tattoo gun

//Rustlabs

Overview:
I'm showing you how I made a tattoo gun (and you could)

Story:
A few weeks ago a stoner from school offered me $100 to make him a tattoo gun. At first I was worried to construct a product that could be potentially dangerous and cause permanent damage. But while browsing instructables I saw the gun made by graphak and figured if graphak can make his out of toothbrushes and tape, then I could probably do better.

The outlines for the gun are:
+ it MUST be "stonerproof" (strong & reliable)
+ portable
+ look cool
+ accurate
+ changeable needles

Stuff you will need:
+ a moderate variety of tools
+ metal pipes & plates
+ a strong motor
+ battery pack

Step 1: Planning

Planning:
Common tattoo guns work off the use of electromagnet coils (patent here) . Since I haven't had much success with coils in the past I have decided to use the rotary method.

As in the use of most rotary tattoo guns there is no mechanism to convert the rotary motion of the motor into a linear motion. To create a more accurate tattooing gun I must create this motion without loosing too much torque through friction.

To do this I plan on having a separate linear mechanism in the shaft connected to the cam through a bent wire. This also allows for a more functional method of changing needles by having an opening in the pipe allowing the user to simply unscrew the needle. As well as creating a much more accurate gun.

The gun must be comfortable to hold and easy to use. I will also try to avoid as much vibration as possible, by counterweights ect.

Comments

[BoneslyGrifter]

Sanding the wire is a bad idea. That creates small grooves in the metal that become a breeding ground for bacteria. Go with your first suggestion and use professional needles.

[dangerousdnl]

or you could just boil the needle in rubbing alc before every use. that will prevent bacteria. =]

[josh owns you]

maybe bacteria but not hepititis, staph, or hiv.

the only real way to sterilize tubes for a real tattoo MACHINE is in an autoclave. and needles should only be used once.

[Shadowstriker559]

actually, if you have a pressure cooker, you can put a platform above the water and leave it in there for about 30 minutes at 15 PSI, the items will me completely sterilized. thats biscally a homemade autoclave.

[HammyHavoc]

Agreed but otherwise wonderful instructable.

[mattk420]

thats complicated. WAY too much work for the average person. and half of us people dont want to spend more than 10 minutes making something like this. ive got a way easier way.

[heart4w4r]

you should add a tutorial video plus it working pleaze

[luckypictures]

DO NOT BUY THE ULTIMATE TATTOO BIBLE. It is a waste of money, and is full of misinformation. There are much better books out there, which I will not directly recommend, as those who are not tattoo artists, or genuine about becoming a tattoo artist should not even read them. You need to place a warning on this instructable. Using this gun will lead to disease and bad tattoos. Spend the money, go to a real tattoo artist. You wouldn't perform your own dental work, would you? I thought not.

[Paul75]

I have to disagree with you 100% on this, The Ultimate Tattoo Bible is great. The book is fantastic and is perfect for tattoo reference material. Even the book itself says that even though it gives out info, the BEST thing to do is combine it with a real apprenticeship. Nothing wrong with that. Just my two cents. I loved the book!

[DesignerUserName]

I wouldn't perform my own dental work but I always used to yank my loose teeth out with Maryjane candy. :D

[M3TALMAN]

As to the dental work: Yes. However what were the names of those books. I graduate high school in two months and change, and I'm thinking about tats as a way to help pay some bills. Want to do some research on it first though.

[treerat100]

haha that stoner is a dumbass for using bic ink. and thanks cool plans

[wargoth]

DO NOT bother with making a DIY tattoo machine, even in the most professional hands, they don't work worth a damn, and that isn't even getting into the myriad of health issues that could come with homebrew tattooing. FYI people, IT ISN'T JUST THE NEEDLE THAT NEEDS TO BE STERILE... everything used in the tattoo needs to be sterile and boiling or soaking in alcohol DO NOT STERILIZE. Cross-contamination is the major concern, yes, but there are plenty of other microbes out there that can cause you problems that don't require you to be "sharing needles". If you are interested in learning to tattoo, by all means, do so, but be intelligent about it. "Real" tattoo machines (though poor quality) can be purchased for $100 or less on ebay. While I wouldn't use one of them professionally, it is good enough to play with on a bannana, orange, or spaghetti squash to get in some experience.

