Some Basics
By Mr. G
One of the first projects of my apprenticeship began when I was handed a couple tattoo machines in a paper bag and told to repair them. This was a sink or swim proposition taking place less than two weeks after I began working at the shop. Without instruction, I was to disassemble, clean, polish, repair and bring the machines back to top performance. Needless to say, many of my first attempts were frustrating failures. I had no clue how these tools worked, let alone repair and tune them.
One aspect of this lesson about the tattoo machines is just as important as the mechanics, geometry, electrical knowledge and subtle tuning skills―the historical evolution of this machine. Why are there so many subtle variations on a basic design? Why did O’Reilly start out with a rotary machine? How did the standard for our industry change from a rotary motor into the reciprocating machine that we still use a hundred years later? Here’s my twist in understanding the evolution of our present day tattoo machine:
The electric tattoo machine morphed slowly at the end of that century from traditional hand poking of the 1800s into the machines of today. The revolution in the use of electricity and devises powered by this amazing source of power began in the mid 1800s. Adopting technology intended to modernize the world, men began to invent thousands of electrical devices. Some of these inventions developed almost simultaneously around the world. Many inventions overlapped or were almost identical to others. Sometimes their patents were just days apart on different continents. To this day, it is still a confusing endeavor to understand who actually contributed the most towards many commonly used inventions.
When the railroads began to boom in the early 1800s, the necessity for quick communication to prevent train accidents resulted in the development of the electric telegraph. An early essential of this telegraphic system was the electric bell, which served as signal alarm for track switchmen. These early electromagnetic devices are the foundation of our modern tattoo machine. The development of electromagnetic devices such as the telegraph and the electric bell predate the invention of the electric tattoo machine by over fifty years.
The tattoo machine came indirectly from the work of many inventors, but the men who pioneered the electric bell are most directly responsible for our present-day tattoo machines. William Sturgeon, Joseph Henry, Samuel Morse and Thomas Edison all deserve some credit for the eventual creation known as the Tattoo Machine. I mention these names for those who may be curious to look further into the history of electromagnetism.
If you have ever seen an electric doorbell, then you may have noticed how very similar that device is to a tattoo machine. Not only do they look alike, but many of the components for the electric doorbell, as well as the telegraph, share the same parts as our tattoo machines. These parts are: armature bar, coils, binding post, contact points, springs and frame. All of these names were commonly used in the mid-1800s. In theory, many of the parts for a tattoo machine could have been bought through electrical supply houses in many major cities, as well as through available electrical catalogues.
Around the time of the American Civil War, it would have been possible to modify a common doorbell into a very sweet tattoo machine. The British, along with the tattooers of the colonies, India, Burma, Malaysia and Hong Kong, did just that for generations. When the tattooist under the British Empire converted from hand tattooing they used modified electromagnetic bells for the machines. The exact date the first bell machine was first used still remains a mystery. We know George Burchett used machines modified from these bells as did also Johnny Gurka, Johnny 2 Thumbs, Jimmy Ho and Pinky Yun. These are just a few of the well known names, but the bell machines were the standard for many years in the exotic ports of the colonial era.
Often, tattooist would keep the metal frame attached to the original wooden box, while they made the modifications. Coils would be rewound with heavier gauge wire to withstand the long hours of use. Springs would be replaced by stronger, used springs from discarded Victrola phonographs or clock springs. Upon completion, they would then replace the stock wood cover in an attempt to hide the secret changes that made to these common bells into working tattoo machines.
The armature bar would have the bell’s clanger ball cut off, then the long tip sharpened to a razor point. This very sharp point allowed a small piece of shoe heel rubber to be skewered directly onto the bar. A piece of bicycle spoke, piano wire or sparkler would then be inserted perpendicular into the rubber, functioning as the needle bar.
Sometimes, tubes would be constructed from thin gas or plumbing pipes also common place around the mid-1800s. These tubes sometimes were a piece of art in themselves, as many a builder would fashion a tube from what grabbed their imagination.
We may never know if someone used one of these homemade bell machines prior to O’Reilly’ famous patent of 1891. In theory it is possible, because the basic cousin to the tattoo machine, the electric doorbell, was readily available and right in front of many intelligent tattooist. Could some curious inventive tattooer have experimented and created a machine without bothering to patent or publish his discovery? Someone had to do it at some point, because it did eventually appear worldwide as a very common form of the tattoo machine. The possibility for a tinker, over a timeline of fifty years converting an inexpensive bell into a tattoo machine, in my wild imagination seems very likely. We just don’t have a record of when or who was first. So much information has been discarded due, until recently, to a major distaste towards tattooing. As Lyle Tuttle says, “Tattooing is the art that history tried to forget.”
The invention, patented by S.F. O’Reilly, was the first official record of an electric tattoo machine. It appeared at the right place at the right time. The Gay Nineties (1890s) was an era infatuated with better living through science, an age that believed electricity and electrical gadgets would free the masses from mundane tasks. O’Reilly’s invention was influenced by Edison’s 1876 Electric Autographic Pen that used a small electric motor. At that time, electric motors where a sensational new discovery that dominated innovation. If one was going to create a new product during the late 1800s, it is not a stretch to assume the inventor would use the most sensational modern technology available, and skip over ways of doing things that were fifty years old.
The world flourished with this new Electric Tattooing craze. It was proclaimed to be faster than hand poking and painless, a misconception that also added to the boom. You can see in a lot of old photos of early 1900 shop signs reading “ Modern- Painless Tattoos.” This phenomenon, along with the slogan “Easy, no skill required,” popped up in magazines and sparked a new market for electric tattoo machines.
Very quickly, with this surge of popularity for a new way to receive a tattoo, the strong demand for electric machines spawned more practical inventions. Charlie Wagner warped the tattoo machine back into a balanced, functional devise with fewer moving parts. His patents revisited the reciprocating coil technology. The machine we still use has often undergone attempts to be improved upon, but the basic two-coil electromagnetic tattoo machine has changed very little since it’s introduction. The machine that morphed from the electric bell of the mid-1800s is still the chosen one. I believe the coil machine will remain our choice for a long time, as the tool we use also adds the mystique of being antique.
Understanding the tools of any trade is one the keys for successfully mastering many professions. The valuable insights I learned from my first machine assignment instilled in me an endless curiosity to understand. To this day I am fascinated by the complexity of such a seemingly simple machine. I pride myself in my personalized machine-tuning skills. The tattoo machine is a fine piece of equipment that each artist individually adjusts to their own style or needs; similar to a maestro tuning a fine musical instrument.
Tattooing: as ancient as time, as modern as tomorrow.
Mr. G
