About Tattoo Machine Stroke – How to pick the right stroke length
Although owning a high-quality CNC tattoo machine is essential for professional work, understanding how to choose the right stroke for your machine is equally important—especially for beginners. While experienced tattoo artists rarely make mistakes in this area, newcomers often overlook this crucial aspect of tattoo machine setup.
Understanding Tattoo Machine Stroke: What Beginners Need to Know
Some beginners confuse needle depth with machine stroke, but these are two completely different parameters that affect your tattooing results.
What is Tattoo Machine Stroke (Throw)?
A tattoo machine's stroke (also called “throw”) refers to the distance the armature bar travels during operation:
- In coil tattoo machines: The stroke is the distance the armature bar moves from its highest upright position to its lowest down position
- In rotary tattoo machines: The stroke describes the travel distance needed for one complete rotation
For rotary machines, stroke length is determined by the cam's design—the farther the bearing is positioned from the center of the cam wheel, the longer the stroke will be.
Tattoo Machine Stroke vs. Needle Depth: Key Differences
Machine stroke and needle depth are often confused but serve different purposes:
- Stroke: The internal mechanical travel distance of your machine's components
- Needle depth: How far the needle protrudes from the tube or cartridge tip
Important: Machine stroke has nothing to do with needle depth. These are independent settings. However, you may choose to adjust your machine's stroke length to better suit different needle depths and tattooing techniques.
How to Control and Adjust Tattoo Machine Stroke
The method for controlling stroke length varies depending on your machine type:
For Rotary Tattoo Machines:
- Cam wheel adjustment: Replace the cam wheel with one that has a different eccentric offset. Cams with bearings positioned farther from center create longer strokes
- Adjustable stroke systems: Some modern rotary machines feature built-in stroke adjustment mechanisms that allow you to change the throw without replacing parts
- Typical range: Most rotary machines offer strokes between 2.5mm to 4.5mm
For Coil Tattoo Machines:
- Contact screw adjustment: Fine-tune the distance between the contact screw and the front spring. Moving the contact screw changes how far the armature bar travels
- Spring tension: Adjusting the tension of the front and rear springs affects the stroke distance and machine power
- Armature bar angle: Bending or replacing the armature bar can modify the stroke length, though this requires experience
- Gap setting: The gap between the armature bar and coil affects stroke characteristics
General Tips for Stroke Adjustment:
- Make small adjustments and test on practice skin before working on clients
- Document your settings for different tattooing styles (lining, shading, color packing)
- Consider investing in multiple machines or cam wheels for different stroke lengths rather than constantly adjusting one machine
As for CNC Tattoo Machines, there are two main types of mechanical mechanisms that control the stroke length:
- Cam Wheel System: This mechanism uses cam wheels or eccentric wheels to control stroke length by replacing wheels with different eccentric offsets. This system is featured in: CNC WE Series - wireless tattoo pen CNC WE, WE Plus wireless tattoo pen machine.
- Adjustable Stroke System: The CNC KRONOS Wireless Tattoo Machine features an advanced adjustable stroke mechanism, allowing tattoo artists to change the stroke length on the fly without replacing parts or wheels. This provides maximum versatility for different tattooing techniques and styles in a single machine.
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 KRONOS Wireless Tattoo Machine is the typical one.
What Makes KRONOS Unique:
What sets KRONOS apart is its ability to adjust the tattoo pen's stroke length from 2.7mm to 4.5mm, even when the machine is running. This means:
- Adjust stroke length at your will - no downtime, no tool changes
- Seven stroke options for infinite creation possibilities
- 9800RPM coreless motor - stable, powerful, and low-vibration performance
- Seamless transition between lining, shading, and color packing
Every step of innovation comes from our desire to make it easier for you to operate your machine and to create better work.
Ready to Upgrade Your Tattoo Setup?
Experience the freedom of adjustable stroke technology with CNC KRONOS. Whether you're a beginner learning different techniques or a professional artist seeking maximum versatility, KRONOS eliminates the need for multiple machines or constant cam wheel changes.
Shop CNC KRONOS Wireless Tattoo Machine now and discover how adjustable stroke technology can elevate your artistry. Join thousands of tattoo artists worldwide who have made the switch to smarter, more efficient tattooing.
👉 [Get Your KRONOS Today] - Limited time offer available
