Is Dragonhawk A Good Tattoo Brand: Brutally Honest Review

They often say that you don’t forget your first love and that is what Dragonhawk tattoo machines were for me at the very beginning of my tattooing career! They were so affordable and sold full kits that makes it really for newcomers to get to tattooing right away. They are still around today and are going strong but it has been a considerable amount of time since I have used their products.

So is Dragonhawk a good tattoo brand? Tattooing can be an intimidating space to enter and Dragonhawk makes it easier to start out. While Dragonhawk is a good tattoo brand to start off with, there are many reasons why I have chosen to go for custom-built tattoo machines over the ready-made kits by Dragonhawk. So let’s go over everything about the Dragonhawk tattoo brand and see closely at their products to see exactly how good they are!

Key Takeaways

• Dragonhawk is a tattoo brand that was established in 2001 and has since become a popular tattoo brand for its machines, kits, and supplies.
• Review a popular tattoo kit from Dragonhawk and do individual reviews of the important components.
• Dragonhawk is a good place for tattoo beginners to start getting into tattooing. However, it is not the best brand to buy premium tattoo machines.
• When buying a tattoo machine, there are some important factors that you need to take into consideration before you purchase one.

Dragonhawk Tattoo: Are They Legit?

Dragonhawk started in 2001 and has been providing tattoo machines, kits, and accessories ever since. They are a company that is based in China and has its main office and branch office over there as well. You will see them top the best seller list on Amazon with thousands of reviews by user. But because they are a Chinese brand and not a United States brand, many people often wonder if they are actually legit or not.

While they might price their products at a price point considerably cheaper than the more premium tattoo brands and professional tattoo machines, you can be sure that they are legit. They are very prompt in delivery when you order their products online and have a wide selection of options to choose from! These days, they are exploring the world of tattoo rotary pens and wireless tattoo pens to make it more accessible for new tattoo artists to get into tattooing.

Here are some of the things that Dragonhawk provides:

• Tattoo machines: Dragonhawk has a wide variety of tattoo machines available. From beginner to a bit more professional, they got you covered. In recent years, Dragonhawk has been making affordable wireless rotary tattoo machine pens that are small and maneuverable. They can range from $40 to about $400.
• Tattoo kits: Dragonhawk provides a full array of products in their kits, all to get started with tattooing. I will be reviewing one below but having everything at an affordable means the barrier to entry is very small and almost anyone who wants to get into tattooing can afford it!
• Tattoo supplies and accessories: You are nothing without having an arsenal of supplies and accessories at your disposal for tattooing! Inks, needles, grip tapes, fake skin, power supply, you name it! Dragonhawk has it all from just one shop so you don’t need to fish around for these elsewhere.

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Reviewing Dragonhawk Tattoo: Dragonhawk Coils Tattoo Machine Kit for Beginner

For my review, I will be choosing some of the products that Dragonhawk. The first one would be for the Dragonhawk Coils Tattoo Machine Kit for Beginners. So let’s get right into how it felt using a Dragonhawk tattoo kit for the first time in a long while and review the individual components!

What’s inside the case: quantity over quality

This tattoo kit comes inside a case with everything inside it. Here is what you get inside:

Inside the Dragonhawk case, you get many things that you need to get started for tattooing. However, I will have to say after extensively using professional machines that these things inside are not up to the mark! They all feel very low quality after getting used to solid machines that feel like you are holding a quality material.

Handling the tattoo machine: good shader, bad liner

Overlooking the build quality, I set up the tattoo machine and started using it on the fake skin that was given with the kit since I did not want to use it for real skin. For the coil tattoo machine itself, I think I cannot describe it any better than calling it flimsy. It shook a lot while tattooing and the poor build quality meant that the tattoo machine was constantly rattling. It did get hot to the touch when using it as well. But I must say, the shader performed considerably better than the lining machine, probably because broader strokes were needed for it. But really did like the shader coil machine at least 1000x times better! The weight was something I actually liked since it was light and moving it around was not much of a problem at all.

Voltage rating, power supply, and foot pedal: very inconsistent

Then there is the foot pedal and the voltage fluctuation. If the tattoo machine felt bad, it was due in part to not getting the right voltage through to the machine. That meant the needle was moving erratically and made for an abysmal experience since the needles constantly switched pace. If I didn’t use better quality products, I wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference to be honest. But since I have, I did not enjoy the terrible foot pedal at all!

Fake skin and needle depth: not the right depth

Another thing that made me sad was the fake skin. It was very thin, almost 1mm in thickness which means that you cannot really gauge the depth on actual skin. I get it, fake skin is not supposed to mimic a real one but for practice. But if I bought this for practice and moved to real skin, I would be a terrible tattoo artist since I would not be able to pack the ink at all! The skin tore very easily which would mean that I would need to buy a whole new set of fake skin from Dragonhawk! It also means that the needles would become ruined instead!

Needle and ink

I can’t say I enjoyed the needle either. Even on the fake skin it was difficult to pack the ink properly and you have to understand that it is only 1mm thick! The ink from the needle did not flow properly which can be very frustrating. I used a different needle cartridge with the Dragonhawk ink on a better silicone fake skin and I must say it worked well! But I would only recommend using this ink on fake skin since the quality of it might not be good on real skin and cause irritation. The good thing is that there are many needles included so you can go always for a new one.

