History of Tattoo Tools
A tattoo machine consists of a small handheld machine, needle, and tube. This machine in then connected to a power unit that provides pressure to move the needles. The needles may be of different sizes and shapes and are bundled together on a needle bar in different patterns depending on the requirements of the artwork. The unit is attached to a power supply that is activated by depressing a foot pedal on the floor beside the workstation. When the pedal is depressed the tattoo needle bar moves up and down very quickly like the needle on a tiny sewing machine. It penetrates the skin to inject the dye 3,000 times per minute.
Ancient Tattoo Tools
Tiny bronze Egyptian tattoo needles and Maori Bone chisel.
Photo Source Left: Smithsonian Magazine Photo Source Right: PEM
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The needles to the left: were discovered at an Egyptian dig, dating back to 1450 B.C. but the oldest on record are from before 3000 B.C. The Maori of New Zealand used bone chisels to carve designs straight into the flesh of the warrior, right side.
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Polynesian tattoos required two people. The artist used a rake-like tool to hold the ink and a hammer to puncture the skin. The assistant would hold the skin taught so the vibrations wouldn’t affect the design. Before the tattoo machine was invented or even a thought, ancient cultures used tools like rose thorns, sharks' teeth, and pelican bones to push pigments into the skin. Natural pigments like red ochre and soot were used to provide the color. In New Zealand, the Maori tribe tattooed both female and male members of the community. The Maori tribe regarded the head as the most sacred part of the body. Women only received facial tattoos, mainly around the lips, chin, and nostrils. The entire face of the man was tattooed. Some members of the Maori tribe wore spiral tattoos that started on the buttocks and ended at the knee.
In a tattoo ritual, the Maori used a chisel made of bone to cut lines and shapes in the skin. After the lines were cut, the Maori would tap the chisel, with the edge dipped in pigment, into the lines.
Source: Smithsonian Magazine
Source: PEM
In a tattoo ritual, the Maori used a chisel made of bone to cut lines and shapes in the skin. After the lines were cut, the Maori would tap the chisel, with the edge dipped in pigment, into the lines.
Source: Smithsonian Magazine
Source: PEM
With the invention of needles during the Iron Age, tattooing quickly adapted to this new equipment.
Thai Tattoo Equipment
Ancient Thai Tattoo equipment.
Traditional Thai tattoo tools were made from quill-like bamboo needles. Split in two and razor sharp, they range from six to twelve inches in length. A tattoo's placement on the body has great significance in Thai tattooing, the closer a tattoo is to the head, where the soul is thought to reside, the greater the power a tattoo is thought to have.
It's a long tradition in Thailand for soldiers to take on protective tattoos, called Sak Yant. The belief in their powers as charms is so great that it's commonly believed that the right tattoo by the best tattoo master can stop bullets. It's not only the Buddhist designs that are potent but the accompanying prayers. They're chanted by the monks as the near meter long tattoo implements do their work. The fingers of one hand direct the needle, cradling the tip almost as if it were a pool cue, while the other hand drives the needle up and down, he will do this two or three times per second. The resulting series of connected dots in the skin resemble an embroidered tapestry.
Hand-tapped tattoos are painful, but if you believe that you walk away from the experience protected and invincible, it's well worth it!!!
Source: Vanishing Tattoo
It's a long tradition in Thailand for soldiers to take on protective tattoos, called Sak Yant. The belief in their powers as charms is so great that it's commonly believed that the right tattoo by the best tattoo master can stop bullets. It's not only the Buddhist designs that are potent but the accompanying prayers. They're chanted by the monks as the near meter long tattoo implements do their work. The fingers of one hand direct the needle, cradling the tip almost as if it were a pool cue, while the other hand drives the needle up and down, he will do this two or three times per second. The resulting series of connected dots in the skin resemble an embroidered tapestry.
Hand-tapped tattoos are painful, but if you believe that you walk away from the experience protected and invincible, it's well worth it!!!
Source: Vanishing Tattoo
First Electric Tattoo Machine - Thomas Edison
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The first electric tattoo machine was first invented by Thomas Edison in 1876, who drew out blueprints for an electric engraver that became the machine that revolutionized tattooing.
Patents for tattoo machines were filed less than ten years later by different individuals, each adding their own improvements. Source: Engtechmag |
Source: WikiPedia
Source: Engtechmag
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Samuel O’Reilly is credited with the first created “electric pen”, the device built from the Edison blueprints. The only thing O’Reilly changed from the Edison version was that he added an ink reservoir.
The machine we use today was first patented by Charlie Wagner, which was called a dual coil reciprocating engraver, especially made for tattooing. Source: WikiPedia |
Ancient Japanese Tattoo tools
Source: Motor City Tattoo Museum
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The traditional art of Tebori, or tattooing by hand, is a technique practiced by the Japanese. A row of needles adhered to a wood or metal handle is the equipment used by a Tebori master to tattoo the skin.
The constant motion of moving the hand holding the handle creates the tattoo design. Unlike modern electric tattoo machines, the Tebori master performs the tattoo in an ongoing rhythm, instead of performing a line and stopping. Go over to the Motor City Tattoo Museum and check out all the incredible pieces from the past. Source: Motor City Tattoo Museum |
