Stylus Problem

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crokett

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Joined
Dec 4, 2012
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610
Location
Mebane, North Carolina
Ok. I made a stylus for my new Kindle Fire but it wasn't working. I discovered if I hold the metal part of the stylus tip while I am using it, it works fine. The store bought one works with me just holding the plastic. If I hold my stylus down on the screen long enough without touching the tip it works. I did not use a kit to make my stylus. I used an extra tip I had, an extra 7mm tube and a clip salvaged from a slimline. My 7mm bit was not long enough for the blank. drilled part way into each end of the acrylic blank glued in a 1" piece of tube and turned between centers. Is that my problem?
 
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DurocShark

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Jul 26, 2008
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Anaheim, CA
I can't imagine why... Before the stylus kits came onto the market, I was butchering cheap Chinese styluses to take the tips and put into custom barrels. Never had a problem.

Maybe the tip you used just is terrible?
 

BKind2Anmls

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Joined
May 28, 2008
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138
Location
Cassatt, SC, 29032
I did the same thing you did the first time I made a stylus. The tip only works through galvanic response of fingers "touching" metal (through the wood, of course).
 

Penultimate

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Aug 22, 2010
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Bartlett, IL 60103
You need enough "material" to change the capacitance of the screen. That's why your stylus works when you touch the metal part of the tip. Your body is now part of the circuit. You need either enough metal in your stylus to change the screen capacitance or you need a conductive path between the stylus and your body.

I made a stylus using conductive fabric with an aluminum nib section and a wooden body. There is enough Al in the section that I can hold the wooden body and still write notes on my iPad. I then made an all wood one with a brass tube and a short nib and I doesn't work as reliably.
 

TimS124

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Joined
Apr 11, 2012
Messages
735
Location
Asheville, NC
I've made styluses out of antler tines that are too curved for the tube to run more than an inch or so…they work fine as long as your fingers are on the antler that has the tube running through it. If you hold the tip of the tine, you're too far away from the tube and it won't work.

There's no need to actually touch metal, but you do need to make contact right over the tube that connects to the tip or your won't create sufficient capacitive action.

I've used wood, acrylic, Tru Stone, antler, and probably at least one or two other things with fine results.

One caveat - I test my styluses on iPads and iPhones. The Kindle might be pickier about what it expects.
 
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