I'm assuming that the other user's suggestion is based on the mechanical pencil's metal body/casing making good contact with its' lead.
A "leadholder" from a drafting supply store would be ideal.
For a paint brush to work, wouldn't you have to insert the wire from the circuit into the bristle hairs which themselves would need to be thoroughly wet in order for the current to conduct?
If the brush has a metal ferrule, you just need to connect to that. You would need to wet the brush with a conductive liquid. A touch of salt in the water should do it.
Hi, this is the first Adafruit item I buy. I wanted to get my 4 year old daughter interested in making and science and the like. I bought an assembled drawdio 1.1 fun pack. Fortunately, she was happy enough just touching the two sides of the circuit and making noises. But let me be clear: THIS DOES NOT WORK AT ALL AS ADVERTISED. I tried different papers. It would only work (conduct) if I drew very very thick lines, using the pencil several (dozens) times to get a thik bit of graphite. And only for about an inch. Surely nothing a 4 year old can do, and not fun at all. Please do not start with the bits in this thread: I tried differnt paper types, the paper was not glossy, my drawdio works just fine if holding the tips without the pencil, etc. The only way I could get close (not much) to your videos is by getting the paper wet, but then it would conduct randomly, not through the drawings.
I was going to buy a carpenter's pencil but as the person on this thread stated this does not make a difference. From other threads and other sites, I gather the resistor you include is too powerful and it does not let enough current go through. But with this assembled kit it's very difficult to change that resistor.
So buyers beware: the audio is fine, but do not expect to DRAW with the drawdio. Which is a real shame.
A very disappointed father&customer