A little while back somebody handed me a stack of photocopied pages from 1978. A doctor named Andrew John Lemes the third put together his own manual back then called Tattoo: State of the Art, hand drawn diagrams and all, laying out exactly how a coil machine works and how you actually tune one. This was not a manual on how to build a machine from scratch, no frame casting or coil winding recipes in here. It was about the function, understanding what is actually happening inside the machine and how to run it right. No forums, no group chats, no builders comparing notes online. Worth saying plainly, Lemes was not really supposed to be putting any of this out...

Ask a career tattoo artist, someone twenty or thirty years deep, and you won't hear them talk about "the industry." You'll hear them talk about it, the way you'd talk about a person. Something with moods. Something that has fed their family, tested their patience, humbled them, and kept them coming back to the iron for decades. For a lot of us, tattooing behaves like a living, breathing entity, one we serve rather than one we simply practice. My friend Eddie Deutsch, who has been tattooing a very long time, has taken to writing what he calls love letters to it. I understand exactly why. Tattooing has supported me through my life. It's given me a trade, a community, a...

Feldman Tool Co. is bringing back the tradition of building your own machine with full coil tattoo machine build kits, coming soon.

Coil tattoo machines aren’t magic / they’re precise little relays that either work with you or fight you all day. In this post I break down coil basics in plain language, show you how to read when your coils are healthy, sick, or cooked, and walk you through the field‑repair moves every working tattooer should know. We’ll look at why frame geometry and jig‑bored precision matter, why buying from tattooer‑builders beats corporate supply houses every time, and how Section 179 can help you write off real tattoo equipment instead of wasting money on disposable kits.

A deep look at coil tattoo machines, magnetic domains, metallurgy, and the lineage of builders who shaped modern tattooing. Written from the bench.

Alternative slightly more emotional:

Explore how steel, magnetism, and tattoo machine history shape coil performance. A builder’s perspective on lineage, physics, and better tattooing.

Tattooing often begins in the industry but evolves into a lifelong craft. This article explores why more tattoo artists are transitioning from pen style machines to coil tattoo machines, reconnecting with bar needles, stainless steel tubes, and the deeper knowledge that comes from working closer to the machine and the roots of tattooing.

Tattooing didn’t come from manuals. It came from shops, benches, burned fingers, bent springs, and machines that either ran right - or didn’t. For a long time, tattooers learned the language of tattooing the same way they learned to tattoo: by watching, asking questions, and screwing things up until they didn’t. Somewhere along the way, that language got watered down. This glossary exists to stop that slide. It’s an introductory glossary. . . not a tuning bible, not a shortcut, not a YouTube hack. Just real definitions, written by someone who actually builds, tunes, and uses these machines. This will grow over time, but you’ve got to start with the fundamentals. Tattoo Machine Types (Yes, They’re Actually Different) Coil Tattoo...

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....

From the bench of Brandyn Feldman, June 2025 There’s been a shift in the air lately. Machines are getting quieter, but so is the knowledge. Everyone’s chasing wireless, touchscreen-driven, cartridge-loaded, auto-tuning setups that promise more with less. Less mess. Less noise. Less involvement. But that trade-off comes at a cost. I come from a school of thought that says the sound of a machine matters. That the hum of a dialed-in coil machine isn't just noise. It's information. It tells you about tension, timing, heat, and how deep you’re hitting. You take that away and what are you left with? A plastic shell that buzzes just enough to fake it. These wireless pens have convinced a generation that convenience equals...

From the bench of Brandyn Feldman, June 2025 There’s been a lot of talk lately. About wireless this, pen that, Bluetooth-enabled machines, programmable stroke settings, plug-and-play tattooing like it’s 2030 already. And while I understand the tech, I’ve got to say it out loud: Coil tattoo machines still matter. Not just because they look cool. Not just because they hum like an old truck warming up in the cold. They matter because they work, when they’re built right. When they’re tuned by someone who understands geometry, spring tension, magnetic pull, and what it means to drive a needle into skin all day, every day. That’s exactly what I set out to do with the Front Loader Aussie Bulldog Shader. It’s...