Cleaning the Tattoo Machines

As a senior tattoo artist who have seen too many pros and cons towards tattoo art and its implementation tools – tattoo machines, if you are insisting on requesting me to spout out reasons why there are so many reservations about tattoo art, I would surely comment that one of the usual referred factors is, in many conservative and suspicious people’s opinion, tattoo machines are one of the device which are highly likely to transmit diseases by cross infection through blood.  

Cleaning tattoo machines is a very important process in tattoo practicing. Certain parts of the tattoo machines which get a chance to closely approach the individual customer’s skin should be disposable after one time use, such as needles and ink one round in the tube. There is no need for you to clean needles, for they must be thrown away after severing off each customer. Every tattooist should get their whole new tattoo needles for the practicing, by which way will maximally shut down the likelihood of transmitting any diseases.

Tattoo machines are not like other appliances you could wash dust from. Bacteria are not like dust cleanable by warm water. For the long use tattoo machine parts, frame, tube, grip, tip, and such things, you need to take professional sterilization devices to kill the invisible germs to eyes for the cleaning.

Usually, there are two specific cleaners for tattoo machines cleaning, autoclaves and ultrasonic cleaners. Ultrasonic cleaner is a handy and common device which could thoroughly sweep out the entire left tattoo ink even those hided in the narrow corners or the dead angles. Better still, by using ultrasonic cleaner it won’t do any chemical damage to the tattoo machines. However, although ultrasonic cleaner does strongly perform on killing Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus, it is not able to wipe out HIV; the bacterium witch can be only killed by autoclave sterilizer. At this point, autoclave sterilizer is the only professional tool for tattoo sterilization.

Cleaning tattoo machines is not only for the beautiful appearance of the machines, but also for the long run of the tattoo artists’ practice. Please do highly value this important process for booming your career if you set mind to be a good tattoo artist.

How to Custom Made Your Tattoo Machine Frame

For experienced senior tattoo artists, they are more likely to build up their own tattoo machines with separate parts of high quality: the armature bar, the coils, and what's more important, the tattoo machine frame.

It is not likely that you can hand made your own tattoo machine frame, in your little individual workshop, only by your simple or rough moulds and tools. Tattoo machine frame still needs professional manufacturing skills to make sure the final work performance it shows will be highly satisfying for the tattoo artists' demand of their practice. Thus, to choose one eligible tattoo machine frame which exactly fits the tattoo artists' expectation is truly something that needs artists to do some real research on.

Of course, the first thing that jumps out of your mind is to visit around the whole city, to find out deeply hidden tattoo machine frames in tattoo machine supplies stores. This is the most direct way although a little wasting time and energy. By directly facing to the products of the tattoo machine stores, you can compare and classify the quality of their goods and get a general image, correctly making your final decision.

However, there are always some times you could not find what you want all around your near. In this occasion, you may go on searching in the Internet to find a dreamed one. Buying or custom making your tattoo machine frame on the website has an obvious advantage which is that you don't need to worry about the environmental restriction and location problems, and various types of the machine frames you could select from the website stores will enhance your final buying choices. However, how could you know and exactly tell the shopkeeper on the website the dimension and appearance of your expected tattoo machine frame?

Some website stores supplying tattoo machine frames will offer you a plastic mould with the whole plate, by which you could carving or design your expected appearance for the tattoo machine frame. Besides this, you could also reply to them with your drawings that show the specific data, to double make sure the final product is precise.

In short, custom making the tattoo machine frame from the website has its good aspect as well as its disadvantage. If you are a tattoo machine supplier, opening tattoo stores on the website, you should consider the disadvantages for the customers to boom your own store.

My Experience about the Tattoo Machine Frame

As a tattoo machine business man who also sells single parts of the tattoo machine such like the tube, the armature bar and the tattoo machine frame, I have three years of being a junior tattoo artist previously before. For all these years I have dealt a lot and learned a lot about the tattoo machines as well as the tattoo machine frames.

The tattoo machine, which requires many single parts’ cooperation with the help of a tattoo machine frame sticking them together, is a very interesting device and is the only helpful assistant for the tattoo artist to launch their tattoo practice. Besides the whole sets of the tattoo machines, the most common goods that I sell are the tattoo machine frames.

As a seller, you need to know the characters and specific functions of your goods. For the tattoo machine frame, for a very helpful example, is the essential part of the whole machine equipment. Let’s start with its materials.

