From The Desk of -  Brandyn D Feldman 

The tattoo industry is flooded with information right now, and most of it is straight nonsense. Tattooers search every day using terms like tattoo machine tuning, coil tattoo machine tuning, rotary tattoo machine tuning, and best tattoo machines 2025, but most of what they find is recycled garbage written by people who have never tuned a machine, never machined a part, and never put their hands on anything real. A lot of the “information” online has no roots. No lineage. No context. No respect for the people who built this craft.

Meanwhile, the actual history gets buried. The real voices get drowned out. The builders who shaped tattooing disappear from the conversation. Paul Rogers, Sailor Jerry, Bill Jones, Nick Picaro, Charlie Wagner, Spaulding, Lou Lewis, and so many others defined the machines tattooers still use today, yet their names barely appear in search results. Their geometry, their spring logic, their armature bar design, their frame layout, their feel, their philosophy — it all still lives inside modern machines whether people realize it or not.

But new tattooers never get that story. The algorithm does not care. The internet pushes influencers, not builders. It promotes surface level advice and ignores the craftsmen who built this industry from nothing.

This is exactly why guides like this exist.

I have been tattooing for more than two decades. I build coils and traditional rotaries from raw material. I engineer every part in CAD and design everything down to the thousandth because precision matters. I run a full test and R and D facility where I make, measure, stress, and refine every part I produce. I use manual machinery every day, but I also program high precision CNC machines to dive deep into geometry and solve problems the old builders never had the technology to explore. Nothing I build is guessed. Everything is proven.

And the truth is, this is not just work for me. I eat it, I sleep it, and I never stop talking or thinking about tattooing or tattoo machines. This is my world. My brain does not turn off. Some of my closest friends are the same way. One that comes to mind is my friend Mike Pike. If you want to see some really nice builds, go check out Mike’s Machines. He is as obsessed with this craft as I am.

And if you are here reading this, I know you feel that same pull.
So for this deep dive project, buckle up and let’s get nerdy.
Let’s get hungry for the knowledge.
This is where the real shit starts.

I tattoo with these tools. I test them on real skin. I teach tattooers how to understand their machines so they can stop guessing and start tattooing with confidence. This blog breaks down the most searched tattoo machine topics today and finally gives you real, field tested knowledge informed by the lineage that built this trade.

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The Most Common Tattoo Machine Searches in 2025

These searches show where tattooing misses the mark today.

1. Best tattoo machines 2025

Tattooers want reliability, clean response, and a machine that does not quit mid line.
They want intention, not gimmicks.
A good tattoo machine is not an accident. It is engineered. It is balanced. It is tuned.

Guys like Paul Rogers and Charlie Wagner built machines one at a time with that philosophy.
Modern builders who actually machine their parts are carrying that legacy forward.
Everyone else is just reselling catalog parts.

2. Coil vs rotary tattoo machine

People search this constantly because the internet is confused.

A coil uses magnetic induction. The hit is created by:

• Spring geometry

• Armature bar weight

• Coil size

• Frame layout

• Magnetic collapse timing

A rotary uses mechanical energy. Performance comes from:

• Torque

• Stroke

• Motor load

• Bearing drag

• Drive system design

You cannot compare the two unless you understand them.
That is why so many people talk confidently and incorrectly.

3. How to tune a coil tattoo machine

One of the most searched topics in tattooing.
Also one of the least understood.

Coil tuning is engineering. It is balance. It is geometry.
Sailor Jerry wrote letters about spring angles and armature bar mass.
Wagner tuned by ear.
Jones tuned by feel.
Picaro taught tuning as a discipline.

When a coil is tuned correctly, it helps you pull the line.
When it is wrong, it fights you.

4. Tattoo machine voltage

Tattooers search tattoo machine voltage guide because the concept gets twisted.

Voltage is not power.
Voltage is potential.
Power is how the machine converts that potential into mechanical work.

Coils run 3.5 to 8 volts depending on setup.
Rotaries often run 5 to 11 volts depending on torque and stroke.

If you do not understand how electricity becomes movement, you will never find the sweet spot.

5. Best stroke for rotary tattoo machines

This gets searched constantly, and most answers are wrong.

