How Deep Should a Tattoo Needle Go?

Deciding to get a tattoo is both super exciting and super serious. It is exciting because you’ll be getting this awesome permanent piece of art on your body. On the other hand, it is serious because it involves a painful process of getting repeatedly ‘stabbed’ by the tattoo needle.

So, the fact that you’re reading this means that you’re taking your tattoo experience seriously, and that is beyond commendable.

We believe it is essential to get informed properly before embarking on the journey of tattooing. If you want to know more about tattoo needles and how they work, then you’re in the right place. So, without further ado, let’s get started!

The Tattoo Machine/Needle – Explained

The Tattoo Machine

To understand the whole deal with the tattoo needle, we need to start with the basics; the tattoo machine, of course. The traditional tattoo machine is an electrical device used for tattooing, all around the world.

The standard tattoo machine pulses a tattoo needle into the skin using a specific mechanism of electromagnetic coils, which move the armature bar up and down at the rate of 6,000 motions per one minute.

However, a tattoo machine is nothing without ink. While pushing the needle in and out of the skin, it also needs to transfer the ink into the skin. Remember the armature bar? Well, a barred needle grouping is connected to this bar and is responsible for pushing the ink into the skin.

Now, how does the machine ensure the ink stays in the skin?

Well, as the tattoo machine pushes the needle into the skin, the needle pierces the skin and creates a hole where the ink will be stored. As the needle pushes out of the skin, it creates a vacuum seal, which sucks the ink into the previously created hole in the skin. In those created holes are skin cells known as macrophages and fibroblasts. That is where the ink is trapped and sealed.