Metal grips: promoting unhygienic practices

Metal grips are cool and they make your machine appear shiny and whatnot but they promote a very unhygienic practice. If you don’t have an autoclave, then good luck sterilizing the grip as well! This is why tattoo artists prefer plastic grips so that you can always change it out for a new one. The grips themselves offer good grip but over time it might become slippery as you are working with it.

Price: Affordability for beginners

Probably the only good thing about getting tattoo kits from Dragonhawk is the fact that are so cheap! For the price, you get so much that you aren’t really breaking the bank to get one either. It is also good for tattoo apprentices who are on a tight budget and are about to start their tattoo careers. For them, it makes sense to go for a Dragonhawk tattoo kit like this one, just like how I started out.

Overall Impression

Overall, this Dragonhawk tattoo kit is not that good at all for professional use! But this particular Dragonhawk kit is good for beginners if you replace the silicone fake skin, power supply, foot pedal, and needles with a better one.

Only some of the whole product is good while the rest are laughably bad. But for the price, at least you are not spending too much and still getting some use out of it. They may not be as durable as a premium tattoo kit, but it is a good place to start at the very least.

Who Should Be Buying from Dragonhawk?

The people that should be buying from Dragonhawk should be people that are just starting out their tattooing career. They do have tattoo machine models that are meant for professionals but I would not really suggest getting them over a rotary machine that is meant to be used in a shop setting. Much is the same for their accessories as well since they are not of the best quality either. They are cheap so you are also getting products that are of low quality that do not last long.

Think of it like this, if you are at home and are thinking of getting a small tattoo, then Dragonhawk machines might just be the best option you can have! For example, I recently bought a Dragonhawk Cartridge Pen Rotary Tattoo Machine 1013-7 (Atom) and tried it out on some good fake skin. It was not bad at all and it was steady and easy to use and was small enough to be a pain for the wrist. While I would not recommend it for larger designs, getting a small tattoo (using actual tattoo ink) would not be so bad!

As a professional, I cannot say that you should go for Dragonhawk. Maybe that is coming from a place of bias since I have been using professional products but you could definitely go for accessories that they sell. Maybe not the ink or the needles that Dragonhawk provides but others like grips are plenty good. If you are tattooing as a hobby at home, then by all means, Dragonhawk tattoo machines are good enough! As long as you are doing smaller tattoos, I feel that you won’t go too wrong with the machines. Just make sure that you go for other needles and tattoo ink if you are going to tattoo on real skin though!

5 Considerations for Tattoo Machines Before You Buy

Before you get around to buying, there are some things that you need to consider for your tattoo machine. They are:

1. Requirement: Are you packing ink, shading, or lining? There is a different types of tattoo machines that you might need so it is important that you get the right one.
2. Machine type: There are at least 3 types of tattoo machines out there: rotary, coil, and pneumatic. Rotary are quieter, coils have more power, and pneumatics are air-powered. People have their own preferences so exploring which one is for you is important to know before you buy.
3. Build quality: What your tattoo machine is made of is important. Brass is probably the best material for tattoo machines but they are heavy and take getting used to. Copper and aluminum are materials for tattoo machines but they are less durable than brass. So it is important to find the tattoo machine that satisfies your tastes.
4. Ergonomics and comfortability: If you have a coil tattoo machine, you might be annoyed by the loud buzzing and the heavy vibration it causes. You might want to switch to a rotary one instead, especially if you use it for long periods. That is why ergonomics and comfort should be prioritized so you are not wearing out your hands from tattooing too much or too often.
5. Maintenance and spare parts: Having a tattoo machine that has spare parts on hand is great, especially for coil tattoo machines. Inevitably, the moving parts of your tattoo machines are bound to stop working as well as they used, and being able to easily replace them will be a godsend! So make sure you know how to take care of your tattoo machine and if it has spare parts available or not.

FAQs

Is Dragonhawk ink safe for the skin?

They are made with low-quality material and I do not advise someone to use them on real skin. As practice ink, they work fine!

How fast does the Dragonhawk tattoo pen go?

Dragonhawk tattoo pens can reach anywhere from 8,000rpm to 10,000rpm easily.

Are Dragonhawk tattoo machines durable?

Unfortunately, if the tattoo machine from Dragonhawk is not made from brass, they are not that durable and will not last you longer than a year.

Final Thoughts

Dragonhawk is a good tattoo brand. They wouldn’t have survived for so long and actually become popular being a good brand. But their target audience is quite different from the more professional and premium tattoo brands out there. Dragonhawk is great for newcomers and tattoo artists on a budget who needs a tattoo machine at affordable prices. Their premium tattoo machines are not really up to the mark but you can never go wrong by starting out with them. I started out with Dragonhawk and have a long way since then. But first loves are meant to be lost and forgotten with time and that is what Dragonhawk is for me. It was a good brand that served well for the time that I was with it in the beginning, but it just does not have the competitive edge when it comes to tattoo machines for artists in shops.

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