It is important to remember that less wraps in a coil means less
resistance. Less resistance means that the voltage can in theory
get to the place it is going to, faster. The gauge of wire will also
affect this. The resistance is often countered with capacitors.
Taking that into consideration, you can see why a lot of people
would think that more wraps should mean a stronger magnet. I
believe that the opposite is really true as far as tattooing is concerned.
This is because the magnets are turning on and off so
quickly, in order to maintain a good solid magnet flow you want
to not only control the strength of the magnet while it is on, but
you want to ensure that is has no magnetism while it is off. It is
like everything else in tattooing, a balancing act. There is no real
best coil configuration
out there. It is all a matter
of how you like your
machine to run for the
style and speed you tattoo.
I think that the coils
are the most difficult
thing for a new tattoo
artist to grasp, and the
hardest thing to really
teach.

2 Comments

Comments are closed.

  1. Andrew Morris 5 years ago

    Hi this is my first post on here I stumbled upon this forum and thought I could be of help maybe? I have been a tattoo artist for over 20yrs now and I will help out anyone within the boundries of possibility.
    So I figure most of you guys don’t know much about tattooing? Or are even near being apprenticeshiped…
    For those of you who are actually doing the work and getting yourself out there on the web all this information is readily available at the drop of a hat. And probably know a bit about coils already. For those of you who want to know about coils what do u want to know?
    If it’s what are coils? I’m really not going to answer that it’s up to u to find out simple as that!
    But for those of you who want to know how many wraps on coils 6, 8 or 10 and for which specific tasks? How do I wrap my own coils? What capacitor with with which wrap and for what job? What’s the best steel to use for cores? What are washers made from and why do they have to be phenolic (non-conductive)? What AWG wire is best to use to wrap Coils, what brand is best quality? What effects would using different thicknesses produce? And how would that effect coil performance and in turn my machine? These questions I can answer for you and I’m sure many more on all parts of tattooing but not all at once. My best advice to you is don’t try to run b4 you can walk. Do your homework, research and get a basic understanding of electromagnets before you can start to ask questions about making coils and experimenting with different setups. I will say that unless you have gone out and bought at least a middle of the range machine your coils will probably not be up to the job of tattooing and any from China more than likely will need throwing away. Learn about your machine who the builder is and if he’s got a good name. If not learn how to change out the coils and replace with new ones and at least get a solid power supply. Unless you learn to take responsibility and to start to do this you will never be able to even start to learn how to tattoo properly and at the end of the day you will be scaring someone for life and if you don’t expect it to be a long long road before you even think of tattooing someone.
    For all of you who have genuine questions regarding coils and their proper function and behaviour ask away……..

    • CR Jordan 5 years ago

      Your comment has been approved, but since you have a FREE account: PLEASE NO SPAMMING.
      Thanks!

©2024 Tattoo Books Online LLC a tattoo education company by CRcharles Jordan