Info on tattoo machine tuning?

since i have had my newest machines i have been using my Eikon Green Monster shader as a liner because that was how the tattoo artist i bought it from had it set up and i hardly knew anything about tattooing at the time. as for a shader/colour packer, i use a workhorse, which i love. well i just started working at a shop (kind of an apprinticeship, but since i already know most of what im doing, i just tattoo and learn without pay) and was told to switch my machines around. SO, that's what i did, and so far what i had to do was replace the capacitor on my shader to a higher uf, use a thinner front spring, and re-shimmed the front coil, and as for short/long stroke, i have no idea. i don't know much about the stokes. with my shader that i'm turning into a liner, i need to change the springs out for thicker ones, i already re-shimmed it, and i need to figure out how far out to have the armature bar(for a short or long stroke).

I'm pretty sure that for a liner i need to use a short stroke, but my mentor told me that for a shorter stroke i need to have the armature bar further past the coil, and for a longer stroke i need to have it closer to the coil. THIS DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE TO ME!!! i don't understand why a short stroke needs a bigger gap from the a-bar to the saddle(where the back of the spring set sits).



can someone please explain this to me? maybe im completely confusing the point of the stroke. i just know that i have my shader running perfectly, and im pretty sure it's set up right now as a long stroke. sorry for the length.Info on tattoo machine tuning?
I don't understand the kinda like apprenticeship. Why aren't the kinda like mentors helping you with this?...