http://www.instructables.com/id/Laser-Tattoo/
Just found this instructable and I’m a bit horrified at this guys stupidity. I’m suprised that he hasn’t seriously damaged himself with the carriage, he mentions 1cm clearance… not much area to move in. The fact that he accidentally burnt a gash in his arm kind of shows the dangers. The worst thing is that when trying to decide on the laser settings, the guy chose a high setting and worked his way down…
Yeh the summary says it all:
Remove safety precautions
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…
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Safety!
OMG what a fuckin idiot. Ditto instructables.com. That shit should be removed before some idiot takes a limb off.
I’m trying to refrain from saying that he deserves to have an accident doing what he’s doing …
He deserves to have an accident doing what he’s doing.
:o
I don’t know what wavelength the used laser-light has, but assuming that it is below ~125nm, It is not ionizing and therefore not causing cancer.
What he does is simply burning his skin. Remember when you were a child and burnt your hand using a magnifying glass and sunlight? that was more dangerous.
Of course, what he does is grossly negligent and I wouldn’t mind if there would be an accident and it would burn a bigger hole in his hand.
But by paying this idiot so much attention, some poeple could have the desire to become as “famous” as he is now and imitate it.
It’s the same with clothing. One wants to be a bit individualistic, he gets attention, the other copy it… [rolleyes-smiley!]
I think the real danger would be from the carriage mangling his hand in the mechanics.
I can’t say I ever had the inclination as a child to burn my skin with a magnifying glass… that would be stupid. Admittedly I would quite like to get some branding done at some point, but I’d rather get somebody to do this professionally or at least use some equipment that doesn’t have the potential to rip my hand off.
Surely Instructables have a duty not to publish things that are so dangerous? I may have a go at making a “How to cut your finger nails with a hydraulic log splitter” instructable and see if it gets published.
I wonder if the institute that owns the laser cutter know what he’s being doing with it, I could put it to much better use!
I’ve seen a lot of people treating their bodies much more poorly. They’re called smokers…
Does it matter if someone wants to do something stupid with a laser? Ever heard of scarification? What about piercing?
And who really advocates censoring stupid things to subject yourself to on the Internet? People should be able to make informed decisions about things themselves.
Sorry for the rant… 
Scarification and piercing are usually carried out by a trained professional, sticking your hand in a laser engraver is just plain stupid, no getting round it. There’s nothing to say that somebody might see it and copy it. Doing something stupid is one thing, putting up instructions on how to do it makes it look like a safe thing to do.
And yeh, smoking is prolly more dangerous, but it tastes like steak and gravy
I’ve seen a lot of people treating their bodies much more poorly. They’re called smokers…
Typical uninformed non-smoker entirely missing the point - Laser tattooing is not addictive, so you actually have a choice. Smoking does not afford you that luxury. That’s why smoking is evil and laser tattooing yourself (edit) in this fashion(/edit) is just stupid.
Besides, don’t you drive a car? Use plastics? Eat food grown with fertilisers? They’re far greater pollutants, and they don’t just do it to you, they get everyone. Yes, people do stupid things. They usually do them because someone else is doing it and that makes them think it’s not stupid.
Does it matter if someone wants to do something stupid with a laser?
No. does it matter if they advertise it loudly and it convinces someone else to do it? Possibly.
Ever heard of scarification? What about piercing?
I have a little of both, all done by qualified professionals in a professional environment using pro equipment specifically designed for the purpose, and tried-and-tested methods. Nothing like this at all.
And who really advocates censoring stupid things to subject yourself to on the Internet? People should be able to make informed decisions about things themselves.
Yes - informed decisions! INFORMED. That’s the important part, because people are morons 
Do you see anything on that instructable article that goes into the depths of the research the person did to ensure that this was safe? Does it talk about what kind of laser cutter is and is not safe, and how to ensure they are more safe? Does it talk about testing on other materials first? etc etc etc… The only information there is how to do it, and that is not the whole story. One of the worst things about it, is that the article does not encourage making informed decisions based on common sense like what you’re talking about. If anything it encourages the opposite.
few comments to highlight exactly what I’m saying:
Dumb kid gets dumber:
my first thought of this article was ‘what a pillock’, but as i read on it dawned on me that that is a really cool idea. well done lad(s)
james waples, 14
Author is a tool:
Oh man, I never expected anyone to actually do this. I guess the reason I was a bit vague on the settings was because I figured anyone with access to a laser cutter would know their own machine much better than I would. If someone does not know what settings to use for their machine, than they should definitely not be doing this.