There are many viable materials, such as iron, copper, or brass, which can all be used to cast the tattoo machine frame. In today’s market, stainless steel is a very popular raw material for the frame, for the reason that most tattoo machine frame is very easy to get corroded due to the tattoo ink or artists’ cleaning, or things like that. The stainless steel frame can solve the problem perfectly and extend the machine’s service life. However, some senior tattoo artists claim that frames that are made out of brass and copper raw materials are classical because though stainless steel can resist rot, it can never have the heavy metal features, say, fine ability of heat conduction. If long being a tattoo artist, you would get the importance of the machine frame not to be overheated during your practice, which is really a horrifying thing for both you and your custom.

The other fact you need to know about the tattoo machineframe is its dimension. It is also vital because the main function of the tattoo machine frame is to hold the magnet coils and let them have comfortable space to work with the armature bar to generate the needles up and down movement. Basically, the standard coils are 1.25 inch or 3.8 diameter, you need to make sure if your frame is up to this standard.

How to Wrap Tattoo Coils for Tattoo Machines

Tattoo coils are often compared to the heart of tattoo machines, which determine how much power goes into the machine and the frequency of the needles. In the market, you can find different types of tattoo coils that are designed for various parts of tattoo designs. Usually, tattoo artists will use 8 coils machines to draw outlines of tattoos, but you are suggested to get 10 wrap coils, which works pretty better for both shading and lining.

I’ve seen someone wrap tattoo coils all by his bare hands, but to get it done by a coil-winding machine will be a better choice. Things can be done in a much easier way.

Insert your plastic bobbin into that machine before wrapping and start from the underneath of the tattoo coil. Grab the wrap by one hand, and wind a small portion of the wire around the plastic bobbin. Remember to put the bobbin in a proper place, testing which by moving the machine’s level to one side and closing the protective glass door. Till now, you’ve done all the preparing work, so you can start the machine now.

The machine will allow the wire to coil around the bobbin. The layers of the wire wrapping on the tattoo coil will have affections on its specific function. That’s why you should pay much attention to that. When the bobbin is full, wrap the end by a piece of black electrical tape, so that it’ll have less electro conductibility in future using. If there is still any excess wire, just snip it off.

The next thing for you is to place the inner iron core inside the bobbin. You can use a vice or some other tools like that to press it through the hole in the bobbin. Insulate the tattoo coils with black shrink-wrap making sure they won’t conduct electricity when using. You may find it difficult to set an appropriate size for the shrink-wrap. In this case, you can use a flat edge to score that. After that, wrap the shrink-wrap around the tattoo coils and get a heat source adhere to the coils.

That’s it. You’ve successfully wrap a tattoo coil for your tattoo machine, and it’s indeed not that difficult as you think. Try it now!

To Clean a Tattoo Machine Frame

Tattoo machine can be seen as a most frequently used device with a very close relation to the human's handy work, for the tattoo artists must hold the GRP of the machine which is to be stuck by the tattoo machine frame for the artists to practice several hours to finish even a tiny tattoo pattern with a narrow area.

Even though the tattoo machine can be called as an outer packing for the tattoo machine, however, actually, the whole device of the machine is not an enclosed form which could seal all the inside parts exclusively away from the outside world. The role that a tattoo machine frame plays is that it only does the job of bracing other mechanical components all together by its semi-closed frame form, by bracing other parts it mainly means that connecting the tip which contains the needle and the two coils together so the electromagnetic power would make the needle push movements up and downs, by the way of through coils. So, some of the tattoo machine frames have the form of covering one side of the coils to make it look like a small wall, but some other don't. They just leave the coils showing out without any shelter.

So, here comes the problem of cleaning tattoo machines. Of course, a tattoo machine frame also deserves an attention equal to the tattoo machine though many people would miss it by accident. As we all know, tattoo machine's cleaning is not as usual as any common devices. Because the machine's needle and other parts which may also contact with the customers' skin, those specific parts need to be cleaning by professional sterilization apparatus.

However, the tattoo machine frame doesn't need to be sterilized specially as those certain parts, yet still, it needs frequently cleaning for it is the outsider skin of the tattoo machine and the semi-closed form of it would make it very easy to get dusty in its narrow corners. While practice, you may incautiously splash some ink onto the frame, if so, use sterilized cotton to wipe it over. Please remember, don't use soap or other special oils or something, because they can be corroding for the frame, and thus affect its working function.

About Tattoo Machines: Secrets That You Don’t Know

To many of the common people, tattoo machines are uncanny and intricate devices, which usually can be smoothly manipulated by professional experts of the tattoo artists. However, if you stand closely enough to see into them, you will get the concept that how you misunderstood them previously by prejudice. Tattoo machines are not complex and horrifying devices, on the contrary they are quite easy to learn and doing a lot of help to the tattoo artists for relieving them from repeatedly heavy hand work to exquisite art creation of the colorful patterns under the human skin.

