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There are two springs on the standard tattoo machine, the front
and the rear. In the standard spring setup the rear spring is basi-
cally rectangular, while the front is triangular. Springs will

The ghost of the a-bar is based upon a few things: the human
eye’s interpretation of the reflection of the light off of the a-bar,
the speed of the a-bar, and the actual light source that you have
in the room.

When speaking of how hard a
machine runs we are generally
speaking about the hit of the
machine. When we are talking
about how fast or slow a
machine runs we are referring
to the momentum of the machine.
The hit

Remember you have a host of aftermarket parts available to
you, and you do not have to keep the manufacturer’s parts on
the frame. Sometimes you can increase the performance of the
machine by swapping out just a

Have your machine hooked up to a power supply while you are
putting the a-bar assembly back on the machine – this will help
you to properly tune it before you tighten everything down.

If you over tighten the screws that hold the front binding post to
the frame you may push the nylon spacers into the frame and
short out the circuit. These spacers are the ones that are referred
to as insulating

The first thing a new apprentice should do upon getting their first
tattoo machine is to take it apart. It is very important for a tattoo
artist to know exactly how the entire machine works, and how
it is

Like everything else on the tattoo machine, experiment and
play around to find out what works best for your style and your
specific machine. Some artists will claim that a certain metal
will increase the machine’s

Some artists will purchase contact points with a design on the
top. You may have seen this design as a dice, skull, or almost
anything that is imaginable. Do not be fooled by the clever
novelty of the contact

The contact point can be made of different metals. One would
assume that the best quality metal would be the most conduc-
tive. Typical contact point metals are brass, copper, and silver.
If corrosion occurs, or

Typically the contact point will be at a 90 degree angle in relation
to the front spring. This will ensure that there is optimal
surface area between them, and provide for good conductive
contact. The contact

The contact point is another important part of the tattoo machine.
The contact point is the tiny actual spot on the machine
where the magic happens. Electricity flows through the machine
and ends up in the contact

There is more often than not, an o-ring looped around the front
spring. This will aid in the transition of energy created by the
front spring hitting the contact screw. Different thickness o-rings
should be

Armature bars can come in a multitude of shapes and sizes as
well. Some will have notches or holes drilled in them while others
might resemble the shape of the number 8. These shapes
and designs are to modify the

The prime component, as far as movement is concerned, in the
tattoo machine is the armature bar. The armature bar has two
functions. The first function is to attach the needle to the machine.
The armature bar’s

Small capacitors can make your tattoo machine run
faster. Not small size, but small rating in the micro farads.
This is because they recharge like a battery, and
are filled with some type of material that can

Do not be afraid to ask for specific caps when you order prewired
coils. Or you can order coils that have no capacitor at all,
and you can add the preferred size yourself. It is very simple to
solder a cap to the

Capacitors will store voltage. When the capacitor is full of voltage
it lets out a burst of stored voltage, and then begins to store
it again. It does this by the use of filaments. It is not that important
to know

The capacitor is a very important part of the coils as well. It technically
is not part of the coils, but for the purpose of simplicity
and general knowledge, this text will refer to the capacitor as

The rear spring’s relation to the front spring and armature bar
is important to the geometry of the frame. These four pieces of
the tattoo machine should be aligned as much as possible to
ensure that optimal