Good Pencil Sharpeners?

[sidpost]

I am looking at getting some good 'old school' pencils and obviously want something other than a pocketknife to sharpen them. I initially was looking at the Alvin Brass Bullet and started wondering what users on this site might recommend.

I'm not looking for a 2mm holder or other styles of sharpeners. I'm not looking for any kind of specialty 'art' pencil sharpener either. Basically, I'm looking at pencils like you would see at any grade school. For lead hardness, I'm interested in HB and 2B mainly but, might want to try softer leads and possibly some harder ones too.

TIA,

Sid

[amk]

My favourite is the KUM Automatic Long Point sharpener, which has two sharpeners in one - one to take the wood off, and the next to sharpen the point. https://www.cultpens.com/i/q/KM08489/kum-automatic-long-point-sharpener-as2

 

It also catches the shavings so you don't have to sharpen over the waste paper bin. Neat.

[Donald2]

I highly recommend the KUM, Steadtler and M+R. They are all excellent sharpeners that are made in Germany.

[JakobS]

The best sharpener I have found for the desk is the Classroom Friendly pencil sharpener. You will get a very sharp point that will last awhile with many quality HB grade pencils, and more sharpenings in a single pencil from this sharpener than most others because it sharpens the point from the tip of the dulled lead, thus a newly sharpened pen will be just as long as it would be unsharpened.

 

Hand held sharpeners have a great variety of choices, I find the Kum Long Point to be quite decent, creating a sharper point, not as great as the Classroom Friendly, but very useable on the go.

 

I have the double holed M+R which though beautifully made, is underwhelming in the point it makes for regular pencils, I bought it to sharpen a few jumbo pencils I have. Their single hole varieties are quite popular though.

 

Kum also makes the Masterpiece which is pretty well regarded, it makes a longer point than their Automatic Long Point Sharpener, but sharpens with the same two step process, its a little pricey, but durable. The point would be as long as the Classroom Friendly it appears, though a bit less refined because of being hand sharpened.

 

Dux would be the other brand I would recommend, they have a neat adjustable sharpener that can provide three different points depending on the twist of a dial.

Edited February 3, 2018 by JakobS

[inotrym]

+1 for the Classroom Friendly. The same sharpener is available under different names like Helix A5, Deli, etc and it's hands down the best sharpener, desktop or handheld, that I have ever used. The point is long and sharp but the very tip is still flat, which means you get nice crisp lines and not that annoying point breakage at the first letter with the accompanying fuzzy graphite lines. The auto-stop mechanism prevents oversharpening, so you can sharpen as often as you want without feeling that you are wasting your pencil. The only downside is that it leaves dent marks on your pencil's body at the point where it grips it. I've heard that people wrap paper around their pencils when sharpening to avoid that, but haven't tried it myself. I would like to try a sugru/hot glue kind of hack, but haven't had the time.

 

I promise you won't regret getting this sharpener. It's money well spent.

[sidpost]

The KUM Masterpiece looks really nice! Thanks for 'pointing' that one out!

 

The DUX look interesting and appear to be similar to Alvin and some other brands. Are these 'knock-offs' of the DUX sharpeners? Who are the better shops to buy DUX from? My web searches were either a miss or turned up some really expensive (>$50) options.

 

The Classroom Friendly looks like a really good choice but, right now I'm wanting something to put in a pocket or backpack. If I get a desk sharpener, this looks like a really good choice and is priced well at <$20.

Edited February 3, 2018 by sidpost

[JakobS]

The KUM Masterpiece looks really nice! Thanks for 'pointing' that one out!

 

The DUX look interesting and appear to be similar to Alvin and some other brands. Are these 'knock-offs' of the DUX sharpeners? Who are the better shops to buy DUX from? My web searches were either a miss or turned up some really expensive (>$50) options.

 

The Classroom Friendly looks like a really good choice but, right now I'm wanting something to put in a pocket or backpack. If I get a desk sharpener, this looks like a really good choice and is priced well at <$20.

Alvin does look like it is under the DUX brand, the bullet sharpeners are a pretty popular design across brands, the ones from M+R are probably the most highly considered of the bunch, especially the Castor or Pollux.

 

My favorite pencil shop is CW Pencils, they have a great variety of pencils, sharpeners, erasers, and other accessories, you can find some of the pencils in bulk cheaper elsewhere, but I find them pretty competitive on pricing for sharpeners and accessories.

 

Dux does appear not to be sold in as wide variety as they used to be a few years ago though.

[Zookie]

I really like the Bostich Twist and Sharp. I also have a KUM Elipse that I use quite often.

Both are very good sharpeners.

[Flaxmoore]

I’m in line for the classic Boston crank style. What can I say, I’m sentimental.

[sidpost]

My favorite pencil shop is CW Pencils, they have a great variety of pencils, sharpeners, erasers, and other accessories, you can find some of the pencils in bulk cheaper elsewhere, but I find them pretty competitive on pricing for sharpeners and accessories.

 

Pencils.com is where I'm finding the ones that appeal to me most. Their variety and the prices on the pencils I'm interested in is pretty good and the sharpeners are even better. CW Pencils is pretty good too but, it is a bit more limited and expensive in the items I'm looking at right now.

 

I did score some Tombow Mono pencils on Ebay though. Amazon has been a waste of time for the most part in my recent quest and a bit surprising as I have found a bunch of nice mechanical pencils there shipped out of Japan with good pricing and variety.

[Honeybadgers]

If you can find one for under $50, an antique "US Automatic Pencil Sharpener" is genuinely one of the most fabulously effective, good looking, and satisfying pencil sharpeners ever. I have one that belonged to my great grandmother, I am currently french polishing a gorgeous piece of buckeye burl to make into a base for it, it holds the pencil and you turn a crank, which has three rotating blades which pass across the pencil point, shaving off a sliver, the tip of the blade hits a gear at the top that holds the pencil, rotating it and the pencil, ready for the next slice.

 

it NEVER breaks the lead, gives me a perfect point, and is so, so satisfying. it's also still razor sharp after nearly a century!

[user01]

I would recommend a vintage electric Panasonic pencil sharpener like the Model KP-110. You can find them on the internet for a very good price.

The hand cranked ones like that Classroom friendly or a Mitsubishi KH-20 should be a good choice too. Vintage hand cranked pencil sharpeners can fall it the category "hit or miss" in my experience.

[milkb0at]

Here's a nice list of pencil sharpeners, ordered by point sharpness (angle). And here's a nice review of a load of single-hole portable sharpeners.

 

I've been happy with my KUM Automatic Long Point but I haven't tried enough of the others to give a sensible recommendation. If you don't need the sharpener to collect the shavings then I'd try a Dux brass single hole or the KUM Masterpiece if you'd like something really pointy.

[sidpost]

Here's a nice list of pencil sharpeners, ordered by point sharpness (angle). And here's a nice review of a load of single-hole portable sharpeners.

 

Thanks Milkboat! Those two links are helpful for comparing everything.

[jmnav]

For a desktop one, my favorite by far is the one from "El Casco". I was gifted mine a lot of years ago, and it seems its price has risen considerably, but maybe you can find second hand.