About Tattoo Machine Stroke – How to pick the right stroke length
What's the stroke of tattoo machine?
Although you already have a high-quality CNC Tattoo machine, this does not mean that you do not need to think about other things just focus on tattoo creation. In fact, there is one thing that is very important, especially for newcomers (professional tattoo artists usually do not make mistakes in this matter). That is how to choose the right stroke for your machine.
Some beginners may confuse needle depth with stroke. But in fact, they are two different important parameters of the tattoo machines.
A tattoo machine’s stroke, (some call it “throw”) is the distance the armature bar(part of the coil tattoo machine) travels from its most upright position to its most down position. In rotary machines, the stroke describes the distance of travel needed for one rotation. The more the bearing is away from the center of the cam, the longer the stroke is.
This is various from tattoo needle depth, which refers to how much the needle hangs out of the tube. Machine stroke has nothing to do with the needle depth. (Nevertheless, you may choose to change the machine stroke to suit a different needle depth.).
As for CNC Tattoo Machines, there’re two types of mechanical mechanisms that control the stroke length. The CNC Q2 short tattoo pen uses the needle bar driven by the cam wheel, which refers to CNC Q Series tattoo pen，Includes new version of Q2 short tattoo pen.
While the wireless tattoo pen CNC WE use the Wear-resistant plastic eccentric wheel to control the stroke length, which also available for WE Plus wireless tattoo pen machine, CNC new CW2 wireless tattoo pen and CNC X1 rotary tattoo pen.
CNC Q Series Tattoo Pen Stroke CNC WE & WE PLUS & X1 Tattoo Machine Stroke The importance of tattoo machine stroke
The machine stroke plays a vital role at:
- The Strength of the hits. The longer stroke the machine has, the more power can it gives. That allows you to use larger needle groupings more easily. But, keep it in mind that you must have a more precision-controlled machine manipulate the strong strength because it may cause more trauma to your customers’ skin.
- The speed of needle movement. Influenced by the output power of the motor and as well as taking into account the effective conversion of energy, the output power increases when the hit force is strong, which leads to a decrease in speed.
- Your max needle depth. A short stroke limits how far your needles can stick out. The needle’s depth must be short enough so that it is able to reach the ink inside the tube’s tip in each up-and-down motion.
The performance of different stroke lengths.
- Short Stroke: 1.8 – 2.5 mm. Short stroke machines move faster because they have less distance to travel in each up-and-down motion.
- Medium Stroke: 3.5mm. This is widely used by tattoo artists. If a tattoo machine is not adjustable, it most likely will come with this stroke length, or one very close.
- Long Stroke: 4mm+. Long stroke machines hit harder because they have more space to “wind up” before hitting the skin.
The application of different Stroke length
| Stroke | Application | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.8mm-2.5mm | Soft black and grey | Smooth blends without chewing out the skin | Too short to be used for lining |
| 3.5mm | Colour packing and shading Both of lining and shading |
Compatible with all kinds of tattoo styles Especially friendly for tattoobeginners |
Not suitable for thick lining |
| 4.0+mm | Lining | Push large needle groups into the skin easily | More cients pain |
stroke Of 4.0+mm
The 4.0mm+ stroke is typically only used for lining, as it packs in ink with hard-hitting strokes. It can push large needle groups into the skin with ease and allows you to hang the needle farther out of the tip, which provides greater accuracy when you’re lining. However, the way it runs makes it a bad choice for shading, which requires multiple passes. Longer strokes make it nearly impossible to get smooth blends, and the multiple passes shading requires will overwork the skin and possibly leave scarring.
A medium stroke (3.5mm)
The 3.5mm is best for packing color and blending. A medium stroke has enough power for lining with smaller needle groupings, but it will struggle with larger ones. You can also do some black and grey (but not ultra-smooth portraits that require several passes).
A shorter stroke (1.8-2.5mm)
The 1.8mm to 2.5mm stroke is good for applying soft black and grey. This style often requires multiple passes to build up layers of ink. The softer-hitting stroke allows you to create these layered, smooth blends without chewing out the skin. A short-stroke cannot be used for lining. It won’t have the power to push the lines properly, and if you set the needle too deep it will not fully retract into the tube each cycle. This prevents the needle from being replenished with the tube tip’s ink, which makes getting solid lines in a single pass almost impossible. Additionally, lining requires the needle to hang farther out of the tube (for improved accuracy), which you can’t do with a short stroke. This leads to ink pooling on the skin and covering up the stencil.
Can I have those Stroke options in One machine?
Absolutely! Currently, there are some tattoo suppliers developed tattoo machines that gather the most commonly used stroke length into 1 machine. You don’t have to install or uninstall the stroke wheel or cam when you need another option. CNC P6 is the typical one.
What makes P6 unique is that you can adjust that tattoo pen’s stroke length from 3.0mm to 4.0mm, even when the machine is running. Adjust Stroke length at your will. Five stroke options for infinite creation. CNC X-I motor – stable, powerful, and low vibration. Every step of innovation comes from our desire to make it easier for you to operate your machine and to create better work.
CNC P6 Pen Classic Black 5 stroke option Exclusive Edition CNC P6 Tattoo Pen -SIRIUS
