How a Tattoo Gun Works

A tattoo gun is an interesting device that has evolved over the years, coming to fruition as a result of humanity and the seemingly collective desire for body modification as an expression of art and culture. How do these machines work to give tattoos? This is the question that will be examined in this article.

The tattoo gun is a device for tattooing whose shape suggests that of a gun, hence the term "tattoo gun". (On this point, it is important to note that machine in the tattooing industry cringe at the term gun and prefer to use the phrase "tattoo machine." For the sake of consistency, this article will use the term gun.)

Tattoos are simply ink embedded into the skin, and tattoo guns are how the ink is inserted into this skin. How is this done?

Essentially, the tattoo gun capitalizes on a few different yet simple technologies to place tattooing ink into the skin of a person. The gun itself has electromagnetic coils which work to move the needles back and forth. Each time the needles move in this way, a prick is made into the users skin and a small amount of tattoo ink is embedded into the flesh.

A more detail look at this process sees power connected to the gun, which is routed through the coils to a metal contact screw, through the frame of the gun and to a spring. The current flows this way causing the coils to hit a bar which then causes the needle to move and mark the skin.

The way a tattoo gun is made in modern times allows for a very high level of control over the process of tattooing someone. This introduces both positive and negative aspects for clients and artists. For artists, it means they can have more control over their work and create better products for their clients. In other words, better tattoos. For clients, it means they get the benefit of a more details tattoo, but also the risk of having an artist penetrate the skin too lightly or too deeply, which could create problems with the tattoos appearance, and later, problems trying to remove the tattoo if that was the direction the user wanted to go.

However, the trade off is all part of an increase in tattooing technologies that have exploded in the last 50 years, allowing for the introduction of tattoos to becoming commonplace in society.