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BY MIKE EATON
EAST COAST INK MAGAZINE
Within the inner circles of the tattoo community it’s
becoming more and more common to hear artists talk about
how the industry is loosing the “grit” that it once had.
Outside influence and big business is weaseling its way into
something that was once far more secretive and mysterious
to the common man.
The tattoo revolution is well under way in the year 2007 and
the eerily common starter kit is readily available to anyone
willing to spend a few hundred bucks.
A hard line has been drawn between those who are in it
only to make a dollar and those who still hold this thing
called tattooing sacred. The professional tattooist is in the
midst of a war…a war to maintain control of his craft in
every aspect.
Losing such a battle may one day have irreparable effects
on the livelihood of all artists. On the front lines of this war
are soldiers like Mike Fergusson, a hard nosed traditionalist
who fights to save the values of this industry and the
equipment that fuels it.
INK: When you first came into tattooing were you
interested in the function of a tattoo machine or was this
something that came with time?
MIKE: Well, seventeen years ago there weren’t so many
supply companies out there. You had to do what you had
to do which meant dealing with the function of a tattoo
machine. There weren’t so many supply companies and
everything wasn’t so readily available. You did all of your
own modifications and adjustments. You had to learn how
a machine ran and how to tune it, not just grab it and go.
Things have been lost and forgotten. In my apprenticeship
my balls were beaten to the ground. I had to take apart
machines and rebuild them. I had to clean and I had to do
everyone’s bullshit. That was seventeen years ago things
have changed a lot.
INK: When did you do your first scratch build?
MIKE: About nine years ago.
INK: And what style was it based on?
MIKE: It was walker geometry. I wrapped my own coils,
bought some cheap magnetic wire and had a buddy of mine
do my cores. I was working out of a friend’s machine shop.
I didn’t have any of my own tools.
INK: You were grinding out your frames with a side grinder?
MIKE: Oh yeah, the whole nine yards. We were using
Dremel’s to do relief cuts and a chop saw to cut the side
plates.
INK: Machine builders seem to agree that coil wrapping is a
major obstacle.
MIKE: It’s an extremely big obstacle and also the coil
cores. Coil wrapping is a tedious job. My wife actually does
it for me (laughs)… because it’s so tedious. She wraps
coils and I end up wiring and finishing them.
INK: What material do you prefer to use in your frames?
Mike: I really like to use steel but generally I use sand cast
brass. Carl Mark got me turned onto the sand cast frames.
I was doing the hand cut outs and the plasma cuts then Tap
showed me the secret to sand casting.
INK: How do you feel that these two materials compare?
MIKE: Brass is great. It keeps a lot of the noise out. You
don’t hear that pinging noise. With brass you can also do a
lot of cool stuff with the finish. You can black it, make it
green and make it look aged. There’s just something nice
about brass.
INK: What do you think of the plastic frames being made?
(laughs).
MIKE: I think that’s some mold injected bullshit. Plastic
frames are garbage. It’s a joke.
INK: And what about aluminum?
MIKE: Not a big fan of it. Aluminum has been use quite a bit
because it’s really cheap to cast and really cheap to mill.
That’s really why it has been used so much.
INK: Some artist’s will argue that they like the lighter weight
of aluminum.
MIKE: Yeah, some do and some don’t. I’ve been using
tanks for years. Some of the newer artists seem to like the
light weight machines.
INK: Are you doing many “one off” machines or do you find
that you stick to a particular frame style?
MIKE: I have a walker that I plasma cut at home myself and
that I do on a regular basis. That’s probably my most
popular machine. I also do two different Paul Rogers frame
styles because those are time honored, traditional, straight-
up respectable machines. There was nothing wrong with
them whatsoever. Each one of them, I hand finish, hand
blue, oil dip, the whole nine yards. I don’t spray paint them.
INK: Do you think that machine building and even the
ability to tune a machine is becoming a lost craft?
MIKE: It goes both ways. There are nineteen year old kids
that don’t know how to tune a machine and then there are
twenty-five year old’s building and putting out the Hand
made book. I think the guy’s that don’t know how to tune
are winning unfortunately.
INK: Is it safe to say that an artist that doesn’t know how to
basically tune a machine has no place in the business?
MIKE: No. They shouldn’t be tattooing. You’re using a
tool. You should know how your tool works. If you’re a
marine you should know how your rifle works. It’s the same
thing.
