How to Tune a Tattoo Machine
This article gives an overview and discusses some basic steps to tune your tattoo machine. For an in-depth manual to tuning your tattoo machine you should look at the How to Tune a Tattoo Machine Manual by Tim Miller. The manual goes into every detail on how to setup and tune your machine.
The Importance of Tuning Your Machine
A tattoo machine is the most important instrument that a professional tattoo artist can buy. But once bought, then what! You just cannot keep using it non-stop as a mechanical instrument has its flaws and problems. So anybody buying a tattoo machine will need to tune it from time to time. However, the first question that comes to one’s mind is why at all we need to tune a tattoo machine and how regularly?
Well, the answer to this question is very straight, you must take care of your machine to enhance its performance. A tattoo artist must tune his machine so that it applies right amount of pressure on the skin of the person when in use otherwise an erratic machine will not perform the way the artists intends it to and also may hurt the person getting being tattooed. The regularity of the tuning of the tattoo machine depends on the tattoo artist. If the artist feels that the tattoo machine needs to be adjusted and tuned after each session. But frankly speaking, the tuning of your personal tattoo instrument depends on whether you feel the machine is able to put in just the right pressure while you are making a tattoo so that your accuracy and precision is intact. If not then one must definitely tune their tattoo machine.
Tuning Steps
Now the next question arises is how to tune a tattoo machine. Proper tuning of the machine is something that most people learn over time with experience. The tuning of a tattoo machine involves very minor but important adjustments like tightening the back spring mounting screw, tube vise thumbscrew and adjustments in back coil. The tuning is done to restore the speed and the force of the tattoo machine back to normal at which you were comfortable with.
Speak to an Expert
If you are new to using a tattoo machine then it is advisable to get your tattoo machine tuned by a professional who has been selling the tattoo machines. You can even talk to an experienced tattoo artist who with his invaluable tips on tuning a tattoo machine can give you an insight to the anatomy of the tattoo machine and the necessary adjustments.
User Manual
Another great method to tune a tattoo machine would be to use the guidelines suggested in the user manual that you got with the purchase of the machine. Most of the user guides provided with tattoo machine of different brands come with the fine tuning instructions.
Videos
You can even download videos teaching the process of tuning a tattoo machine. These videos can be downloaded for free from websites like Youtube.com and there are several paid sites also that sell these kinds of videos. Still, the best thing for anyone using a tattoo machine would be to practice tuning their machine, as it is a regular requirement for any professional tattoo artist.
Practice and Experience
Rather than relying on someone to assist you each time your instrument needs to be tuned it is better to do it yourself, as it is you who knows best what pressure and velocity of the machine works best for you. Just like the art of tattooing itself, it will take you some time to learn this skill and you will only get better with practice and experience.
A Step-by-Step Guide
If you are new to the art of tattooing you probably have more questions than answers. Besides tuning the machine, you might be wondering how to do proper shading, what type of ink to use, what needles to use. A lot of these questions and more are answered in the Aspiring Tattoo Artist Guide written by professional tattoo artist Tim Miller. You can access the guide here.