How Do Tattoo Machines Work

A tattoo is a piece of art that can adorn your body either for a few days or permanently. Although people love to flaunt tattoos, the process of creating a permanent marking in the skin, with the help of pointed needles, is quiet painful. The equipment used to engrave the work of art into the skin is called tattoo machine. The hand-held device has been in use since ages. The making of tattoo machines dates back to centuries, when people made use of the 'tube and needle' system for tattooing. Modern tattoo machines are handy and their working is pretty simple, especially when compared to the traditional ones. Go through this article and know more on how do tattoo machines work.

Most of the modern tattoo machines work like a doorbell. To be precise, a tattoo machine is an arrangement of DC coils, with spring points. The three basic components of a tattoo machine are the base, the mechanism and the sanitary tube. Base is the biggest and bulkiest part of the machinery, from where the two coils wrapped around iron core originate. The DC coils are held in place by a 'rabbit ear', which is bent at an angle of 90 degrees. The 'ear', which contains a screw in it, appears like a gun's handle.

 

A couple of contact points, made of silver, are located at the top of the mechanism of the tattoo machine. One of the contact points is mounted on a spring mechanism, whereas the other one is located on a screw. The base is secured to a bar, with the help of the spring, which in turn is connected to the needle arm. The needles, positioned in the sanitary tube, move up and down inside it. The tattoo machine can work if 6-12 volt electricity is supplied. You need to connect a spring coiled U-cable to the supply of power, for the purpose.

 

A spring cable, called 'clip-cord', is specially designed for tattoo machine. The cord keeps the tattoo machine in place and reduces the chances of sparks, when the machinery is given the power supply. The coils become electromagnetic when a current passes through them and the base of the machine. The bar is pulled down by the electro-magnet, which in turn pulls down the needles and opens the points.

 

The bar is brought back to position by spring assembly. This leads to an up and down movement in the needles. The needles make contact with the points. This entire cycle is repeated by the upward and downward motion of the needles. This whole action fills the ink in the sanitary tube. The long lasting artwork is then pierced to your body, when the needles are loaded up, giving you an attractive tattoo to flaunt in front of the world.