What? Why the hell did you instruct the world on how to do it then? What did you think was going to happen? What a spanner.
Note this is not a disclaimer in the instructions, this is something he posted as an afterthought, a response to someone else discussing safe power levels.
Hell, just look at the procedure
Get a laser cutter
Disable it’s safety features which are designed to prevent you from doing this because it’s dangerous
Test it on your own skin first. Start at 100% power and work your way down.
Position and go.
Use a cream if you like.
Oh since I haven’t dissed this part yet… Step 5 shows that this fool has no idea about the risk of infection, and the fact that he used aloe cream shows that he has no idea what he’s doing. Pro’s use bepanthen, not just to make it feel all better, but to make it heal right.
It is really sad that this guy couldn`t think of something cooler to do with his laser. ??? It is such a versatile machine if you have some brain. But, lot of people have money and no brain, so they do things like this. Even engraving a pancake makes much more sense.
Anyway, body is only thing we truly own, and I respect peoples choice to do what ever they want with it, whether its tattoo, piercing or body modification.
That wouldn’t work, the pancake would get cold while you etched it. They have to be warm so the cream and jam melts and goes all gooey and yum. Then again, maybe you could use a really hot wide laser to actually cook the thing on the cutter, then change focus and etch the picture on, and then give it a flash of the wide laser to warm it up again real quick.
More importantly…Why the spoon? The guy has a fricken laser cutter! Why didn’t he dice them into neat bite sized chunks. With the jam and cream inbetween. It’d be like no-mess pancake micro sandwiches.
And hell, if you etched your own plate, then you’d know the exact dimensions, and then you could place the plate on the cutter and re-run the program and it’d etch the food scraps right off it! No more dishwashing!
Now that’s technology at work. MMmmm. pancakes.
Mmmmm pancakes…
Mmmmm crispy lasered human with hot sauce…
Mmmmm pancakes…
That’s not a pancake though…
This is a pancake…
What a lot of crêpes! That’s not a pancake!
I conclude that Brits and Serbs make similar looking pancake but Ausies dont. I dont know where from is pancake I posted but it didn`t look like a pancake to me even title said it is.
Does anybody of us here know how to make pancake or we are just experts in eating it? Well, I don`t. :-[
No, there’s difference…
Here’s what wikipedia says.
English pancakes have three key ingredients: plain flour, eggs, and milk. The batter is quite runny and forms a thin layer on the bottom of the frying pan when the pan is tilted. It may form some bubbles during cooking, which results in a pale pancake with dark spots where the bubbles were, but the pancake does not rise. These pancakes may be eaten as a sweet dessert with the traditional topping of lemon juice and sugar, drizzled with golden syrup, or wrapped around savory stuffings and eaten as a main course. Made from a similar recipe but baked instead of fried is Yorkshire pudding this batter rises because the air beaten into the batter expands, without the need for baking powder, the result is eaten as part of the traditional roast beef dinner . English pancakes are similar to French crêpes, and Italian crespelle, but are not “lacy” in appearance. English pancakes can be stuffed after cooking with a wide variety of sweet or savory fillings. Both versions can be sweetened after cooking by pouring on syrup or sprinkling with sugar.
French crêpes, popular in France, Canada, and Brazil (where they may be called pancakes or crêpes) are made from flour, milk, and eggs. They are thin and are usually served with a large amount of sweet or savory filling, ranging from fruit and/or ice cream, to seafood (in Brazil, most usually ground meat).
English pancakes are similar to French crêpes, but are not “lacy” in appearance.
meaning “we copied the crêpes recipe from the French, but couldn’t get it right so we just called it pancakes”.
What next… shall we debate the differences between jellies, jams and conserves? 
What next… shall we debate the differences between jellies, jams and conserves?
It is very serious topic and I think deserves separate thread.
