![\"ego](\"https:\/\/www.autodesk.com\/products\/fusion-360\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/newbox-e1555967363861.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
British illustrator-turned-tattoo artist Richard \u201cBez\u201d Beston had designed stunning and award winning tattoos for international customers for more than 10-years when his thoughts switched to engineering. He realized he could design a better machine than the one he was holding. The incumbent machines were heavy, noisy and the constant vibration of the motor made his wrist ache, a common problem for tattoo artists. He also had strong ideas about how several features of the machine\u2019s design could be improved.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Luckily, he found Autodesk Fusion 360<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Already familiar with the Autodesk brand from his former career as a video games illustrator, as a microbusiness Bez qualified for two free licences of Fusion 360, and began to self-train using YouTube videos<\/a> and online tutorials<\/a>. \u201cI tend to smash buttons until it does what I want it to \u2013 call it perseverance,\u201d he half-jokes.\u00a0 He found that Fusion 360 is quite simple and intuitive to learn for a beginner with a designer\u2019s background. The alternative was a competitor\u2019s full price product for about \u00a39,000. \u201cWe had no money so this was not really an option,\u201d he adds. \u201cFusion is ideal for a start-up business.\u00a0 It\u2019s been brilliant for us in terms of accessibility, capability and it is intuitive to learn.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Through trial, error, and that same perseverance, Bez first developed the prototype then final production designs for a new line of lightweight, quiet, and accurate machines under the \u201cEGO\u201d brand. That was four years ago: fast forward to today. Now there are three models \u2013 EGO Vertex, V2 and the new pen-like Switch.\u00a0 They have taken the global tattoo market by storm, selling well over 3,000 products a year. There is a growing order book to countries including China, Germany, France, the UK, and soon to crack one of the biggest global markets, India. Customers find the lighter weight and low noise a huge benefit in a job that requires hours of patient drawing and small, repetitive wrist movements.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Key to EGO\u2019s popularity is a more fluid, quieter needle mechanism that drives the needle into the skin. It has more adjustment to suit the different styles of tattooing that artists prefer.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Firstly, Bez redesigned the mechanism from a coil system on the older, heavier machines to a rotary system, using customized lubrication-free bearings by igus \u2013 another Autodesk customer. The lighter, lubrication-free standard bearings damp the needle mechanism in the early Vertex models.\u00a0 The later V2 model uses a new linear needle motion, converting rotary motion to a linear drive using rails. This produces more accurate puncturing and has removed the side-to-side vibration that other machines often produce.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Bez also devised the proprietary \u201cpower triangle system\u201d built into the EGO. This is a rubber damping system based loosely on a car suspension\u2019s rubber bushing. \u201cColour coded, each rubber insert produces a different grade of feel to fine-tune the tattooing effect,\u201d he says. \u201cAt one extreme the needle pushes into the skin and it takes longer to come out. Turning the damper around gives you a softer hit but quicker retraction, for a different tattooing effect.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A combination of the igus plastic bearings, a more fluid linear action, lighter weight, smaller size and the innovative rubber molded grip \u2013 also designed by Bez \u2013 makes a product that consistently reduces wrist strain, vibration and noise.\u00a0 This allows artists to work on customers for hours with no strain and less noise. Some of the igus parts are custom-made to Bez\u2019s design. \u201cWe wanted zero maintenance for our machines so the igus plastic bearings were essential and they have custom-made them to my design,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Fusion 360 has been \u201cbrilliant\u201d as an accessible tool that does exactly what Bez wanted. \u201cI could not have designed these machines and got this growing market without Fusion,\u201d he says. Objectively, there have been some niggles and its not 100% perfect, he says, but he admits that with no formal training the software could not have been better to work with for developing these products.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n And tattoo machines are only the beginning for the artist-cum-engineer.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Bez\u2019s manufacturing operation \u2013 currently a workshop above his 12-booth tattoo studio in central Sunderland, UK \u2013 moves to a larger facility in three weeks. The building was selected to accommodate phase one of his grand plan, a \u201ccreative hive\u201d to bring makers and engineers back to Sunderland and the North East of England. Amateur or professional designers and engineers can book time, design and make prototype products using tools like desktop 3D printers, simple lathes and bench-top tools \u2013 using Fusion 360 to create their dreams.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Bez\u2019s first new product is a prosthetic device to support the back, assisting people with back pain and, potentially, multiple sclerosis. \u201cWe want to create a space that inventors and \u201cimagineers\u201d can come and design, experiment and make stuff. This is what I did and my products sell, so others can do it too. The North East is a creative region and we now have the digital tools to spark a mini-manufacturing revolution here.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n And since an article in UK national newspaper The Times, Bez has been given a room to coach designers at the Sunderland Council Software Centre.<\/p>\n And it\u2019s all thanks to a creative mind, hard work and Autodesk Fusion 360.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Try Fusion 360 for free today.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n For more about Bez, the EGO machine and TripleSix Studios, visit:<\/em> https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=1xhFmxgJKJY&t=58s<\/a><\/p>\n For more information about Autodesk Fusion 360, visit:<\/em> https:\/\/www.autodesk.com\/products\/fusion-360\/overview<\/a><\/p>\n![\"prototype\"](\"https:\/\/www.autodesk.com\/products\/fusion-360\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/ideas.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n
Making the point: engineering a better needle mechanism<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.autodesk.com\/products\/fusion-360\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/renderings-1024x666.jpg\")
<\/p>\nFusion 360 for the grassroots inventor<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.autodesk.com\/products\/fusion-360\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Downloadfreetrial-3.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n