All tattoo artists need a tattoo machine and depending on preference and training, their machine can be a rotary or a coil device. Customers who are contemplating a tattoo should be informed, at least in a basic way, on machines. In this week’s blog we want to briefly talk tattoo machines! What are the differences and which ones are best for safe, fast healing?
Rotary Machines
The Spektra Xion, Halo2, EdgeX and Direkt2 are rotary machines. And so is our newest addition that has the tattoo industry buzzing: the cordless Spektra Flux™. These FK Irons tattoo machines have in common a cylindrical motor that moves the needle bar in a linear fashion as the stroke wheel rotates.
- Faster healing
This movement inserts and retracts the needles into the skin in a steady motion. These machines are not only quieter but kinder on the skin, resulting in a faster healing process and less scarring.
- Sterilization
Our rotary machines have a modular design that enables the artist to take them apart to sterilize the handle ("grip" in tattoo-speak) with a heat and steam-pressured autoclave machine. This is an important part of avoiding cross-contamination from client to client.
Another thing you should look out for is that your tattoo artist wears gloves, a mask and keeps their work table extremely clean. They should wrap the back of their machine in some kind of plastic covering and the handle (the area of the machine that they hold like a pencil) should be covered with either a disposable foam grip or wrapped in some kind of self-adhesive gauze.
While all machines in the hands of an excellent artist can produce any type of tattoo, we'll go over which machines will tend to be easier to produce certain types of tattoos.
- Lines
If you're going for a Polynesian tattoo or something dramatic, black and dark, the Direkt2 is known for producing great work. The tattoo artists who have tested the Flux have also stated that they feel they can do good line work with our newest addition and compare the power to the Direkt2.
- Holy ... Color!
The Xion, which has been on the market for much longer and is well-known, is a pen-style machine that artists and customers both love because of the control it gives the artist.
They also find the Xion is gentler on the skin, so artists can layer colors for bright results and, in the end, very little skin stress it offers the customer.
The fact that the Flux is wireless has artists marveling at how free they feel to create. So, you can imagine how much more control they will have over the lines, shading, colors and art in general.
We've taken the best of both worlds and put it into one machine with the Flux. As far as the work, the artists have so far have called it a game-changer and switch over to this easy-to-use, lightweight machine.
Coil Machines
Coil machines like Exactor III, Galaxie III, and Roswell are more complicated. As power is delivered to a coil machine these are charged and become electromagnetic. The electromagnet field created by the coils cause the machine’s bar to push down toward the coils, forcing the needles into the skin.
A coil machine creates an effect similar to hammering, by driving the needles into the skin with more force than a rotary machine would.
Coil machines are noisy, but their distinctive “buzz” is considered a traditional aspect of the tattoo ritual – and it's up to you if you want that total experience.
While tattoos made with rotary machines, like the Spektra Xion, will be gentler on the skin and offer faster healing, if you’re looking forward to a traditional experience and your tattoo artist can work a coil machine with finesse and control, then by all means let the coils have their day!
