I hesitate to even make this post, but yesterday I used my laser to brand a my trademark onto my forearm. I’ve thought about getting a tattoo for many years, but couldn’t decide what I wanted. Since I got my laser engraver, I had thought of the possibility to use it for branding. About a year ago I did some preliminary testing and the resulting scar was very white and the line looked crisp.
I was a bit surprised that I had to slow the laser all the way down to 3% speed/100% power running in vector mode on a 30 watt machine. There wasn’t any blood! It felt “electric” when it was being engraved with a distinct tingle where the laser was burning, but no pain in the area that is has passed.
I’ve got 2 different depths I’m currently testing. It’ll be 6 weeks before I know the final results. The initial reaction has been great!
Just remember kids, don’t try this at home, I’m a professional!
Way to go!! Be sure and let us know how this turns out. I can see it now. Harley riders lined up outside of every engraving shop with a laser.
Yeah, and no hepatitis!!!
Yes, it is very sanitary as far as most diseases go. No aids, hepatitis or any of the other blood diseases, but while the risk is VERY minor, the reason doctors freeze warts rather than burn warts is there is a risk of breathing in the spores(?) which could in very rare cases cause the doctors to get warts in there lungs. Let me emphasize that this risk in my mind is microscopic, but just like many other things in the laser business, you need a good exhaust fan and should avoid breathing in the stuff your laser is burning off.
So far so good on the healing. The deep lines are a good .05″ wide as measured by a set of micrometers. The shallower line is about .025″. No signs of any infection and it has yet to drip one drop of blood in spite of the fact I worked under the bus most of yesterday.
The hardest aspect of the process is how to keep the arm steady and in focus. One detail I omitted in my prior email was the mistake I made and why I have 2 different size lines. One habit of mine is to do a test cut before I mess up the good product. I’ll use a piece of paper or tape to cover the good item, then run the laser and the material will burn rather than damage the good piece. Unfortunately, when I did that on myself, I underestimated the amount of tape I would need between my arm and the laser, so the laser burned through the tape and into my arm. At first I didn’t even feel it, then I yanked my arm out.
Today as I look at my mistake, it occurs to me that this may actually be the answer to the problem of registration. My original use of tape was to tape my arm into a jig, but not over the area I branded. This caused some skew in the image, but if the tape were placed across first, then around the jig, the skin would be held fast and true in position.
Just for the record, my arm already had some minor scares on it from natural causes, so this is an upgrade! So far the reception has been amazing! I’m a 45 year old guy which is an awkward age to get a first tattoo. Whatever you get is met with midlife crisis jokes. Having burned it with a laser so has been universally accepted as “cool”. In fact have a few people ask about doing them!
Its going to drive me crazy waiting 6 weeks to see if the shallow version will scare.
I’ve also debated trying to do a color fill version. If anyone knows about tattoos or has any ideas, I’d be curious.
This thread is interesting on an extreme and creepy level, and yet raises some real questions - If you are using a laser to cut or mark on a person, then are you working as a tattooist, or are you practicing medicine without a license? (As may be seen by others, prosecutors, etc…)
“Cool”??? No, I can’t use that word myself. Imprudent??? Perhaps… However, I don’t wish to be disrespectful, yet self-mutilation by making cuts and flesh wounds in your skin is hard to look at as “cool” or even normal.
Please, by my own admission, don’t stop making your posts about your experiences and how things work out, as I plan on reading each message with the morbid curiosity that must follow these posts. I’m amazed that none of the manufacturer reps haven’t posted that this is an inadvisable use of their products.
Since I’m only abusing my own body, the worst anyone can do is call me stupid. If I choose to do it on another person, it would appear that as long as I don’t add pigment, it would not qualify as a tattoo shop. If I add pigment, it would be a tattoo which in Georgia requires a health department license. One especially gray area is if the person presses the start button themselves.
The same could be said about traditional tattoo’s and piercings. As compared to tattoo’s and piecings, branding myself with a laser is mild.
