tattoo gun

this tattoo gun is like graphacks but i actually made it before he made his and i just now put it on

Step 1 Gather materials

old electric tooth brush
regular toothbrush
guitar string (#2)
big pen casing
hotglue
pliers

Comments

[kbailey10]

My fiance made a couple prison guns, we've been runnin' those for years. They work just fine, the only trick is that we use a BIC spring and not guitar string. It takes forever, it hurts, but you can do beautiful tattoos with this method and a lot of sterilization. Nothing has ever gotten infected on us or the folks who've been inked with our guns.

[altmaker]

Do you have ANY idea what a guitar string can do? guitar strings when you cut them curl upwards, and do you know what that means? It'll catch the skin, and pull it up, leaving nasty horrible scarring, and your lucky if you just get that. Its most likely that you WILL get and infection from it. i can't believe you even posted this, 13 year old children use this site, as demonstrated below with Craz meanman's comment. How much of a bad influence? he was actually proposing to do this.

[avwos]

FYI any 13yr-old's (such as myself) using this site, are not as dumb and easily influenced you portrayed in your comment!! Besides, if this made safely and properly than I see NO problem with using it. (I can understand your concerns but if not done properly and appropriately, everything on this site can IN SOME WAY be potentially lethal)

[altmaker]

no, you are wrong. it is wire, and it will not do what you want it to do, as it is made differently to a needle.
it will hook your skin and rip it apart, and you will regret ver even thinking about making a HOME MADE TATTOO KIT
you know those sayings, like moonshine makes you go blind?
its not a saying, its the truth.
yes everything on this site is potentially lethal, but my god have you no sense as to listen to basic fact and still deduce that this is a safe thing to do to yourself?
please, for the sake of your future personal life, as im sure your future partner will be included in those utterly repulsed by the results, please dont do this to yourself, and please get the tattoo done professionally.

[smokieydog]

Why is everyone on the internet dissing this way of tattoing?
My friend is basically a pro at this and he uses the guitar string method...my cousin has over 20 tattoos, most of which were by the guitar string guy....and all of hers came out good looking and none are infected....so i don't see what's so bad about it? =/
i got one from him to...and it looks good...so idk why this guitar string method is so looked down upon....

[lil dalmata]

how and where do you put in the ink?

[thyyt1]

your gonna get aids plus nothing

[winman2000]

altmaker, chill out. People can do this of their own free will if they want. If anyone wants to do this, it is their right. It may be a moronic idea, but many people don't care, so I advise you to butt out and shut up.

[jillg]

this is he dumbest thing i have seen on this site. i don't even think it should be on here. u r promoting an unsanitary and unhealthy way to tattoo yourself! just wait a couple of years and get it done by trained professionals. and also by using a guitar string you could seriously damage the skin where you try to apply the tattoo. and to anyone out there who is thinking of doing this, don't, unless you want to get hepatitis or are fond of hospitals don't do this.

[Ralfystattoos]

With 25yrs Tattooing experience I am alarmed at this Like the other user posted, enjoy your hepatitis

[abdicus]

ok so i am 18 i got my first tat home done at 11 then the others started at 13...i have 30 something now, most of the work i am doing now is going back over the f'ed up ones from when i was younger, i went on ebay dropped a couple hundred dollars and set myself up with a tattoo machine, and the crash course im providing myself...so if your going to do it at home there are some exceptions to "good" work but most look like crap get the proper equipment, and do some research (: thanks

[mo5]

insted of a needle just buy a hard tooth brush and put it in there

[jacksteal4]

just on the bad influence thing im not even 13 im 11 =P

[Eidolonmyst]

My son made a gun for me a while back. A little plastic gun works great for the poor people. They still make metal pens, so use one of those instead of plastic for your tube. You can purchase sterile needle bars, cheap and cut them to size. A button works great on the shaft. The bent (L-shape) bar slips right into a regular, medium, white, 4-hole button. Make sure you use the hole on either side of the shaft, not the one across from it. The button fits perfectly on the motor shaft. A larger pen can accommodate a 5-needle bar. Use green soap, buy a box of latex gloves, shave area, use paper towels, use Bacitracin and plastic wrap, and do everything a tattooist does to stay clean. Only reuse bars on yourself. Boil them and your Pen tube for 15 minutes (*remember, your pen is plastic, so boil slowly - remove every 3 or 4 minutes, let cool, do again 3X, then lay them in a tray of rubbing alcohol and cover. No hep C or infection problems with these precautions. My first tat was done in Hawaii as a ritual tapping, very little sanitation in the hut. Been getting tats for 30 years and seen it all, from state fair tattooists to bamboo tapping in a hut ---"hand-poked" tats are very dangerous unless done by a master tattooist (or an inmate at a correctional facility...lol).