Stroke is one factor. Torque is bigger.
Early rotary builders matched stroke to torque, not trends.
Modern marketing flipped that logic upside down.

6. Best coil machines for lining and shading

Tattooers search best lining tattoo machine and best shader tattoo machine because they want consistency.

Lining needs:

• Snap

• Fast return

• Crisp strike

Shading needs:

• Smooth roll

• Predictable speed

• Controlled saturation

Traditional American coil geometry handles all of that when built correctly.
That is why it still works.

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Where Tattooers Are Learning and Why It Fails Them

Most tattooers learn from fast content now.
They search how to make my tattoo machine hit harder and how to fix a weak coil, and end up watching creators who have never tuned a coil in their life.

YouTube is full of opinions, not fundamentals.
Reddit is full of guesses.
Manufacturers avoid teaching because confused tattooers buy more products.
Instagram teaches nothing technical.

Meanwhile, the real lineage gets ignored.

Rogers, Wagner, Jerry, Jones, Picaro, and countless others tuned machines by ear, by feel, by intuition, by geometry, by understanding.
They built the foundation every tattooer uses today.
Without them, none of us would know shit about machine performance.

Tattooers deserve better than internet shortcuts.
They deserve the knowledge that made this craft strong.

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Real Tattoo Machine Tuning Knowledge

This is the stuff you cannot learn on TikTok.

1. Power delivery

Power delivery is everything. Voltage does not equal hit.
Power is created by the relationship between:

• Coil winding

• Spring tension

• Armature weight

• Frame geometry

Weak machines are often spring problems.
Dry machines are often angle problems.
Wild machines are often geometry problems.

This is the real craft.
This is the real lineage.

2. Spring geometry

Front spring controls speed.
Rear spring controls power.
Angle determines how energy transfers.

Cutting springs randomly is a rookie mistake.
Every spring was designed with a reason.

Jerry knew it.
Rogers knew it.
Jones knew it.
Picaro knew it.
Wagner knew it.

Their machines weren’t accidents.
They were intentional.

3. Matching machines to needle groupings

A machine built for a 7 does not behave the same with a 14.
Light coils chatter on big groupings.
Heavy machines drag small needles.

Balance is the whole game.

4. Rotary stroke truth

Stroke length is not the king.
Torque is.
Drive system design is.
Motor load is.

Direct drive hits different from cam.
Cam hits different from slider.
Slider hits different from anything else.

Understanding the drive system is the key to controlling hit.

5. Clipcord science

Bad cords destroy performance.
Resistance, solder, gauge, and connector design all matter.
A weak cord can make a great machine feel like trash.

That is why I built Tat Cords with controlled resistance and proper internals.
Stable power equals stable work.

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Why Tattooers Need Better Knowledge

Tattooing is losing its memory.

Real machine knowledge is disappearing.
Apprenticeships are shorter.
Shops are busier.
Beginners rely on rotaries and never learn how a machine actually works.

Meanwhile, corporate influence keeps steamrolling the craft.
They buy up legacy brands.
They water things down.
They push disposable gear.
They target confused beginners because they are easier to manipulate.

These companies do not care about tattooing.
They care about controlling the market.
They erase lineage.
They bury the builders who made tattooing what it is.

Sailor Jerry wrote entire letters about spring geometry.
Paul Rogers machined thousands of frames by hand.
Wagner created designs that lasted a century.
Jones and Picaro carried the knowledge through eras when tattooing barely survived.
Lou Lewis kept the machine building spirit alive in the shadows.

These men cared.
They built.
They tuned.
They taught.
They protected this craft.

Tattooers today deserve to inherit that knowledge, not the corporate version of tattooing designed for maximum sales.

Tattooing belongs to tattooers.
It always has.

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The Feldman Tool Co. Resource Library

This is not just a tuning guide.
This is a preservation project.

I am building a full resource library that covers:

• Coil tuning

• Rotary engineering

• Voltage and power

• Spring charts

• Clipcord science

• Tattoo machine history

• Geometry fundamentals

• Apprenticeship level knowledge

• And real machine lineage from the people who built this craft

Tattooers deserve real information from real builders.
My purpose is to protect the craft, teach the fundamentals, and keep the lineage alive by building tools worthy of tattooing.

“So will you add yourself to this rich lineage by keeping the passed knowledge alive”