Provided you have been keeping up with the previous articles, as I know a lot of you have, the chain of discussions started at the electrical outlet on the wall and moved though the machine, to our previous stop at NEEDLE, NIPPLES, AND STEEL.

Though I’m from the old school, my eyes and ears and brain are always open to new and plausible ideas, and believe you me I’ve tried most, in the (real) tattoo world. For example: A lot of tattooers today use nipples or grommets. With grommets, they seem to be the answer, to be all answers, accomplishing two things, a snug fit to the armature bar, and a nice soft shock absorber to the needle bar. BUT…

Throughout the day of continuous tattooing, the grommet’s sponginess fades unnoticed; the accuracy of skin penetrations becomes less adequate, to a degree. Also understand that polyurethane and rubber, are materials that not only shrink in the sterilization process, but also gets harder with each pass through the heat.”Yeah,” you can just change the old grommet for a new one. But, WHEN? The nipple is by far the easier shock absorber to use, and never goes into the heat. Not every needle bar loop is exactly like the last one, or the one that follows. Years ago tattoo artist used a variety of shocks, such as chamois cloth cut in to small squares, wet with water and placed on the armature bar and left over night to dry. Another choice was model- airplane gas hose. Still the most accurate solution may just be the ol’ cloth tape method, i.e., adhesive or the “cloth type” duct tape. Admittedly these tapes aren’t as clean or kool looking as grommets or nipples, they do offer more flexibility to accommodate the small loop size variations from bar to bar. If you’ve never tried these tapes, give it try.

Let’s move downward to the needle bar itself, usually made of stainless steel; which in and of itself is somewhat of a broad term, meaning, there are many different grades and hardness and there are trade offs. One, the harder materials are stiffer and deliver a more uniform strike, at the skin with the needle. But a softer needle bar allows better heat distribution, and in return allows a much smoother weld of needles to the bar. And this matters. With larger multiple needle configurations, surface tension i.e. skin resistances, could cause needle bar bowing, resulting in, less than pigment load delivered to the desired depth.

Just a little tip here for of you who may not know: Always use Cadmium/lead free solder when building needles. Since the needles are grouped so near the skin, the possible introduction of these dangerous compounds to the blood stream is emanate and could have long term side effects.

Until next time: when we’ll discuss the different needle tapers and grrrindage, delivery and pigment load….