Tattoo Needles: Understanding How and Why They Work

Tuesday 17th of March 2009 09:29:33 AM [Add To This Article]

Tattoo needles are designed to puncture the upper layers of the skin and force colored ink under and into the skin. Once the mild wound heals, the ink remains trapped beneath the surface of the skin and becomes your permanent tattoo design. Most people understand this part of the tattooing process, but few actually stop to think about how tattoo needles themselves work. The process and design are very interesting to consider, and can give you a greater appreciation for the workmanship and skill of tattoo artists and technicians.

Tattoo needles are long, thin needles that are propelled up and down very quickly by a machine. They come in various diameters to allow heavy insertion of ink or lighter flow of ink into the tattoo design area. Historically, grouping and soldering tattoo needles together was a vital skill for any tattoo artist. This is because tattoo needle arrangements were constructed entirely by hand. Tattoo apprentices learned this skill early, then were responsible for creating needles and needle configurations for the entire tattoo studio. However, now tattoo needles are generally bought preassembled from suppliers, and many tattoo artists do not know how to make their own needles.

Different needle groupings are used for different purposes. A single needle can be used for extremely fine detail work, and for really fine lining. Liners, which are needle groups used to outline areas of the tattoos, are generally grouped in arrangements of three needles or five needles in a circular formation. The more needles in a liner, the thicker the line and the more ink that will be pushed into the skin. Tattoo artists use different formations for shading. Flat needle arrangements stack the needles directly on top of each other in groups of two or three. Magnum, or mag, needle arrangements are more staggered, and the ink flows more evenly in this type of arrangement.

The needle groups are all soldered to a single bar, called a needle bar. This bar can be attached to the tattoo gun, and it is this bar that regulates the movement of the needles up and down. In order to get ink into the skin instead of just punching tiny holes in it, the needles must be dipped in the tattoo ink, then applied to the skin. As the needles puncture the skin, the tattoo ink runs down the needles into the skin and is forced in by the very fast, highly repetitive punching motion. The needles must be periodically re-dipped to continue to apply color. Because the ink is not actually coming out of the needles, they do not need to be changed when the color is changed. They can simply be rinsed in a small cup of water to remove all the ink of one color from the needles. Then, the artist can continue with the same needle grouping and a different color.

Tattoo needles should not be reused on different people without intense autoclave sterilization. Never use a tattoo needle that someone else has just finished using. Many tattoo studios use disposable needles to make sure that there is no cross contamination.

• Read more about tattoo equipment
• Learn how to get started as a tattoo artist
• Read more about tattoo inks