Home Forums Explore Media Colored Pencil Colored Pencil Library Sharpener reviewsrecommendations – June 2015 MOST RECENT

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  • #993079
    ocmd123
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        Okay, folks. It has been quite some time since we’ve had a comprehensive sharpener thread happen, so let’s do one.

        Some information that would be useful:

        -What kind of sharpener do you use?
        -Is it hand held, battery, or plug in?
        -Are you using it with a specific brand of pencil, or are you using it with different brands?
        -What do you like about it? Or, if you’re wishing someone would gift you with a new sharpener, what don’t you like about it?

        GO!

        ELAINE~ Moderator-Colored Pencil Forum ~ [FONT=Times New Roman]New to the forum? Visit the Welcome Thread ~ [FONT=Times New Roman]New to CP? Check out the CP Libray Index for information about about pencils, paper, sharpeners.[FONT=Times New Roman]
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        #1226669
        Crabby2
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            I have a Carl Angel-5 and it’s wonderful. It’s a handcrank type but it doesn’t have to be attached to anything. I put it anywhere and just hold it when using it. It has helical blade, the best supposedly. Long, sharp points. Use pablos, FC polychromos, and Luminance. Prisma occasionally break off when way off center.

            When a prisma tip gets stuck it’s easy to remove. I can also wipe off the blade if needed. And it costs about $20 US. (I also have several handheld and a Boston electric for sharpened new pencils.) But I don’t know how I’d live.without this.

            Only con is it comes without instructions. But it’s very simple and we’ll made so it’s easy to figure out by just fiddling with it…

            CARL ANGEL-5 IS THE BEST!!

            Diane
            Different Strokes for Different Folks....

            #1226667
            J Miller
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                CARL ANGEL-5 IS THE BEST!!

                I would agree with that. It’s also great because you can take it with you anywhere and get a great point. I like going camping and bringing my pencils along and the Carl is perfect for that. I have a couple Bostich electric ones, but they have auto-shutoff and never can get a super sharp point. Is that a new law or something that they have to have auto shutoff? I haven’t been able to find one without it after my old Boston finally broke.

                Jim

                #1226670
                Jmurman
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                    I just ordered this:

                    I’ll post a review when it comes in on Saturday. Love Amazons fast delivery.

                    I post some of my photography on my blog

                    #1226662
                    brissie
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                        I use an electric Ledah it makes a great point and isn’t auto shut off I also use at times a bit of sand paper to reshape a point if it’s a tiny bit rounded but not enough to waste sharpening.

                        #1226666
                        Olaf
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                            [FONT=”Comic Sans MS]I use a Panasonic Auto-Stop and absolutely love it . . no complaints whatsoever.

                            Pencils are mostly Prismacolor but also have some Dewent and FC . . no problems with any of them . .[/FONT]

                            [FONT="Comic Sans MS"]"God is dead." —Nietzsche

                            "Nietzsche is dead." —God

                            #1226663
                            Pingpongfan
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                                On a trip to South Africa some years ago, I bought a Genmes 3198 rotary hand-crank pencil sharpener. Have no problems sharpening prismas with it. I got an electric Xacto sharpener many years ago, shaped a bit like a brick, but don’t use it for prismas any more as they tend to break in the electric sharpener.
                                Vena

                                #1226671
                                Jmurman
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                                    I just received this in today from Amazon.

                                    The School Smart pencil sharpener is electric powered and has a helical metal sharpener.

                                    The before and after with my Caran Supra’s are amazing. The point is needle sharp with a long exposed lead.

                                    My FC Albrecht Duher’s still are tough to feed. Although they do better than the previous sharpener which this is replacing. I think in time the hole will enlarge and shouldn’t be a huge issue.

                                    All in all, for $29.52 and free shipping if you have Amazon Prime is a good deal.

                                    I post some of my photography on my blog

                                    #1226652
                                    Delofasht
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                                        Still own and rarely use my KP410. (No longer available.) Best sharpener I ever owned, super sharp tips (will draw blood if you are not careful). I say rarely use anymore because I moved to abrasive surfaces, as such sharpening kind of felt silly, the boards, tiles, or sandpaper like surfaces I make and use just eat the lead anyhow. In fact, the surfaces I draw and paint on are so abrasive that they sharpen the pencils for me as I block in the major color areas in big sweeping strokes. Now all I do is remove the wood casings, giving me much more usage of my leads (no longer watching tons of color be thrown away with the pencil shavings). I do wish I coukd just buy the lead cores without the wood casings, as I made custom lead holders some years ago that are much nicer and never need sharpening (just loosen the holding piece and let a bit more lead out). Ah well, of I ever use up all the pencils I have or end up needing a specific color I will probably just make my own lead core instead.

