No points, no sparks, no front spring and no capacitor!

The Pulse-Matic machine has developed a cult following around the world since the first model went on the market in 1989.

When I first started building Tattoo machines back in the late '70's I started with rotaries as they were the easiest to make. I found that they held me back and because of their even power band they did not have much of a punch. Fine for the smaller clusters like 3's and 5's but not so good once you wanted to work with bigger clusters which would tend to bounce off the skin rather then punch through so I needed to hold the skin excessively tight and they were still not so nice to work with.
I then progressed on to building D.C. machines and found these to be much better for me.

But there still seemed to be something not quite right about them and they too slowed me down. As an artist I wanted machines that I could tattoo with at a speed that suited me rather then have my creativity stifled because I was being held back by equipment. It's important to note here that it's not the speed that a tattoo machine runs at that allows you to work fast but how the tattoo machine "hits", I didn't understand this until I made my very first pulse-matic.

So here is my take on how all the various machines available around the world "hit", I believe you can assign all machines into one of three catorgeries. It's very important to realise that regardless of the type of machine an artist uses, techniques have been developed for all types, which when used correctly will allow someone with good skills to make beautiful tattoo art regardless of machine and at the end of the day if you are comfortable using rotaries, pneumatic machines or D. C. coils and you are happy with the results then that is all that counts.

1-ROTARIES. Because they are motor driven they generally have a very even power band, by that I mean that the power behind the needles when the cluster is half way down it's stroke and just before it bottoms out is constant, it does not get stronger or weaker as it travels through it's downward stroke. Because of this I find they lack penetration with larger clusters. A good rotary with small clusters will, in my opinion, cause less trauma then a DC machine when used correctly because they have very little give at the bottom of the stroke. If you set the needle depth at the tip then that's pretty much how much needle will go in the skin if the skin is stretched real tight to compensate for the lack of punch.

2-D.C. COILS. The most popular machine out their, I made, sold and used DC machines for over a decade and many great artists use DC which also leads to DC machines being popular as many try to emulate the top artists. With the right set-up with springs, coils, A-bars etc. you can get a DC machine to run fast or slow, hard or soft. The power band of the DC machine is very different to the rotary, the downwards stroke of the needles start from zero and builds in speed and power as it progresses towards the end of the stroke, but before the needles reach the end of the stroke the power turns off at the coil so the needles rapidly lose speed and force right towards the end of the stroke. This is their one major flaw! and every DC machine ever made, regardless as to whether it's a shader or liner, lacks power on at the bottom end of the stroke.
This means that if you set the needle depth at the tip, that's not generally what will go into the skin first hit. Because the points on the DC machine separate before the A-bar is hitting the top of the coils the power is off before the the needles are at the bottom of the stroke. The tensile strength in the clients skin will decide to a degree how far the needles actually go in. Ever wondered if using DC why the machine changes how it sounds when working on different parts of the body, this is why.
So every DC machine has this flaw but like all flaws, people will usually work out ways to mitigate them and that's exactly the case with DC machines. When using DC the needles only penetrate a little into the skin with each hit, it can take several hits in the same place to get the ink down to the depth required. This is why many DC machines are set up to run at fast speeds like 130/160 Hz for lining, but when you watch many artists lining with DC the hand speed is quite slow.
Try and get your head around this as an example. Machine speed is 130Hz, that's the needles hitting the skin at 130 times per second, say you have a 3 needle liner with .35 (#12's) needles , one hit with the needles leaves a footprint (small dot) .70 mills in diameter. say you need to move the needles along by 1/4 of the diameter to lay the next dot of colour so as to have an even edge to the line, this would mean that you need to move the machine over the skin at a speed of .175 mills per stroke to lay a nice smooth line. If you times .175 x 130 you get 22.75 mills, this is how long the line would be after 1 second. That's lining at just under 1" per second! most DC users I know would be lucky to lay a 3 needle line 22 mills. long in 4-5 seconds! so as you can see, moving a DC Machine running at a fast speed, slowly across the skin allows the needles to hit the same spot several times to get the ink down to where it's got to go. This can also causes the ink to "blow out" and "bloom" in the skin.
I watched a video recently of a top American artist laying solid black with a machine that sounded like it was running at around 100Hz and using a 17magnum, it took 23 seconds and I counted over 25 ( closer to 50 but for this example I am halving that number so as to be on the low side of things, in reality it's way worse then this example!) back and forward motions over the skin to fill an area of around 10 square millimeters ( less then 1/2" square) This works out to around 42500 puncture holes in the clients skin. The needles did not look like they were much less in diameter then a #12 but say they were # 10's leaving a dot size of .3mm, then in theory you should only need to hit the skin around 333 times to fill that area, but lets say you need to go over it 4 times to make sure all the gaps between needles are well covered you should only need to puncture the clients skin 1333 times, that's 41167 less puncture holes in the client. I have even seen where artists will quickly tattoo over skin with nothing but a water mix to "Open the pores and make the skin more responsive to taking colour" before even starting the tattoo. This does not open the pores but pre punctures the skin so the next hit will get in a little easier and deeper.
Because the DC machine is so dominant in the industry, no one really questions whether there is a better way, and if they do they may try a rotary and be disappointed and go back to DC thus confirming in their own mind that it's the best and they don't even know that they are flawed.
I also classify the pneumatic type of machine that was popular for a short time as a DC simply because they have the same stroke, as the cylinder driving the needles gets close to the end of the stroke an exhaust port opens for the air to escape so that the spring can return it up, at this point there is no power behind the needles so once again skin tension will play a big part in how far the needles penetrate.