[Lemon-Duck]

This is un-safe...

[xorshift]

Neat!, very resourceful. Can you provide more detail how you welded the cam to the shaft, materials/tools etc?

[dangerousdnl]

dude just get a tap and a dye that are of a fitting size to the motor shaft. then dye the shaft and tap the hole, and screw it on. then secure it with a nut. it will be both more reliable and easily serviceable when it/if it breaks.

[saint.hate]

As a professional tattooer, I will tell you this is a horrible idea. First off, you will not get a good tattoo. Even pros are hard pressed to use one of these contraptions to put in a decent line, let alone shade. Second of all, you will risk a Staph infection (or even MRSA- if you need to google that, you shouldn't be tattooing anyway), or Hepatitis C. Hep C can live for 2 weeks outside of the body, ready to infect the next sap your stoner "friend" decides to scratch up. Third, I hate having to cover up these kinds of tattoos- it's such a pain to plan a design around a blue blob- it limits options for your artist, and I for one charge for the frustration and the headaches associated with scratcher work. So yeah- it's unsafe and you won't get a good tattoo. Also, you can't buy a good machine unless you're a pro. The crap you get from suppliers that sell to anyone need a complete overhaul before they function well. Tattooing is not easy- that's why it's expensive... check my work on myspace, ronnyvtattoo- so you know I'm not blowing smoke up your bums. Be smart, and uh- don't do drugs...

[hominid]

Thank you both saint.hate and vampyredh for your cautionary comments. This can't be emphasized enough.

[LevLiveDotCom]

I agree... Except for the "don't do drugs" part. ;)

[halomaster007]

I agree.

[monkeeeee001]

I would think that the needle and pencil method would be better, more time consuming but harder to screw up. Great Instructable regardless of potential danger, very well thought out. Thank you,

[TySoN GiLlIaM]

My first tattoo i did was on my brothers and some of my friends

[naruto the ninja13]

did you have any tattooing experice if you didnt then why did your bro let you 9or did you do it wile he sleot?

[naruto the ninja13]

eer last word is slept

[sollu]

when you use it for own tattoos then you don't get anything aids or something

[naruto the ninja13]

only if its a dirty needle (i think)

[spudling9]

I was watching history channell and these prisoners jack the freaking parts from machines and give each other tattoos.!! XD

[tom irons]

this is a nice one! upload photos of yer finished work to grimycharms.com when you got somthing cool?

[pandaboy292]

nice job. i want to make one.

[limpach]

First off great ible, as said well documented. But to those of you who question the safety of "jail tattoos", as long as YOU are not retarded about what you are doing there is nothing to really worry about. I myself have 2 different tattoos done in this manner and have not received any disease. Like chaosrob said, if it is a clean needle you won't get anything. In my case I had a friend do the tattoos, but I setup the rig. All the needles were brand new from the store, were boiled for 30 minutes (not under pressure, but would have preferd to), and then let soak in rubbing alcohol.

[salottos]

DON'T. EVER. DO THIS. If you do, HAVE FUN WITH YOUR HEPATITIS! :D

[chaosrob]

Sure, you spontaneously 'generate' something like 'hepatitis' when applying a tattoo on someone when using a clean set of needles. Can we spontaneously create a 'get rich' infection?? ;-)

[Charles IV]

Well I finally finished mine but I don't know what to tattoo...

[illdoyourdrugs]

Practice on fruit such as a grapefruit

[alexhalford]

I have little knowledge of tattooing so I will not pass judgement on the 'ethical' (for want of a better word) aspects of this device. But what I will say is that the writeup is very good and I like the mechanism. Did you consider using an inductor fed with square wave DC and a magnet fixed to a springy piece of metal to generate the linear motion? The advantages of this are that it will be much easier to replace needles etc. and it would probably be a little quieter :-) Great 'ible. AlexHalford

[nibbler125]

those things hurt....

[SomePricks]

(removed by author or community request)

[codongolev]

hey! who else knows that the first tattoo machine was made to poke holes in paper to make punch out type cards? I do!

[lil jon168]

lol u need to paten it before i do

[codongolev]

it was already patented.....