                                        Edited to note that this sharpener is no longer available.

                                        Thanks for making this thread and pulling me out of the lurking with this windeful thread. Oh yeah forgot to mention what I use to shave the wood casings off my leads. . . A wonderful folding utility knife with replaceable blades. Like those heavy duty folding knives you get at the hardware store, I have three of them that friends have given to me at various times over the years and now love using them for this purpose.

                                        - Delo Delofasht
                                        #1226659
                                        ocmd123
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                                            Thanks for the suggestions, everyone! Anyone else? All of you are using a sharpener of some sort. Jump in with reviews, good or bad, to help out those in the market for a sharpener!

                                            ELAINE~ Moderator-Colored Pencil Forum ~ [FONT=Times New Roman]New to the forum? Visit the Welcome Thread ~ [FONT=Times New Roman]New to CP? Check out the CP Libray Index for information about about pencils, paper, sharpeners.[FONT=Times New Roman]
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                                            #1226664
                                            Sutra
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                                                I purchased this Derwent battery-operated sharpener for a class where I’m using prismacolors. It’s really just 2 plastic handheld sharpeners which are rotated by battery-power but it helps me baby my right wrist and stave off carpal tunnel syndrome. One of the sharpeners makes a short point which works well for me with the prismas. I think that when the blade gets dull I can replace it with a standard replacement blade, as its attached with a screw.

                                                http://www.dickblick.com/products/derwent-battery-operated-pencil-sharpener/

                                                #1226655
                                                Reinhard1
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                                                    I am using a Dahle 200 electric sharpener. Gives me the longest and sharpest tip. Love it dearly – however there are 2 setbacks. First, if the tip breaks I have to take the complete machine apart, and I mean complete, to remove the offending rest the pencil. Secondly, it is only for pencils up to 8 mm and Albrecht Dürer from Faber Castell is ever so slightly thicker which requires slimming the pencil. Otherwise I adore it. I have enven sharpened some of my Prismas without any problem.

                                                    I have tried other makes, including the top of the line (120 US$) Caran d’Ache mechanical sharpeners but they all can’t produce that extra long and sharp tip.

                                                    Cheers , Reinhard
                                                    How do you know you can't if you didn't try? And even if you failed the first time, try, try, try ..... one day you will succeed and be proud.

                                                    #1226668
                                                    KLP1480
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                                                        I have the X-Acto School pro sharpener. I immediately loved it – needle sharp point. No breakage problems with Prismas. However, after a short time, the wheel on the front fell off and a spring and ball-bearing popped out.
                                                        I contacted X-Acto and they sent me a new one.

                                                        Unfortunately, the new one does not sharpen as well as the first one. It is slower and doesn’t make a needle point. I taped the wheel back on the first one and still use it a year later.

                                                        Kathy in rural North Carolina
                                                        www.facebook.com/kpatterson521

                                                        #1226649
                                                        frida
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                                                            I have been using a Boston Powerhouse for many years, and it is still my favourite, even though the poor thing is getting noisy.

                                                            Usually when my pencils need resharpening, I don’t do it enough to get to the wood, just apply a little torque with the pencil, what I rather call “refreshing” the point.

                                                            I also have a Panasonic, much newer and less efficient!!! And a battery old delRey I take to workshops or have on hand when I am away from the drawing board… But I prefer the longer area sharpened by the others.

                                                            The best piece of advice I ever got for the time when a piece of the lead brakes inside the sharpener, is to use a 9H graphite pencil in it. It is so hard that it pierces the CP lead and gets rid of it. I only use it as a tool…

                                                            I’ve heard the X-acto recommended, as well as my Panasonic that’s gathering dust!

                                                            Raquel from Toronto, CDA

                                                            #1226653
                                                            Delofasht
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                                                                I wanted to chime in that a good friend of mine uses a Panasonic KP310 which is a slightly less awesome version of the 410 (seems louder, and perhaps slightly slower sharpening) but can be picked up pretty easily on ebay or even etsy stores. His is also an autostop and has a wide opening for pencils and provides an excellent sharp point. Alternatively the Boston Sharpeners have always worked most excellently. I prefer an electric sharper over a battery powered, the battery powered ones always seemed to run out of battery life at the worst of times. (can really disrupt the flow of creativity if you are in the middle of something the forget where you left off, easy for me to do as I have some attention deficit issues)

                                                                Good luck, hope this helps some!

                                                                - Delo Delofasht
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