There are several items of the interesting knowledge or tips I would like to share with you about tattoo machines, which I call as their little secrets. In spite of the notorious beginning of the tattoo art history, tattoo machines are actually invented by Thomas Alva Edison, who, yes, is exactly the same famous man carved in the human annals for his numerous inventions to push forward the human world. Thomas Alva Edison made out the first version of electric devices for engrave inks to specific surface, so called as Stencil-Pens, which was although not tended to be the origin of tattoo machines in modern times, yet truly gave the indication to run and indeed be the basic form of today's tattoo devices.

The working theory of tattoo machines is very simple, so simple that many experienced tattoo artists could home-make their own appliances to low the cost for their practice. Because although the electric version of tattoo machines has been invented, the general working rule of the machines is not changed, which lies in the needles constant penetration to insert ink. For tattoo machines, those ones that don't hit too hard while practicing are good machines, because if hitting too had, dedicate human skin will easily get hurt, let alone the customers' tolerance to the pain. Most important, is that hitting too hard machine will restrain the intake of the needle due to the machine's construction.

Like two patterns in tattoo practice, there are two main streams of tattoo machines, machines for lining, and machines for shading. The two machines which respectively have a slight difference between themselves will help the tattoo artists accomplish the expectant tattoo patterns in their mind.

A Short Glance at the History of Tattoo Machines – Part Two

Then there came Thomas Riley, who made out one set of tattoo machines with a single coil operated to work by electromagnets, got his invention just twenty days after O'Reily patented his machine.

When 1899, Alfred Charles Smith, another smart guy in London, doubles the coil in tattoo machines, which lead to the close prototype of today's devices. The first version of this two- coil electromagnet tattoo machine is very heavy, it can be no exaggeration to say that while working they sometimes need to be fixed onto the ceiling of the tattoo studio and then hung down to the tattoo artists for work.

In the next 200 years, tattoo machines basically maintain the original design and the appearance, which, around 1929, had then been slightly improved and developed by Percy Waters; an American lived in Detroit, who promoted the tattoo machines and set them in the tune of the modern way.

Although the set that Waters modified was with two coils in line with the tattoo machine frame, Waters had done a lot of other different changes to tattoo machines, such as on and off switch and spark shield. Due to his various modifications, he was the very first inventor who promoted tattoo machines into large market.

Fifty years later from then, in 1979, Carol Nightingale from Washington D.C. got his tattoo machine patented. He made full adjustments of coils, back spring mount and contact screw, as well as angled armature bar and so on.

With deeper development of technique, tattoo machines got more artistic precision and the control of speed and needle depth. In recent 2000, revolutionary pneumatic tattoo machines were invented by Carson Hill, which using air to work instead of electromagnets, to make the needle penetrating more smoothly.

You could say tattoo machines have gone through many modifications during these hundreds of years. However, no matter how many modifications they've been undergone, they will never suits each tattoo artist's demand and individual application , because tattoo practice is personal, so as the tattoo machines. There could never be an end of continuing designs towards tattoo machines, and in America and Europe there are still many tattoo artists working on new inventions of tattoo machines, though not each time is an improvement, but the search goes on.

Note These Things When Buying Tattoo Equipment Supplies

To start tattooing as your business, there are several complicated things you should take into consideration, and among which, buying suitable tattoo equipment supplies is the first and foremost step for you to get a good starter. The reason is that the quality of the tattoo supplies has a close relationship with your tattooing work and there are too many tattoo equipments available in the market for you to choose, you may feel confused then.

For beginners, you really should spare some time to gather all the information about tattoo equipment supplies via any possible way so that it’s possible for you to get an ideal beginner tattoo kit. Oh yes, you should know how to maintain the equipments so that they can enjoy a longer life, which is a road leading you to be a professional tattoo artist and start your own tattoo studio.

No matter what tattoo equipment you are going to buy, you can follow some steps.

The first and foremost thing is finding the best tattoo machine. In this case, enough surveys are needed. Price is not the element that makes the final decision, but the material of the tattoo gun is. You can buy a cheap tattoo gun unless it has the required heat resistance. When you feel confused to decide where to find the suitable machine and all the other tattoo equipment supplies, the reference can be found in the reviews on the sites.

When buying tattoo equipment supplies, you’re always suggested to get those with familiar or reputable brands. And when testing the tattoo gun, you should never use water to replace tattoo ink, or when it comes into use in the future, it may cause some unexpected health risks to the customers. Cheap tattoo ink is not a wise choice due to the same reason.

Haven’t finished yet. A proper tattoo machine power supply is needed. You may first think about dual tattoo power supply, which is really practical in use and wins a wide popularity among tattoo artists.

Above are the things you should note when buying tattoo equipment supplies. Actually, the familiar you get with then, the better equipment you will get.