A tattoo machine can puncture the skin 50-3,000 times per minute. As the machine is guided over the skin, the needle bar moves up and down allowing the needles to puncture the skin, depositing the ink.
The needles stick out only a few millimeters from the end of the tube, so they don't go deep into the skin.Īfter preparing the skin with a germicidal soap, the artist dips the needles into a small amount of pigment or ink. The needle bar moves up and down through a tube or barrel, which serves two purposes - to keep the needle bar from moving side to side and as a handle for the tattooist to grip. The other end of the needle bar is attached to the tattoo machine. One to fourteen needles are grouped together and attached to the end of a rod called a needle bar. Tattoos are applied using a small electric device that operates similar to a sewing machine. An artist may not tattoo a person younger than 18 without meeting the requirements of 25 Texas Administrative Code, §229.406(c), whose parent or guardian determines it to be in the best interest of the minor child to cover an existing tattoo. This includes studios that perform traditional tattooing, permanent cosmetics and scarification. We require any business in the practice of producing an indelible mark or figure on the human body by scarring or inserting pigments under the skin using needles, scalpels or other related equipment to license with the Department of State Health Services. General Tattoo and Body Piercing Studio Requirements.