days.



Special Technique rotary machines are handmade inventions. They are a delight to tattoo with, and you will probably use your new machine for every tattoo right from the beginning! Our machines get driven very hard, since they're so much fun to use. OUR WARRANTY: All parts are guaranteed to be free of defect for one year. Do not attempt to repair your Special Technique rotary machine yourself. This voids the warranty. Most repairs outside our warranty will be $25 to $50 plus shipping. Some of the parts on certain machines are easy to replace, and we can simply mail those to our clients. A replacement parts price list will be on our website soon.