Do, Dare Or Don’t? Getting Inked By A 3D Printer – Hackaday

This unusual tattoo hack by [Emily The Engineer] is not for the weak of heart, but let’s be frank: we kind of know her for that. And she gives out a warning, albeit at a good 10 minutes in, to not do this at home. What she’s about to do takes creativity and tech obsession to the next level: to transform a 3D printer into a functional tattoo machine. Therefore, [Emily] ingeniously modified one of her standard 3D printers to operate two-dimensionally, swapped its plastic extruder for a tattoo gun, and, yes, even managed to persuade a willing participant to try it out.The entire process can be seen in [Emily]’s video below, which humorously yet meticulously documents the journey from Sharpie test runs to actually inking skin. Aside from a lot of tongue-in-cheek trial and error, this project requires a sheer amount of problem-solving. [Emily] employs firmware edits to bypass safety checks, and clever hardware adaptations to ensure smooth transitions between strokes. One impressive upgrade is the emergency solenoid system, a literal panic button to stop the machine mid-tattoo in case of trouble—a critical addition for something with needles involved!This hack sits on the edge of DIY body modification, raising eyebrows and technical questions alike. If you missed the warning and are now frantically searching for tattoo removal options, know we’ve covered some (but you might be rightfully scared of automating that, too, at this point). If you haven’t lifted a finger while reading this, just do the safe thing: watch [Emily]’s video, and tinker about the subsequent purposes this discovery creates for 3D printing or tattoo art.At least there is is an option to run a spelling/grammar checker or run in through some fancy AI before making it permanent.One doesn’t want any ragrets, after all.Or “I Love Marty” instead of Marcy in an episode of Married With Children.It’s from ScottyPhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITTYgqrIRzIPairing this with a 3d scanner, then having it contour around, could be interesting.Reminded me of the tattooing of the royal crest in the Jupiter Ascending movie. The equipment used was more steampunk.I can see it now, alongside the photobooth at parties and wedding receptions, seaside resorts and Stag/Hen parties.Couple it with a copy of that incredibly fake ‘Chinese alphabet’ and this time next year Rodney…It’s a funny project as it is right now. After all, why not? This is where it starts, not where it has to end. People pay a lot of money for tattoo’s as artists charge by the hour and rates can be well over 100 euro’s an hour, depending on the artist. I don’t have any but I have friends who paid many many thousands of euro’s on tattoo’s. Imagine being able to save 90% of the costs. The artist can load in the image, slice it, set everything up, mount the machine and 30 minutes later you walk out with your perfect pickle rick tattoo saying something like “Boom! Big reveal: I’m a pickle!”.Up Next: Turning a 6 Axis CNC mill into a tattooing machine!Up Next: Turning a 6 Axis CNC mill into an inky execution botTheres a reason CNCs have housings. Theres a reason why factories cage robot arms. Humans are frail weak little creatures that smoosh as easily as a bug.Humans are squishy. Tattoo artists dont just wave a machine around. They deal with that squishy. Skin must be held tought or you end up with wobbly lines of varying depth which results in inconsistent ink retention.Im not saying robotic tattooing isnt possible, just that its not nearly as straightforward as this comment section implies.meat tenderizerClick bait images. Isn’t it laser the appropriate tool to leave marks?Laser is used to threaten the left eye.This is what the belt sander was invented for.there is a thing called Z-probing the bed and building a height map
marlin has UBL for that
might be useful here to adjust the tattoo surface…Next phase: mount upside-down on a toilet seat.I’m gonna get a tattoo of a butt, with a butt shaped tattoo on it…
And I’m gonna get it right on my butt.
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Source: https://hackaday.com/2025/02/02/do-dare-or-dont-getting-inked-by-a-3d-printer/