How Much to Spend on Your First Tattoo Machine as an Apprentice?

Starting your tattoo journey is exciting, but it can also be overwhelming. 

The budget needs to be planned carefully. How much will you pay for an apprenticeship(if your mentor asks for a fee), how long will your apprenticeship be, how much will you go to spend on tattoo equipment, and how much can you splash on a tattoo machine?

Between mastering techniques and building your artistic style, choosing a tattoo machine is definitely one of your biggest decisions, which may accompany you for a long time. Maybe even throughout your whole apprenticeship.

With prices ranging from 'Is this a scam?' cheap to 'Did they add gold plating?' expensive, it’s easy to second-guess yourself. Not to mention that there are more and more under a hundred tattoo kits on online shopping platforms. There are plenty of cheaper options available on the market. Buying a reliable machine is the hardest part. This is crucial to avoid frustration as you develop your tattooing skills.

So, let’s cut through the noise. Here’s a no-BS guide to finding a machine that won’t fail you mid-line—or empty your wallet before your career even starts.

Three Steps to Find Your Perfect Beginner Tattoo Machine 

1. Usage

What do you plan to do with the machine? Are you going to use it on real skin or just for practicing?

If you have a plan to use it on real skin, you need to choose tattoo guns price at $200 and up. That is an ideal situation. If you don’t have that much budget, at least browse products at $150. Or consider Inkflexo and its counterparts. Because every store has products with premium quality but sold at a relevant low price to attract more people to buy their products, in a bid to increase their visibility and market awareness.

Usually, this kind of tattoo machine is a bargain, but it still needs careful research on its specifications, like functions, battery life, motor, etc. Do the research yourself. In this way, you can compare the machines rationally.

If the machine is only for practice purposes, move your attention from price to quality. The quality doesn’t have to be as high as machines priced at hundreds.

For practicing a tattoo machine, you need to know what kind of practice you are going to do: lining, shading, or colour packing? Machines vary from each other, even though the differences may not be felt by a beginner. In this case, an adjustable tattoo machine would be a good choice rather than a fixed-stroke tattoo machine. With an adjustable tattoo machine, beginners have more options.

For example, the INKin Inferno tattoo machine has 6 different stroke lengths, and its coreless motor is engineered to reduce vibration greatly. This feature is beginner-friendly. Less vibration means more precision. Inferno is RCA compatible. For beginners whose practice usually takes a long time, it would be better to have an RCA connector. It is also optional.

This step is to help you figure out the price range that would cost you.

2. Durability

Generally speaking, pen-style tattoo machines’ lifespan ranges from 1-3 years.

But still, there are many factors that contribute to its longevity aside from quality. Such as maintenance, motor, key-part design, and usage frequency, etc.

To avoid quality problems, going through their reviews is an indispensable step. Pay attention to reviews with pictures and bad low review rate, as well as what causes a tattooer to give a low review.

After research, theoretically, you can get a good machine. 

3. Platform

Assuming you will be buying on Amazon:

Many of the ink that comes with Amazon kits say 'not fit for human skin', so you’ll likely need to buy inks separately. You can get decent needles on Amazon, but most of the time, for the good stuff, you’ll need to order from a tattoo supply. You can also use the cheaper needles for practice skins and better needles on human skin.

If it is possible, buy machines from a tattoo supply website instead of an online platform. If you really want to buy it on a platform like Amazon, see through their website before you place an order.

With an official website, you know you can apply for after-service, and you know where to go when the machine is out of work. It’s a guarantee.

Don’t Buy the Cheapest Tattoo Pen.

When starting out, every dollar counts. You may want to buy the cheapest one for practicing at the very beginning. However, remember one thing: the beginning shapes the future. With better equipment, you can have better control of either precision or shading. The cheapest tattoo machines may have varied motor problems and battery problems, such as vibrating like a washing machine.

That said, you don’t need to drop $500+ on your first rig. A $150-$300 kit strikes the perfect balance. They are reliable enough for real skin(when you are ready).

Tattoo machines like Inferno and Rampage have push mode. Push mode, also called kick-start in the Rampage and Inferno introduction manual. The aim of this function is to drive the large rows of cartridges at a low voltage. It starts at 12V and goes down to the voltage you set. The whole process would be complete in seconds.

INKin offers a complete tattoo kit for beginners in this industry, and a 12-month warranty for the motor and a 6-month warranty for the battery. Customers' rights are guaranteed. INKin tattoo sets for starters are popular, especially the Inkflexo tattoo kit, which is under $200, and with its premium quality, it offers a perfect balance of affordability and quality for beginners. Professionals are more prefer the Rampage and Inferno tattoo machine.

Red Flags to Avoid

• 'Professional Grade' for $50: Probably a knockoff with shaky motors.
• No review/videos: If you can’t find anyone test it, that’s a warning.
• Non-branded needle and ink: Sketchy ingredients mean blowouts and infections. Never use it on real skin.

When to Upgrade?

When the moment comes, you will know.

When your machine feels like struggling with thicker skin, you need to buy a new one. Because this could be caused by wear of the motor and parts.

When your machine starts to limit your detail work, it’s time to upgrade.

Or maybe when you are just annoying daily.

However, this doesn’t mean you need to spend thousands of dollars. There are plenty of high-end professional kits, like the INKin Inferno Kit, which can be purchased for under $300. These kits offer the quality and precision you need to handle more complex tattoos.

(By @jdejuan_tattoo)

Conclusion

As a starter, the tattoo machine plays a significant role in the learning process. It’s important to select a tattoo pen that is reliable, durable, and affordable. Seeing tattoo learning as an investment, the key is maximizing returns while minimizing costs. Check out some unfamous tattoo equipment brands like INKin before you become a master and decide to turn to a high-end supplier, like Cheyenne.