The Eye Loup
By Larry Brogan
One of the most important things that you can do to ensure quality tattoos and proper healing is to eye-loupe your needles. For those who do not know what an eye loupe is, it is a small magnifying glass that jewelers typically use to inspect gems and other jewelry. For the tattoo artist, it is a necessary piece of equipment and should be used in the set up of each and every needle, each and every time you tattoo. You cannot see most damaged or hooked needles with the naked eye, and running them across a paper towel, looking for a snag, is not a replacement for using an eye loupe. As for what size loupe to get, one with a 10x magnification is good enough to visually discover any flaws or imperfections.
If your clients’ tattoos often have a tough time healing or you find yourself having to make frequent touchups, you either do not know how to properly apply a tattoo without overly damaging the skin or you are tattooing with bad or hooked needles, maybe both. Using prepackaged and sterilized needles does not mean that they are perfect, just as making your own does not mean that they will never get damaged in handling. I have made my own and found bad needles, and I have used prepackaged needles and found that half the box (or more) were unusable.
Checking your needles before starting the tattoo can make a huge difference in how your tattoos go in and also how well they heal. I recently set up for a tattoo using two tattoo machines and, using an eye loupe, found fourteen bad needles out of the sixteen that I inspected. How would you like to be tattooed with a fish hook? Never assume that your needles are straight and sharp. Always look them over. Spend the few seconds that it takes to inspect the needles with an eye loupe; you owe it to your client and your reputation.
—Larry Brogan
THANK FOR THE TIP. CAN ALWAYS IMPROVE MY ART. THANKS FOR SHARING.
Your welcome. This is one of the most overlooked elements of tattooing.