We are fully aware that tattoos were initially associated with criminals. Thanks to the realizations of modern society, tattoo designs nowadays are as normal as pierced ears.
But back to that early association of tattoos to gangs and criminals, it somehow follows that tattooing is quite a normal routine done inside prison cells. There, in the absence of appropriate materials and sterilizing tools, a prison tattoo machine (tattoo gun) has been created. The homemade version of the real deal accomplishes the same goal, minus the assurance that the procedure is safe and clean. But who worries those little sanitary concerns in prison anyway?
In prison or from the comfort of your own home, if you want to make an impromptu tattoo machine, you need these materials:
- 1 bic pen
- electrical tape
- guitar string or stiff wire
- tooth brush
- battery-operated motor
- pencil eraser
The bic pen is the tube that will house the needle, which is the guitar string or the stiff wire, whichever is available. You need to cut at least 5 inches off the guitar string to make the needle. A battery-operated motor (the small one) can come from a vehicle toy or a walkman.
The procedure
- Remove the ink tube of the bic pen and get the ball out.
- Insert the needle into the pen. Voila! Your needle is ready.
- Prepare the toothbrush by removing the bristles. You can cut the head off in order to hasten the process. Heat it up in the middle using a lighter to bend the toothbrush to a 90-degree angle.
- Attach the pen to the toothbrush with an electric tape.
- Attach a pencil eraser to the center of the motor shaft.
- Stick the bent end of the guitar string into the eraser.
- Now to make the thing work, you need a power source. This requires some know-how on electricity. For example, you can connect batteries to a switch that powers the motor to get that thing running.
You could then use a cheap deodorant and an ink pen for your tattoo. Go try it yourself. Or better yet, try it on a banana for testing, like this guy.
If you’re going to design your own tattoo gun, go for one of these gun tattoo designs.
i guess..but how do you take out the motor?
November 4th, 2008 at 3:35 pmyou break the shit open and find the motor. dont be a bitch. why the deodarant though?
December 4th, 2008 at 7:31 pmYou need the deoderant to lub the skin.
Don’t be a bitch, get a tat and you’ll know.
December 10th, 2008 at 10:30 pmhey i made one just now how do u make tha ink stay on thfe needle
March 5th, 2009 at 1:35 amI don’t get how to do the power source part
March 29th, 2009 at 9:34 pmi am 13 years old and trying to make a simple tatto machine
April 16th, 2009 at 8:45 pmim havin some trouble getting my motor/motors to work reliably, i have 3 that are doin the same thing. they dont seem to spin every time a lot of the time they just hum. i havent even put the gun together yet i wanted to make sure everything worked first. what could i be doin wrong? im guessing its the power supply im using theres no adjustable voltages on it. it says on it “pri:240v~50hz” and “sec:9v~300ma 2.7va” too much?
April 16th, 2009 at 11:09 pmWat i want 2 learn is how to make a tattoo machine so i can learn how to tattoo and get a degree on how to tattoo and to be the best at tatooing and become d best and succed in my life i want 2 get a job at a tattoo parlor so i can finally be somebody.
April 17th, 2009 at 10:26 amWe sell Tattoo guns from China. Our company,Yingwei Electronic Ltd.is one of the biggest tattoo equipment manufacturing. Our company specializes in producing and selling tattoo machines, needles, tips, grips, power supplies, etc.
May 11th, 2009 at 5:09 amok i put the thing together just as instructed right but whne i jab the guitar string into the earser the motor doesnt spin at all fro some reason any tips?
June 26th, 2009 at 9:34 pmi have made the gun and everything works fine but the ink wont stay in the skin what have i done wrong and what can i do to fix it.
July 8th, 2009 at 3:09 pm