How to Make an Improvised Tattoo Machine

Making your own tattoo gun is possible, but it's not recommended for use on your own or another person's body. Users are prone to scarring and infections. Instead of using the implement to tattoo yourself or others, use it to practice the art on inanimate objects like bananas or potatoes; then become an apprentice at a local tattoo parlor to learn about sterilization and professional tattoo equipment. Doing so means no scars, no infections and a possible career in body art. To hone your skills on a fruit or vegetable using an improvised implement isn't a bad idea, and making your own tattoo gun is pretty easy.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Bic mechanical pencil
• Razor blade
• Small screw
• 11-gauge guitar string
• Needle-nose pliers
• Crest Spinbrush Pro toothbrush
• Drop of oil
• Duct tape
• Tattoo ink

Make Your Own Tattoo Gun

1. Pull the eraser from a Bic mechanical pencil and cut the eraser in half with a razor blade. You want to cut it width-wise, not length-wise.

2. Use a small screw to drill a hole through the center of the halved eraser; then cut a 2- to 3-inch piece of guitar string with needle-nose pliers and thread the string through the eraser hole.

3. Bend the very end of the guitar string at a 90-degree angle so that the eraser won't slide off the guitar string but will rest against the bent end.

4. Twist off the head of the battery-powered toothbrush and push the eraser/guitar string onto the revealed metal shaft of the toothbrush. You want the bent end of the guitar string to hit the shaft and the long end of the guitar string to stick out (to eventually become the "needle" of the tattoo gun). You may want to add a drop of oil around the eraser, which will slide up and down the toothbrush's shaft when the toothbrush is turned on.

5. 
    
   Bic mechanical pencils

   Twist off the plastic head of the mechanical pencil and thread the guitar string through it as you would a piece of lead. The pencil head should now be sitting on top of the toothbrush. Center it and hold it there securely with duct tape.

6. Cut the guitar string at an angle (to make it as sharp as possible) close to the top of the pencil tip, again like you would a piece of lead when wishing to write. Cut it low enough that the string is pulled below the pencil tip when the toothbrush is turned on, then pushed back out.

7. To tattoo an inanimate object, dip the "needle" (the clipped guitar string) into tattoo ink, turn on the toothbrush and gently press the "gun" against the object. Continually dip the needle into the ink as you write or draw on the object.

Resources

• Crest Spinbrush Pro
• Sponge Bob mechanical pencil