Pencil sharpener

[Bibliophile 13]

Lots of good pencils on the market, but you have to know where to look.

Dixon Ticonderoga are okay, and you can find them everywhere, even at Walmart.
General pencils are excellent, and I get them at craft stores like Hobby Lobby or Michael's. I like the black ones especially.
The Blackwing pencils are just amazing. You can even advance the erasers, which I find helpful.

I tend to break the tips off of mechanical pencils, and even off of regular pencils that I sharpen in a normal sharpener. I much prefer the pencil sharpeners that make shavings. I get a steeper angle and thus a stronger tip. I keep a pencil sharpener in a little case on my bench with some of my other small tools. I think I got it for five bucks at a hobby shop, and I use it all the time.

[AHill]

Here's how the pros do it:

https://vimeo.com/60718161

Note in the credits that Roy Underhill had a part in the production.

John

The guy talks for over 5 minutes before he even starts the process!  That's the same guy (David Rees) who sells hand-sharpened pencils with a small book, "How to Sharpen Pencils".  Not my preferred way to sharpen pencils.

[Mike Brady]

That video completely sharpening-shamed me.
  Every sharpening thread should conclude with it. 

Nice one, Roy!

[elinourrumming]

Mike and Jim, those are great old sharpeners!

On a related note, what are your favourite pencils?  Lee Valley used to sell house branded ones that I found nice but I can't seem to find them online now.

Ooo – I just found & fell in love with "Palomino Blackwing Pencils" (they're a bit softer than standard No. 2s, so you get a darker line w/out pushing hard)

[Arlin Eastman]

Back in the old drafting days I was taught and sharpened my led with 220 sandpaper to put a point on it but to actually sharpen them I found this one and it has a double grind mechanism in it like the old ones.
I also mount mine by the entry door so my wife can step out and use it to if she does not have me do so.


https://www.walmart.com/ip/X-ACTO-Model-...e/14922632

It works great and does not over feed if you do not put hard on it.

I now think this is the third pencil post and I like it but funny to.

[Mike Brady]

Looks like Xacto "acquired" Boston's designs for their manual sharpener.  There were many variations on the basic principal of using a helical cutter (Single or dual).  Most of us can probably remember going to that location in the classroom where the sharpener was screwed to the wall or door casing, and grinding points on a fistfull of No. 2's.  

I just never acquired a liking for the electric sharpeners, which could make a golf pencil out of a new Ticonderoga in less than ten seconds. I also never bit off the erasers the way some kids did.  It still kind of grosses me out thinking about that.

[Admiral]

Actually, the newer electric ones have a stop built in, in some way, that stops the sharpening once the tip is sharp. That's one of the things I like about the one I have.

[EricU]

I still have a lead sharpener from my drafting days.  Drafting mechanical pencils were much nicer than what usually passes as a mechanical pencil nowadays.  Have to admit, when I use a pencil, it's usually a mechanical pencil.

[JSpill]

I haven't had a good sharp pencil since I taught 5th. grade back in the seventies. They were sharp because of the manual sharpener. Where can I get a decent manual pencil sharpener? The school I taught at has been boarded up for twenty years. I bet those good sharpeners are still mounted on the sides of cabinets in each classroom.

[Arlin Eastman]

I haven't had a good sharp pencil since I taught 5th. grade back in the seventies. They were sharp because of the manual sharpener. Where can I get a decent manual pencil sharpener? The school I taught at has been boarded up for twenty years. I bet those good sharpeners are still mounted on the sides of cabinets in each classroom.

I have a link in my post #55 above to a very good one.