Essential tools for professional tattoo artist

Tattooing is not just any art. It requires absolute precision, because its strokes are indelible, and it requires maximum hygiene and sanitary care. Therefore, every tattoo artist must know his materials and tools to perfection to achieve a great result in his work, but also to take care of his client.

Musotoku takes care of that. It is one of the leading brands in the sale of tools for tattoo artists and its goal is clear: to offer the best tools to improve designs and precision.

Want to know what are the must-have tools for a professional tattoo artist? In today’s post, we tell you the 7 most important ones:

1. THE MACHINES

The machine is one of the fundamental materials in the tattoo artist’s kit. There are two types of tattoo machines: coil machines and rotary machines.

On the one hand, the rotary machine works with a motor that makes the needle move back and forth.

And, on the other hand, the coil machine works electromagnetically, that is, in these machines, the hammer gives current to a small coil and this causes the movement.

It is not that one of these machines is better than the other, they are simply used for different techniques and results. The main difference is that the rotary machines are capable of doing any job such as lines, shadows, fills, and dots. In the case of the coil machine, they are much more specific and are designed for a certain type of use. Many artists like for example to have a coil machine just for line work, and a rotary machine for the rest of the techniques.

Each machine has a defined stroke which is the amplitude of the needle movement expressed in millimeters. Each technique requires a particular stroke and you should get good advice about the machine you are going to buy to see if it allows you to work well the style you want.

2. THE POWER SUPPLIES

The power supplies are in charge of delivering electricity to the machine so that it can work and move the tattoo needle at the desired speed without any variation. There are different types.

Those that convert the main’s power to a range of voltage (from 2 to 16V usually), and then connect to the machine using a cable. This type is the most reliable and powerful, with some model that is up to 5A of power. There are also the wireless ones that run on batteries. These are very convenient for traveling as the equipment you need to pack is more compact. The wireless batteries have the disadvantage of adding some extra weight to the machine and also that are less powerful than

3. THE CABLES

This element is in charge of sending the energy from the power supply to the machine, and its importance is overseen by many artists. A poor quality cable will not only produce intermittent failures when wearing off but will also diminish the efficiency of the machine from the very first moment.

In the case of cables, we have different types attending to the end connector that plugs into the machine. The first and the older is the clipcord, which was developed by coil machine builders. The second type is the RCA, which is the most extended, and even some coil machines now migrating to this connector. The latest one is the 3.5 mm mini-jack that is used only by a reduced group of manufacturers.

4. THE NEEDLES

There are two types of needles: traditional and cartridges. The traditional needles are exclusively used in coil machines, and although now the production is industry manufactured, a few years ago the tattoo artists needed to develop the skill of soldering their own needles. The cartridge needles are used with a special grip threaded in a standard size that fits into the needle body.

The world of needles is very similar to that of brushes: there are different types of tips and terminations. There are needles for fine lines, for filling, and for shading.

The needles are disposable items, and cannot be reused for sanitary reasons. It is also important to notice that needles will wear off after some hours of usage so it is convenient to replace them as the work progress to get a consistent result.

Many tattoo artists like to manipulate the needles to achieve effects. For example in the color-packaging technique is not strange to see some artists burning the tip with a lighter to achieve a more blunt edge and achieve a thicker result.

5. THE GRIPS

The grip is the part where we rest our hand and hold our needles. It has a toe that is where the needle rests inside.

The grips are bought by diameter size. The different sizes are intended just for the ergonomics and there is not any functionality involved behind that.

There are disposable grips and metal grips. When the grip is made of metal, it must be disinfected after each customer.

6. THE INK

Inks can be found in different colors and, theoretically, there is no other distinction between inks other than the color. In practice, not only the color changes but also the density or thickness of the ink, so the application to the skin changes from one pigment to another.

Related to the ink are the caps. The caps are wells where the ink is deposited directly from the bottle at the time of tattooing. Caps are disposable items because are contaminated with blood during the tattoo, so they have to be thrown away between customers. Fortunately, many tattoo caps, nowadays, are biodegradable.