Coil tattoo machines are the most commonly seen and used. Coil machine is a traditional tool of professional tattoo artist, allowing to carry out any process: lining or shading.

A traditional coil tattoo machine utilizes electromagnetic current passed through a pair of coils to trigger a draw and release of the machine's armature bar. When direct current from the tattoo machine's power supply reaches the two coils, they're charged and an electromagnetic field is created. That electromagnetic field pulls the tattoo machine's armature bar down, which breaks the circuit created between the contact screw on the top-right and the metal front spring that was touching it, causing the electromagnetic field to collapse. A nanosecond later, the spring draws the armature bar back up again, placing the front spring back against the contact screw and re-establishing the electromagnetic field, which starts the cycle all over again. It's a hammer-like effect, with the release of the springs causing the armature bar to essentially tap the attached tattoo needles into the skin.

On the induction machine can be arbitrarily set the frequency of movement of the needle and hitting power. Shot output is adjusted via a clamping screw. It is very important to choose the right power. Too much - damage to the skin, a scar, a fatal track, spoiling the impression of the picture. Too weak - the absence of any trace on the skin, which means empty work.

There're three types of coil tattoo machines:

-for lining(a lightweight pane and a short spring)

-for painting (with a sustained move of the needle - a heavy pane gives it time to stay under the skin)

-for shading (with the average speed of the pane, the shortened spring and low injury)

Liner machine usually has a lighter weight, because the line is applied faster movements with less pressure. Coils are with less wire turns, the contact springs are shorter and stiffer. Tattoo machine for shading is heavier, its own weight allows applying less effort to penetrate the ink under the skin. Shading machine is slower, but also injures the skin less, allowing to achieve tight shading and high-quality paint over. The sound is rougher and confident, more like the sound of the bulldozer. Liners can be set up with anywhere from one to seven needles, which are positioned in a circle. Shaders are set up with more than four needles, which are usually in a straight line that resembles a comb.

Coil machine often used to fill large areas. It allows you to make a smooth, natural transitions between colors. With the coil machine is much easier to vary the density of the casting, rather than with a rotary machine.