New School Tattoo Pioneer Jesse Smith visits FK Irons HQ

Since 2007, FK Irons has been driven to produce quality, consistent products that help artists focus on what’s important - the craft. So, at times we like to host some of our ProTeam artists here at FK Irons Headquarters. Recently we had New-school pioneer Jesse Smith come to share his 23-year journey within the industry, and how he implements his creativity behind every piece. In 1998, Smith was in the military and had a side gig drawing characters at Busch Gardens. There he met multiple artists, and eventually found himself befriending a tattoo artist, who was at the time working out of his own home. Smith’s friend taught him how to make his own ‘ghetto gun,’ which consists of a toothbrush, a ballpoint pen and a sewing needle. To make it work, Smith would glue the needle onto the tip of the pen, and use a Walkman motor to power it. “The first machine I built,” he said, “ it would take seven passes to make one clean line.” Before Smith started tattooing, he lived in Heidelberg, Germany, known for its l