Needles for Tattoo

Textured Needles

In the 90s John James Needle Manufacturer UK, Colonial Needle Company, and Unimax produced the first intentionally-made "Textured" tattoo needle, (not just an unfinished "rough") which was called "Serpentine Needles" made with a dimpled "intaglio" finish and 25% harder stainless steel. No proof that they were harder than 304 currently used. Doubtful anyone would make needles using 316L. This would require new harder tooling and be more expensive without knowing it would be worth the money.

The idea was to create a surface that would drag more ink into the skin compared to a smooth surface needle. The most learned thinking then was that ink was "injected" or dragged into the skin the way a used knife leaves residue of what was already on the knife. For example, when cutting butter with a knife previously used with, say, jelly, this can be observed.

Unfortunately this turned out to be incorrect. The science was wrong, that is not how ink gets into the skin.

R. Rox Anderson, PhD Harvard Professor and Award-winning developer of Lasers for use in dermatology, tattoo removal, and Infiinite Ink inventor and developer describes the process in tattoo in which ink is deposited by capillary action not by injection, not by primary action. A hole is made by a needle prick and as the needle comes out, ink is sucked into the hole by capillary action.

We still sell these needles loose, "Serpentine" Brand for those who enjoy making their own needles.

It would be incorrect to lead people to believe that textured needles can lead to a better result. We are unable to verify this.

When we tested them, tattooists who knew they were given the newest textured needles liked them. When they did not know, they couldn't tell.

In addition to Serpentine Needles we also have available what some call "textured" though they are really "rough cut" un-finished needles, the needle finishing process being interrupted not going through the final processes. We experimented with various kinds like this without being able to verify if the results improived tattooing.

Our conclusion is: The claim of better tattooing because needles are "textured" ishows no empirical support or merit that we can see.

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