[kaiseb]

Yes an enjoy your hepatitis

[solo.card]

I agree with all the previous comments that this has no place on instructables. While some may consider it an art form to dabble in DIY tattoos, you are going about it in an unsanitary way. First of all, you are not even using a needle. Of any kind! A sewing machine needle would be much better than a guitar string. Secondly, nothing here is sterile, and will never be sterile. Even if you are only using it one oneself, you still risk serious infection. If you really want a DIY tattoo so badly, learn how to do it properly. A hand-poked tattoo would be much much better than this option. Good luck

[pyro13]

How would you do a hand poked tattoo? Just curious ;)

[DELETED_craz meanman]

(removed by author or community request)

[Black Cat]

man ur bloody stupid. im 18 n i got a few recently. never with a home made gun. stupid and i assure u, u will stuff it n ruin ur skin. wait 5 more years n get it done properly. ull regret it if u dont.

[DELETED_craz meanman]

(removed by author or community request)

[pyro13]

Get it professionally done. I did a homemade one, and yeah, it hurts. alot more that Professionally done ones, because i didn't listen to altmaker and the guitar string ripped my arm to shreds. I later made one with a needle, but it still hurt. and on a scale of one-ten, with a guitar string, its a 15.

[n0ukf]

A few weeks ago I saw Carson Daly getting a tattoo on stage on his show Last Call, and he commented that it hurts (even though he likely expected it to). Have you ever stuck yourself with a sewing needle or had a cat poke you with its claws? Imagine getting that thousands of times for even a small tattoo.

[ryanjjuhl]

first off have you used this thing and did it work? and i reaallly hope you did NOT use pen ink...you must used water based ink for there is such a thing as ink poisening...trust me there are reasons people go to school for this and i have 12 tattoos and the worst one i did myself when i was 14...

[jen157]

Although alot of fun. Tattooing should be done by a profectional. There are many infections you can get from it not being sterile and if you share you could possibly get something like hepatitis like those people in Vegas at the clinic this week.

[gangster4564]

ya i have the same quetions as dariou so can u explane on another coment cuz i cant use email thank you

[Aestheticxtattoos]

when I first started tattooing it was with a "home made tattoo gun" my design was waaaaaaaayyyyy more clean than this and alot more sturdy. I used disposable tattoo tubes w/grip and actual tattoo needles. (wich I disposed of after every use. Neddles go in a sharps container wich is only available to certified artists.) THIS METHOD WORKS IF YOU ARE TATTOOING YOURSELF AND ONLY YOURSELF!!! although I don't recomend it to anyone. Now about this posting, Im gona have to say it is complete JUNK. There is NO WAY TO STERILIZE PLASTIC!!! LET ALONE A F***ing PEN! gona have to flag this. sorry but we have enough deseases that should not be spread. if you live in the chicago area and want a clean tattoo done the right way contact me at: [e-mail]

[solo.card]

Sharps Containers are pretty much available to anyone. I have one. I am not in the Body Modification industry, nor am I in the medical industry, yet I still have access to one.

And you can sterilise some plastics.

And you are talking about how wrong and unthinkable this method is, yet here you are trying to get clients through instructables. That is quite shabby.

[Pepe]

Listen to this dude he n o what he talking 'bout and listen 2 me also any questions email me at [e-mail] hollaback

[_nate_]

yea im gonna have to flag this to

[Aestheticxtattoos]

By the way I am now in the tattoo trade and have all the right equipment.

[de-evolution]

lol thats so ghetto but I would not recommend using this because it could cause serious infection

[DrStoooopid]

This is very unhealthy and dangerous. Save up your pennies and buy a real one.

[buhdieboy]

for peats sake somebody build an auto clave out of a pressure cooker and somebody download 11 of them tattoo books ofen the enter-net from some bit torrent site call a doctor

[razordu30]

I can't understand how one would have such a dire need for a tattoo they would deem it necessary to MacGyver one together, rather than just make an appointment with an artist. If cost is the issue, I don't think would should combine financial shortcuts with a permanent and possibly disease spreading practice best left to professionals.

[fattywatty]

can u post a tattoo of sumthin so i can c how it preforms b4 i destroy my tooth brush. just do it on some1 else. if u can thanks but love the idea

[Dub2010]

Use India Ink

[uriel]

were can i get indian ink send me to my e-mail [e-mail]

[connorcancount!]

walmart, micheals, any craft store

[DrStoooopid]

INDIA ink...not indian ink. You can buy INDIA ink at any department store.

[X_D_3_M_1]

this is stupid. ah well, survival of the smart people who dont build