3-PULSE-MATIC. This is the only machine with a different power band to rotaries and DC coil machines. These machines utilize the sine wave frequency of A.C. power to move the A-bar. Like all machines it starts at zero (top of stroke) and as the coil energises it pulls the A-bar down towards the coil, and just like a DC machine the speed and power in the A-bar increases as it travels down towards the top of the coil. Unlike a DC machine the power on the coil increases right up to the time the A-bar bottoms out on top of the coils. This means the needles, unlike either rotaries or DC machines, get faster, with increasing force behind them all the way to the bottom of the stroke. The advantage of this, apart from the fact that the skin requires minimal stretching to get penetration, is that if you really were capable of laying a 3 needle line at 22 mills per second, running the machine at 130 Hz, as in the example above, then it's entirely possible with a Pulse-Matic, ( not that I could line that fast and I doubt the ink could keep up with the needle! ) because each footprint of colour goes in deep enough with just one stroke. I am fortunate to be a fast worker and I line faster then most artists I know with my Pulse-Matic running at 100Hz. I can even make beautiful, sharp and clean, one pass lines simply by using an 8 or 14 round #10 or #12 shader bar straight out of the pack, I can solid fill an area of black 10mm square in 10-12 seconds, once again at 100Hz. Half the time of a D.C machine with a lot less trauma to a clients skin.
However because many artists can't grasp the differences and what it means at the business end of the machine, if trying a Pulse-Matic for the first time after coming from DC they will tend to try to use it like a DC which is a big mistake. They will use all the techniques developed around a machine with no bottom end power on a machine that has full bottom end power. They often will crank it up to 130/160Hz and then lay a ponderously slow line and wonder why they are either chopping the skin or blowing the colour out the side! The biggest problem by far I have with new Pulse-Matic users is they apply DC techniques to it. Many artists are simply not suited to a Pulse-Matic, if you are a fast, confident worker with the machines you are using but wish you could find machines that would let you work faster, then maybe they will suit you. If you aren't so confident or are a slow worker, or a slow worker who thinks they are going fast, then DC is probably better suited to you as it is more forgiving of mistakes and missteps. The photos below illustrate what I do with my machines, compare them to what it would take using your existing equipment. The first photo is simply of the piece after marking out with a sharpie, this took ten minutes. The next is the finished outline in #12 5 needle, this took exactly 50 minutes. The third photo shows the completed piece blacked out with a #10 7 mag. This took 2 and 1/2 hours, total tattoo time 3hours 20 minutes, the design also goes round onto the chest and the back a little. I don't rush, just working at the speed I am comfortable with. I know that had I done this using DC I would have spent at least 5 hours on the job.

As a machine builder and designer I can use anything I like and I have never used anything better then the pulse-matic and if any professional artist reading this wants to arrange with me to come to my studio and try them for themselves they are more then welcome and if they wanted some I am at this point in time happy to build them some, however I can't see myself building machines for much longer as to be honest I would rather spend the time tattooing!

Also I have posted a series of videos on youtube showing how I use the pulse-matic machine. The piece is a standard piece from Flash, and took just on 1 1/2 hours to complete. Sadly many in this industry like to look for things to criticise and to find fault with, but for those of you that have an open mind and are interested in seeing something that may be different to what you are using now, check it out! everything is done at 100Hz and please excuse the banter and un-professional nature of the production!

http://youtu.be/7hpRYdFPbjI
http://youtu.be/kzD3f-5WuJY
http://youtu.be/2rKujzoQtHQ
http://youtu.be/2rKujzoQtHQ
http://youtu.be/WwjFUQggWj4
http://youtu.be/KGQDDfJgh2Q.

The links below are for the second session where we started to fill in the lower arm with some horses.

http://youtu.be/FSO6rVgcwns
http://youtu.be/cdfAhz2j0tQ
http://youtu.be/AgKhIJXg9zQ

MACHINE WEIGHT

Machine makers around the world seem to be in competition with each other to see who can make the lightest machine! 20 years ago we tested a coil machine that weighed less then four ounces. After 2 hours using this machine the Artist developed hand cramps and pain in the carpal area of the hand. This was because the machine was so light it wanted to bounce off the skin and the Artist needed to apply quite firm downwards pressure on the machine to keep it on the skin. You will get used to the weight of a heavier machine after a week or so of using it and it will never be a problem but with an under weight machine you will always have hand pain and problems using it.
We make no apologies for offering a slightly heavier machine in the Evo. and a lighter weight machine in the Classic. We originally planed to produce the Evo in Titanium as well as Stainless Steel but have found the machine weight in the Stainless Steel to be popular, with several artists who also have the lighter Classic model ordering their 3rd and 4th Evo! There is an old saying in this industry “ The heavier the machine the better the line” and our experience proves this. Many top Artist’s in the industry are now going back to heavier machines.