Sunday, June 24, 2012

Machine Yoke


Machine Yoke

A Machine Yoke is the part of the machine that the coils bolt to. Some
machines have thicker frames to accommodate this and some have a separate
piece of metal that fits between the frame and coils. The idea is a thick piece
of metal to connect the power of the coils. Think of the coil heads power as a
percentage. You have two coils, each with a north and a south. Think as if
each coil is a stick magnet. It has the capacity to pull one-hundred percent of
its power, so north is fifty percent and south is fifty percent. This means that
each coil has a north and a south so with the two coils combined you have a
two hundred percent possibility of power. The tops of the coils are where
your armature bar is attracted to so without a Yoke you can only achieve one
hundred percent of power, fifty percent from each coil. With a yoke, you turn
your coils that are basically stick magnets into a single horseshoe magnet.
This connects the two and makes a single much stronger magnet. For the best
performance you want the frame base and the machine yoke combined to be
the same thickness as the coil shaft.
Magnetism is a really cool part of physics. What makes a metal object
magnetic is nickel, or the alignment of the particles of the nickel. This is why
stainless steel (316 LVM steel) is not attracted to magnets, it has a low
volume of nickel. Most people assume that metals like gold and surgical steel
have no nickel but the only metals that have no nickel are platinum,
palladium, and titanium. Low nickel metal is the result of annealed metal.
Annealing is the controlled heating and cooling of metal to make it more
flexible. During this process most of the nickel content is removed form the
metal. Magnetism is achieved one way, by lining up the particles of a piece of
metal so they all go in one direction. You can take a strong magnet and rub it
on a piece of metal in one direction so the pull of the magnet lines up the
particles of metal in the not magnetized piece. This will make an ordinary
piece of metal lightly magnetized. The more you do this the more it's
magnetized.
Electro-magnetic coils like the ones found in a tattoo machine are
pieces of metal wrapped in wire all going the same direction. As the electric
current circulates through the wire the particles of the metal are forced to
follow the path of electricity causing them to line up in the same direction.
This electric current forces the metal shaft to become magnetic. The north
and the south of the magnet are determined by the direction of the flowing
electricity. The beginning of the current or where the current came from is
the south and the north is the other end or where it's going. This is why the
polarity of an electromagnet will change if you reverse the connection of the
power source and why a tattoo machine will work not matter which way you
attach the clip cord. No matter the polarity it's still magnetic.
The magnetic energy is flowing from one coil through the Yoke and
frame to the other coil. Now one top coil head will be the north and the other
the south. Like a horseshoe magnet the top heads only are magnetic so much
more force can pull on the armature bar making a stronger stroke. Now each
head has a one-hundred percent pull and a combined effort of two hundred
percent. This is why only the heads are magnetic and not the sides with the
screws on them. This makes for a much more powerful machine. Machines
with an actual yoke or a thicker base plate will always be stronger than a thin
framed machine without a yoke. Also the strength of the stroke or magnetic
pull will be affected by the type of metal the machine is made of. Copper is
much more conductive than aluminum so the copper machine will have a
stronger pull.

1 comment:

  1. Yokes are mainly necessary on brass, bronze, and aluminum machines.....as these metals contain no iron....they are non magnetic....at the article states....the purpose of the yoke is to turn two stick magnets into one horseshoe.....the iron machines do this by nature....as well as steel which contains iron.....so iron and steel framed machines need no yoke.....

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