Haha, its really not that dramatic, but that’s what makes it cool. It hurt far more the time I pieced my ear than getting branded by the laser and the pain following the ear piecing was far more than I’ve had with the branding.
I can’t wait for the next aanr show in atlanta!
You mentioned health and the use of tape above so I’ll throw in some things that popped into my mind.
Burning the tape itself could be a problem if the tattoo had lots of lines. The tape would gradually disappear or become shredded then the skin would be free to move around.
The tape glue could contaminate the skin wound. Tape intended for hospital use might reduce or eliminate this risk. However, if the tape itself is burned then it is altered chemically so might be toxic even if it was nontoxic before it was burned.
Using transparent tape might reduce tape burning. At a hospital a few weeks ago, 2 inch wide transparent tape was used to hold my IV in place. It will be difficult to find tape that is transparent to a CO2 laser but if it is thin enough then it might not absorb enough laser to burn or chemically alter the tape.
You could use a glass plate to clamp down the body part. This would have the added advantage of flattening a larger area. ZnSe (Zinc Selenide) is transparent to CO2 and is probably used to make your focusing lens. It has a yellow color.
ZnSe has a high index of refraction so reflects about 17% of the incident light from each uncoated surface. The first surface should be antireflection coated to eliminate light bouncing between the surfaces and causing a ghost image. The second surface would be antireflection coated for most jobs but since it is in contact with skin it might be better uncoated. Burning skin will likely leave a residue on the glass and repeated cleaning might just rub off the antireflection coating anyway. Transparent tape on the glass might allow residue to be peeled off instead of scrubbed off.
ZnSe is also toxic under some circumstances. Breathing in ZnSe dust is very bad. This is more of an issue for folks who grind the glass. Ordinary handling is not supposed to be risky. I don’t know what happens if you cut yourself with ZnSe and get some small fragments in the wound.
ZnSe is fairly expensive so not likely considered a disposable item.
Other IR transparent glasses and crystals are available too. Oddly enough, I think NaCl (table salt) is transparent to IR. But lenses made of salt tend to dissolve in the presence of water so they are not popular.
Hey, It’s been about six weeks, I was wandering how the laser tattoo was doing.
I believe it is still too early to tell. Everything healed up well, but its still a pink color. My test last year went to a very white color as did my natural scars, so I still believe it will fade to white.
GR8 Idea Indeed! But are the side effects??? please share the second side of coin also If possible post some pics.
So far it’s all been quite uneventful including the results.
The burned area in the skin was very similar in width to cutting acrylic. There was no blood or burning, so there wasn’t really much to get a picture of. All you would see is a shadow in the photo. The healing process was typical for a minor cut.
Right now everything has been healed up for a while, but the color is still pink. From my limited test last summer, i believe that the color will still change to white. Whenever it lightens enough to show contrast in a photo, I’ll be sure to post one. Right now, there just isn’t anything to see.
Ryan - you are doing a fairly good job of edging toward open mindedness. I grew up in a conservative and controlled environment where tattoos and anything “different” was “Imprudent”, I have learned that tattoos and different really IS cool and that life would be a boring place without art and that includes body art. Although, like anything else, it can be done in bad taste. There are a few groups of people in the world who think that shaving your facial hair is “imprudent” and should be punished by public beating, they also think its “prudent” to crash airplanes into buildings. So I guess it is all a matter of perspective?? So lets be careful about labeling Fred’s courage and innovation as anything other than brave and innovative, albeit definitely a bit risky and on the edge. I am an ex police officer and veteran of the 141st Infantry and I have learned that what I call art or “prudent”, other may not, so lets be respectful and not judge.
Fred - I will say that I admire you for your innovation and the concept is certainly very cool - to me anyway.
I will be interested in the outcome and am wondering if you have thought to take some photos to document the process. Here in Austin tats and body art are the norm rather than the exception as is wearing your hear and clothes any way you want. BE YOURSELF and love yourself for it. here in my town, you may be running on the trail next to a person with tattoos, but be careful she may be the VP or CEO of a multi million dollar publicly traded high tech company…I know, because I date these girls! The world is not what it used to be!