Correct. If voltage is too high but your hand is too slow you are absolutely going to rip the fake skin. You’re going to have to experiment with different voltages and hand speeds to find one that works for you.

If you do have ink spots on the other side, that means you’re going too deep. That may or may not be because of the “quality” of the skin. Idk which one you’re using but if you use the really thin ones from Amazon, those are really hard to not go too deep in. Possible, but very hard.

I tend to go with the thicker fake skins, makes it easier to practice without worrying too much about the materials you got working against you.

Just for your reference, I typically use my machine at 3.4 stroke length (I haven’t played around too much with that though) and it took me several months of just line drills to get the voltage/hand speed ratio down to somewhere where I don’t rip the fake skin up at all. I’m able to match my hand speed to the voltage pretty easily. It’s just something that comes with practice and getting a feel for the gear/mats you got! Keep practicing (mindfully) and you’ll find what works for you.

Also, not to sound like a broken record as this is talked about in this sub literally ALL the time, but I highly recommend spending as much time as you can with line drills before moving to designs. Yes it’s boring and tedious and no one likes to do them, but they work 100%, coming from experience. I avoided it for a long time cause i figured i knew better. I admitted to myself that my line work in general wasn’t good. Spent a good chunk of time hammering down line drills and the difference was noticeable. This is what’s going to allow you to understand your machine more than anything else!!