Why it matters

Tattoo lining requires consistency. The punctures made by the tattooing needle(s) need to be in harmony with the reciprocation rate of the needle, as well as in sync with the artists hand speed.

If one of these variables is not in sync with the other the needle punctures can be placed too closely together resulting in overlap which can tear the skin. If the neelde punctures are too far apart then the desired density and saturation is not acheived. 

With the right balance of hand speed and machine speed one can find the “sweet spot” where the ink seems to be deposited effortlessly into the skin. 

How to use

Use the calculator to find the right hand speed for your setup today! To get the perfect machine speed everytime check out the ESCx Power Supply. It's precision calibration routines and speed control feature you can be sure your machine is running at the exact speed you want it to everytime. 

To calculate the hand speed, we first need to have a few variables to plug into the very simple formula. 

Hand Speed = F * EC * R

(W) Grouping Width

This is the width of the grouping. For round groupings is is the enclosing circle diameter, and for flat mags it is the width of the stacked needles.

(R) Advance Ratio

This is the advancment ratio, if we move the needle grouping 1x the enclosing circle diameter per cycle of the needle we will have a 1:1 ratio.     

(ratio 1:1)

(ratio 1.5:1)

(F) Frequency

This is the reciprocation frequency of the needle grouping (hz/cps). In other words it is the number of times the needle reciprocates over a given period of time, usually 1 second. You can calculate frequency by dividing the number of cycles over the time taken to complete. For example if a tattoo machines needle reciprocates 10 times in one second it's frequency is 10/1 or 10hz.  It is important to remember this number must be a constant, if it changes the hand speed needs to change as well.