EAST COAST INK MAGAZINE
Within the inner circles of the tattoo community it’s
becoming more and more common to hear artists talk about
how the industry is loosing the “grit” that it once had.
Outside influence and big business is weaseling its way into
something that was once far more secretive and mysterious
to the common man.
The tattoo revolution is well under way in the year 2007 and
the eerily common starter kit is readily available to anyone
willing to spend a few hundred bucks.
A hard line has been drawn between those who are in it
only to make a dollar and those who still hold this thing
called tattooing sacred. The professional tattooist is in the
midst of a war…a war to maintain control of his craft in
every aspect.
Losing such a battle may one day have irreparable effects
on the livelihood of all artists. On the front lines of this war
are soldiers like Mike Fergusson, a hard nosed traditionalist
who fights to save the values of this industry and the
equipment that fuels it.
INK: When you first came into tattooing were you
interested in the function of a tattoo machine or was this
something that came with time?
MIKE: Well, seventeen years ago there weren’t so many
supply companies out there. You had to do what you had
to do which meant dealing with the function of a tattoo
machine. There weren’t so many supply companies and
everything wasn’t so readily available. You did all of your
own modifications and adjustments. You had to learn how
a machine ran and how to tune it, not just grab it and go.
Things have been lost and forgotten. In my apprenticeship
my balls were beaten to the ground. I had to take apart
machines and rebuild them. I had to clean and I had to do
everyone’s bullshit. That was seventeen years ago things
have changed a lot.
INK: When did you do your first scratch build?
MIKE: About nine years ago.
INK: And what style was it based on?
MIKE: It was walker geometry. I wrapped my own coils,
bought some cheap magnetic wire and had a buddy of mine
do my cores. I was working out of a friend’s machine shop.
I didn’t have any of my own tools.
INK: You were grinding out your frames with a side grinder?
MIKE: Oh yeah, the whole nine yards. We were using
Dremel’s to do relief cuts and a chop saw to cut the side
plates.
INK: Machine builders seem to agree that coil wrapping is a
major obstacle.
MIKE: It’s an extremely big obstacle and also the coil
cores. Coil wrapping is a tedious job. My wife actually does
it for me (laughs)… because it’s so tedious. She wraps
coils and I end up wiring and finishing them.
INK: What material do you prefer to use in your frames?
Mike: I really like to use steel but generally I use sand cast
brass. Carl Mark got me turned onto the sand cast frames.
I was doing the hand cut outs and the plasma cuts then Tap
showed me the secret to sand casting.
INK: How do you feel that these two materials compare?
MIKE: Brass is great. It keeps a lot of the noise out. You
don’t hear that pinging noise. With brass you can also do a
lot of cool stuff with the finish. You can black it, make it
green and make it look aged. There’s just something nice
about brass.
INK: What do you think of the plastic frames being made?
(laughs).
MIKE: I think that’s some mold injected bullshit. Plastic
frames are garbage. It’s a joke.
INK: And what about aluminum?
MIKE: Not a big fan of it. Aluminum has been use quite a bit
because it’s really cheap to cast and really cheap to mill.
That’s really why it has been used so much.
INK: Some artist’s will argue that they like the lighter weight
of aluminum.
MIKE: Yeah, some do and some don’t. I’ve been using
tanks for years. Some of the newer artists seem to like the
light weight machines.
INK: Are you doing many “one off” machines or do you find
that you stick to a particular frame style?
MIKE: I have a walker that I plasma cut at home myself and
that I do on a regular basis. That’s probably my most
popular machine. I also do two different Paul Rogers frame
styles because those are time honored, traditional, straight-
up respectable machines. There was nothing wrong with
them whatsoever. Each one of them, I hand finish, hand
blue, oil dip, the whole nine yards. I don’t spray paint them.
INK: Do you think that machine building and even the
ability to tune a machine is becoming a lost craft?
MIKE: It goes both ways. There are nineteen year old kids
that don’t know how to tune a machine and then there are
twenty-five year old’s building and putting out the Hand
made book. I think the guy’s that don’t know how to tune
are winning unfortunately.
INK: Is it safe to say that an artist that doesn’t know how to
basically tune a machine has no place in the business?
MIKE: No. They shouldn’t be tattooing. You’re using a
tool. You should know how your tool works. If you’re a
marine you should know how your rifle works. It’s the same
thing.
| MIKE FERGUSSON |
| ON THE FRONT LINE |
mike fergusson
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