Special Technique makes machines for PROS IN SHOPS ONLY. If we cannot verify that you work in a tattoo shop, you will not get a machine from us. No exceptions. Machine photos? Scroll down, or click the ‘Tattoo Machines’ category on the left and then scroll down. AFTER you read about our available machines, if you have any questions please email us at director@specialtechnique.net.

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Introducing the Traxis Lite rotary tattoo machine by Brian Campbell of Special Technique! The Traxis Lite weighs 5.7 ounces, and features extremely smooth and quiet operation, minimal vibration, and an excellent transfer of mechanical advantage in the working parts. Hand milled one at a time by Brian Campbell in the Special Technique lab. The mechanism in the Traxis rotary offers the best advantages of the armature and linear rotaries COMBINED. This mechanism is a Brian Campbell innovation, and uses the same motor as the Workhorse Irons rotary.

The Traxis Lite rotary is $590 plus $10 for shipping. Buy the Traxis Lite rotary here.

This Slingshot Rotary v3.0 has been customized as a white GS edition. It’s a oneoff with a 4.5mm stroke and soft hit. Anodized gold color motor housing, clock gears, and brass punk rock spike contacts. Coin nut, tube vise, motor and drive bar from Workhorse Irons. For any artist that likes a long stroke and soft hit.



The Slingshot Rotary GS Edition oneoff in white is SOLD.

The Axis-style ‘Tee’ rotary tattoo machine features a tube vise, motor and drive bar from Workhorse Irons, some clock parts, an antique Chinese coin, and a copper T-intersection tube. This machine has a 4mm stroke and medium to hard hit. The Tee is an interesting piece of art, and a fun tool for tattooing.


The Axis TEE Rotary is SOLD.

You can do certain things with needle acceleration on a rotary machine that you can’t do on an electro machine, and vice versa. As it stands now there is no ultimate answer to tattoo devices. Since there are so many types of artists and ‘tattoo hands’ it’s great that there’s such a variety of tools available now.

Some rotaries are ‘stabby’ which makes a machine only good for color packing and whip shading. Some people are looking for this of course. Chad Koeplinger rocks it with some very nice but simple direct-rotaries, just as an example. A lot of rotaries have ‘dampening’ which means there is some give or bog down to the mechanism. This imitates the give of a coil machine, and will make the rotary a more versatile tool.

At Special Technique we have worked hard to provide the right type and amount of dampening in our mechanisms. Our machines usually have a long stroke and medium dampening, so you can line and shade with our machines. Of course we do requests if clients are looking for something specific.

The main difference as i see it is that rotaries tend to run slower and leave the steel of the needle in contact with the skin longer. This dynamic allows for a more efficient transfer of pigment to the skin, and allows the artist to layer colors more easily. However, some folks can’t get along with this feel of machine. My personal experience with rotaries was that the machine ran slower, but my tattooing got much faster. I quickly doubled and tripled my coils-only tattooing speed when I got the hang of rotaries. I was liking the feel in around 3 tattoos, and totally had the hang of it in 3-4 weeks. A lot of my clients have no such learning curve, and get right in to faster tattooing the first time they try one of our machines. Being a tattooist helps me make the tools more intuitive to use.

One thing I don’t like about rotaries is that since a lot of the styles are relatively new, artists sort of forget that it’s a legit tattoo-related craft…And that the money should be kept inside the tattoo community.So there are all these companies making mass-produced rotaries that will tattoo fine, but they are cheaply made, and built by factory workers that don’t even have tattoos. You can look in Google search and see 10 million mass produced rotaries. I prefer not to endorse or support equipment suppliers unless their staff is all heavily tattooed people.

Our production machines are partly hand built by us in our home in San Diego, and partly cnc machined by our friend who is also a tattoo client of mine. His shop is also here in San Diego. we keep it local, and keep the money going back to tattooed folks. The Workhorse Irons rotary(which we helped design) follows this same ethic – the parts are machined in America and hand assembled by heavily tattooed folks. Yes I have verified this personally. I always urge everyone to keep this ethic in mind. It matters a lot, and keeping to the ‘code’ really makes a difference in the tattoo community and helps us all…

The Diver Down rotary tattoo machine… From the bottom of the sea to the far reaches of the galaxy, you will never see another creation like this. It’s a linear/rotary tattoo machine, which means it has a super precise and predictable needle acceleration. The Diver Down is perfect for outlining, line sculpting, and smaller magnum detail work. The long 4.5mm stroke allows for a variety of tube positions and needle group options. It’s a great tattoo tool, and and incredible museum quality piece of art. Powered by the same motor as in the Workhorse Irons rotary.

The Diver Down machine is SOLD.

Introducing the Traxis rotary tattoo machine by Brian Campbell of Special Technique! The Traxis features extremely smooth and quiet operation, minimal vibration, and an excellent transfer of mechanical advantage in the working parts. Hand milled one at a time by Brian Campbell in the Special Technique lab. The mechanism in the Traxis rotary offers the best advantages of the armature and linear rotaries COMBINED. This mechanism is a Brian Campbell innovation, and uses the same motor as the Workhorse Irons rotary.

The Traxis handmade rotary is $590 plus $10 for shipping. Buy the Traxis Rotary here.

This machine is called The Lenz. It’s full of clock parts, hand milling and brazing, and pivots on a skateboard bearing. There is also a glass lens crimped into a brass tube, the origin of which is unknown. The Lenz has a long 5mm stroke and a firm hit – it’s a great color packer.

The Lenz Rotary is SOLD.

The Sextant Axis rotary tattoo machine by Special Technique features sextant parts, turntable parts, clock parts and plumbing parts. This machine has a long 5mm stroke, and the same drivebar and motor as the Workhorse Irons rotary. The motor cover has a Canadian coin with a ship on it. Hand milling by Ugly Bill. Finish work by Ugly Bill and T. Hawkins. This machine is of course a oneoff and won’t be repeated.

The Sextant Axis is SOLD.

We have finally decided to make our 2010 yearbook “Revolutionary Force” available to the public. It contains about 60 mouth-watering photos of our earliest experiments with rotary tattoo machines. It’s a great coffee table book, an awesome gift, and marks the beginning of the big rotary explosion in the tattoo industry. The book is available in softcover, or hard cover with dust jacket. All the machines shown are hand-crafted custom oneoffs and will never be copied. Thanks to everyone who has helped and supported us. Buy Revolutionary Force – An Exploration of Rotary Tattoo Machines by Special Technique here.

Visit our Tattoo Machines section to see the machines we have available for sale. Special Technique makes machines for PROS IN SHOPS ONLY.