Special Technique Rotary Machines’ first in-house powdercoating! This remix of the Slingshot version 3 has a powdercoated brass tube vise and hardware, plus a powdercoated welded key thumbscrew from our friend Dennis Miller. This machine has a 3.5mm stroke, medium-to-soft hit, and the same drive train as in the Workhorse Irons rotary. It’s priced at $450 and you can buy it here. PROS IN SHOPS ONLY PLEASE.

A blast from the past… we have a couple frames sitting around from our 2010 Tracker model, so we decided to build up a few of them.

The Tracker linear/rotary makes a great liner. The nearly robotic precision and needle acceleration make these machines very fun to use. This aluminum model features a 3.5mm stroke, and the same motor as in the Workhorse Irons rotary.

(Ugly Bill’s comment: Note the left-handed orientation of the contacts and thumbscrew. I’m a righty, and I had tons of fun doing some outlines with this machine. The location of the clipcord contacts didn’t even catch my attention once while I was using it.)

This aluminum Tracker is $450. Free shipping. PROS ONLY, we check.

Buy the Tracker UL 2011 here.

[Ugly Bill's comment to tattooists: I have been using various brands of Iron Hit Liniment(also called 'dit da jow') for over 15 years as part of my personal regimen, for both joint pain and hard physical training. White Tiger Kung Fu's version of this liniment is the absolute best product you can get for joint and tendon pain. It's not a 'band-aid' or analgesic balm. It actually fixes the problem.]

USING IRON HIT LINIMENT:

-Use a few drops repeatedly. This is not the same as using a whole lot at once!

-If you have a serious injury, or an old one, you may have to use this product for up to an HOUR a day to get fast, effective, PERMANENT relief. It might seem unreasonable but, well, it’s your pain, and it’s up to you how badly you want relief. Many people live with some sort of pain from an old injury. Trouble is, many old injuries can be crippling later in life if a person doesn’t have the discipline to address the issue at a younger age.

-The liniment is more effective when warmed. Remember, the liniment is FLAMMABLE. Keep liniment away from open flames! An easy way to warm liniment is to place the bottle in a mug with a little hot water in the bottom, and let it sit for a few minutes. Be careful not to melt your bottle. Do not put liniment in the microwave.

-Iron Hit Liniment, like all herbs, can be rendered less effective or ineffective if it comes in contact with metallic particles. If you are putting it on your wrist, take off your watch, and don’t wear rings on your fingers while applying it. Also, if you use tap water in your warming mug, make sure you dry it off the bottle before applying. There are metallic particles in tap water. It can get sucked up into the opening of your bottle and ruin the whole batch!

-Don’t wash or lotion your hands immediately before OR after using the liniment.

-Never use on broken skin!

-Don’t use liniment directly on the spine, as it has a powerful effect on the body’s energy, and the spine is one of the body’s major energy pathways.

-Be careful when pouring Iron Hit Liniment from the bottle. If it touches your skin, it cannot be put back into the bottle, as this could ruin the whole batch! If you pour out too much, use it on yourself or find a friend!

-Rub slow, diligently, and clockwise, no matter what body part you are treating. Clockwise wakes the area up, counter-clockwise puts the area to sleep. Only your Chinese medicine practitioner will (rarely) use a counter-clockwise motion. Your left hand should rotate towards the thumb, and your right hand should rotate towards the little finger. When your skin is almost dry/tacky, use a few more drops. Keep repeating this as often as possible and you will get miraculous results.

If your skin becomes irritated, you may be rubbing against the grain of your skin’s hairs too hard. Be mindful.

Released to the public! White Tiger Kung Fu’s family recipe for Iron Hit Liniment…. an injury tonic with no equal in any industry.

The staff at White Tiger Kung Fu in San Diego, California will process your order.

Buy this miraculous and much coveted liniment here.

Read detailed instructions on the use of Iron Hit Liniment here.

Special Technique’s Tattoo Curiosity Shoppe will feature tattoo machines from quality builders, and tattoo-related goods, including health solutions for tattooists. Machine sales will be IN PERSON only, to PROFESSIONAL TATTOOISTS only.

SUMMER 2012: Starting May 1st 2012 we will be closing our current Newport Avenue location and re-opening in a bigger space. Since we will be building and traveling a lot this summer, we will wait til September or October to open the new space. If you are tattooing in the San Diego area we will be happy to come to your shop and show you our machine inventory. Please email director@specialtechnique.net and we’ll set up a time with you.

What we learned in opening our current space is that we have the drive to open such a business! We had hopes of machining in the new space in addition to doing retail. A few talks with the neighbors about the potential noise level made it clear that we were going to have problems combining our retail and machining in this space. We’re on the hunt for the PERFECT home, where we can do all our tasks under one roof.

Thanks to Seth Ciferri, Workhorse Irons, Stable Colors, and all the artists and builders that have supported us – your business and feedback have given us the confidence to take things to the next level. We aim to serve the tattoo community with solutions for making the tattooist’s job and life easier. We’ll also sell cool stuff that is associated with tattooing, like prints and t-shirts.

If we cannot verify that you work in a tattoo shop, you will not get a machine from us. No exceptions. If we haven’t met you yet, we’ll probably ask to see your portfolio and/or your shop website. We’d do this anyway, since making and selling our machines is very personal with us. We like being familiar with the work and reputation of our clients.

Machine photos? Scroll down, or click the ‘Tattoo Machines’ category on the left and then scroll down. Many of the pictured machines are sold, and a few are not. We work as quickly and steadily as we can to get you new machines. AFTER you read a bit about our machines, if you have any questions please email Ugly Bill at director@specialtechnique.net, or Brian Campbell at briancampbell.mail@gmail.com.

Special Technique is an artist collective. We have many projects including music, garments, spiritual pursuits, and of course the crafting of mechanical devices. Check out our music/dj pages for cutting-edge beats, and visit our Magic section for natural health solutions.

Thanks to all our supporters.