How to Make a Tattoo Gun

Cultural tattooing methods vary from bundles of bamboo needles hammered into the skin to carving the skin with a knife and rubbing powdered ink into the cuts. Today the internationally accepted method is to use a tattoo gun. It is a motorized stylus with a needle that acts like that of a sewing machine. Make your own tattoo gun in about ten minutes.

Difficulty:

Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Mechanical pencil
• Art knife or razor blade
• Thin nail or large needle
• Bailing wire or an 11-gauge guitar string
• Needle-nose pliers
• Electric toothbrush
• Duct tape
• Wire cutters
• Ink
• Orange or banana to practice on

1. Remove the eraser from a mechanical pencil and cut it in half.

2. Punch a hole all the way through the center of the eraser with a thin nail or a large needle.

3. Cut a 2 to 3-inch section of bailing wire or 11-gauge guitar string to act as the needle. Use a pair of needle-nose pliers to bend one end of the "needle" into a 90-degree angle.

4. Take an electric toothbrush and separate the brush head from the motor body. The metal shaft the brush head was attached to is now exposed.

5. Insert the straight end of the needle through the hole in the eraser. Slide it to the other end so it rests on the small, bent portion.

6. Push the hole in the eraser firmly over the exposed metal shaft of the toothbrush motor base. The bent portion of the needle is now between the eraser and the motor base. The long portion of the needle and the metal shaft of the motor base should both rise up through the hole in the eraser.

7. Separate the tip of the mechanical pencil from the pencil body. Insert the needle through the tip, sliding the tip down the needle until it rests against the eraser.

8. Tape the pencil tip to the eraser with duct tape. Align the tip with the toothbrush motor body so the needle is perfectly straight.

9. Clip the needle with a pair of wire cutters at a 45-degree angle so it is as sharp as it can be. Clip it short enough so it dips beneath the edge of the pencil tip when the motor is on.

10. Practice using your new tattoo gun by dipping the needle in ink and tattooing a piece of fruit such as an orange or banana. Get yourself accustomed to the look and feel of the instrument.

Tips & Warnings

• Do NOT use this is on a human or any other living thing! This is intended for practice only.