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I am a beginner, (not a scratcher, just practicing on rubber,) and i thought i had my shader set up well, but i noticed that when i try to do fast, smooth shading, i get a cross-directional zebra stripe affect. I'm using one of those cheep machines that can be a liner or shader. (When i say cross-directional, i mean the "stripes" run perpendicular (90 degrees) to the "brush stroke.") If anyone knows what i mean, can you give me suggestions to try? I feel like i need to speed up the needle just a bit to make the shading smoother, but should i turn the voltage up or down? Right now i have it at 9v at about a nickel gap. If i turn the voltage down, i will have to make the gap smaller, and if i turn the voltage up to 12, i'm just worried it is too much power. I need to hear from someone with experience who remembers having this same problem. Thanks!

[Later, i adjusted the angle of the contact screw (more upright) & lowered the voltage to 7.5. The needle is faster now, making the zebra stripe a little finer, but it is still pretty noticeable. If i whip shade back & forth several times, or circular shade, it kind of blends together. But now that the needle is faster, it's less forgiving. Maybe it is just the rubber skin. Maybe i would get much better results on grapefruit or squash?]

chic · Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 4:18 am Post subject:

im sure when a tattooist comes into the forum, hopefully they will post for you..

good luck.. dont be tempted to work on people yet though...

Bren · Posted: Fri May 16, 2008 12:37 am Post subject: Shading

Hi there bud. Sounds like your machine needs tuning. Generally not alot of power is needed for shading, as you work from your needles.
What sort of needles are you trying to do this with?

Ash Christ · Posted: Fri May 16, 2008 4:57 pm Post subject:

Sounds like you're pressing too hard.

Try using a honeydew melon to practice on instead of the syn skin.
It'll let you know if you're digging.