Hello Everyone,
I’m a 55year old male, originally from Birmingham UK but live in the Shropshire hills.
I’ve been advised to join a forum and it looks like I’ve found myself a good one!
I was advised to join because I’ve recently been bestowed with a couple of tattoo machines. I may as well tell the full story because if what I’ve been told is correct I may well have discovered a couple of pieces of tattoo history.
A friend of mine had been eager to become a tattoo artist. Over a short time he got himself kitted up but, as with most things, the expense dictated the quality of the hardware he could get set up with.
After much practice he did a few tattoo’s for friends, myself included. I opted for a full sleve of black tribal pattern, this was to incorporate some older work I’d already had done over the years. After three sittings my sleve is half done.
My friend called me a month or so ago to say he’d sold his setup. I was now left with half a tattoo!
I was lamenting my position when an old Aunt of mine suggested I go through her old cupboard to dig out my late Uncle’s tattoo machines. I was shocked because I had no idea that my Uncle had been a tattoo artist!
I found the machines, they were in an old carboard box and wrapped in tissue, I couldn’t find any other equipment.
My Aunt said that these machines were my Uncle’s pride and joy, she also said they were made by a man called Ron Ackers and my Uncle had told her that they would be worth a lot of money in time. I thought it may have been a ruse of his so he could justify buying and owning them.
The machines are obviously hand made from solid brass and are quite heavy. There are no markings on them nor any patterns in the metal. The only difference I can see between them is that one of them has the coil wrapped in cotton.
Does anyone know about Mr.Ackers? More specifically, does anyone know about his machines? How can I tell if they are made by Ron Ackers?
I’ve googled the guy and he is mentioned in some web pages but I’ve found nothing that is dedicated to the man himself.
Have I found a piece of Tattoo history?
if those are original machines they could be worth some money to you. Ron Ackers is a pretty famous old school tattooist. i googled him and found tons of stuff on him. not so much on the machines themselves. you should post some pics of the machines. you would probably spark alot of interest from tattooiers on this forum.
http://www.mickysharpzusa.com/html/extras/interview_ackers.htm
Patrick
Hi Patrick,
thanks for doing that bit of research, I’ve yet to read the interview you posted but will do this evening. You found better results than I did, all I found was mentions of Robn Ackers in other pages.
Whether they are worth a lot of money or not isn’t the interest for me, in saying that, it would be nice to know if they are or not. For me they hold sentimental value, my Uncle was brilliant and most of my childhood memories include him.
As for authenticity, it was my Aunt that mentioned the name. I honestly think that these machines were a bone of contention and my Uncle insisted that they were top notch machines as built by Ron Ackers to appease my Aunt. My thinking is that there are many more famous names he could have used, why pick on Ron Ackers if he was not telling the truth?
I’ll get some photos of the machines posted this evening, I doubt it will help though as they have no distiguishing marks whatsoever, all they’ll show is the metal (brass) and the style of design. Being handmade, I doubt any two machines, built by the man would be identicle.
The research and hopefully the forthcoming discussions will be of an interest to me and even if they are worth a couple of hundred pounds each I doubt I would sell them.
Anyhow, thanks again for helping out and any further input from you would be excellent.
Regards
Roger
hi dodge…
it sounds like you might have some nice machines there, what i would recommend is contacting on of our members here called framey, he is a mchine builder and machine restorer… he works under the company name of english irons and he is a fantastic chap. I am sure he will have some way of telling if they are or are not the real deal…. drop him a message and ask for his opinion 😉
here is a link to send him a privatre message regarding your machines
ron ackers was a big english tattoo name way back in the day but he sadly passed a couple of years back.
refs about ron can be found at bristol tattoo club with loads of pictures
tattoo club of great britain
he was a widly travelled artist and was known in both the us and japan
his name is usually mingled with other uk artists of the likes of
cash cooper jack zeek the skuse family
hope those little snippets help you find more references
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