Man, I wish this software had a “multi-quote” option. LOL

I have a tiny handheld sharpener that came in the set with my Derwent sketching pencils. It doesn’t work so well with the thinner octagonal pencils and it doesn’t do a nice long point. So that’s why I’ve been looking.

I bought a swordfish curve that has a helical blade but it hasnt lasted long at all and I havent had any feedback from the company either.
I used to think the Kum hand held one was wonderful but just bought new blades at a huge cost because it had to be an overseas order via ebay. Well the new blades are already blunt after only a weeks use!
I only use it to get an extra point and shave off the smoothed lead so am not impressed as those blades arent cheap. Another product thats lost quality.
I use my trusty Ledah electric sharpener which Ive had now for at least 5 years and still on the same helical blade. I just bought the multi sized one for the fatter lovely luminance and derwent pencils that I now have. Very happy with it but still need a hand sharpener for those worn down pencils that dont fit in the electric after a certain length.
So happy hunting electric are wonderful but expensive and hand held ones are something one has to replace constantly.

Thank you for chiming in. I actually have a swordfish sharpener in my cart. So that is very good to know. I can’t even find Ledah online anywhere so I’m guessing whatever that is, it’s discontinued too.

I’ve got FC’s hand sharpener and hand-rotated kw-trio 305a (not sure it is sold internationally). The latest is quite good, does not take too much from pencil

Does it do a nice long point without chewing up the pencil? (The kw-trio 305a? I haven’t looked it up yet so not sure it’s available in the US)

If you are sharpenign well made pencils like polychromos you can use any hand held ttwist sharpener. THe pencil will NOT break. THere is no really need to buy an expensive sharpener.

But you need to check that each sharpener produces a different angle, so I bought several until I found the one with the angle I wanted. From then onwards I just buy any other sharpener and exchange its blade into the one with the angle I wanted.

That is good to know (about using the hand held). For some reason I thought they torqued the pencil and added to breakage. My main pencils have been the Derwent Inktense and Blick (until Christmas when my family bought me some Caran D’ache and Polychromos…) So I just wanted to get a sharpener that would work with them and not damage them.

And yes, the point (or types of points) is exactly the issue. We have one other sharpener in the house. I don’t know what it is, but it does stubby V-shaped points instead of nice elongated V’s. So it doesn’t work for me.

That’s a good idea about buying a different sharpener and changing the blade out though. Because blades are ridiculously expensive (in comparison to re-buying the same sharpener).

Honestly, I’ve just been using Staedtler can sharpeners. I had a crank sharpener before (I think was Staedtler too, I will check later) and I did kind of like it….but obviously it wasn’t very portable and as time went on I started to realize how fast it eats away my pencils. I have to use my Polychromos singles from the UK so it was kind of a bummer…

I did try an battery-operated Derwent sharpener as well and that thing was flat out crazy. I immediately binned it.

The can sharpeners aren’t very economical which is a shame but they sharpen to a very sharp point when the blades are still new and I don’t have to keep running to the trash bin all the time. They are also very portable and I can buy new ones from pretty much everywhere. For under 2 euros / sharpener.

I don’t know what a “can sharpener” is. Sorry. That’s a term I’m not familiar with.
Interesting re: the Derwent. It’s not even made any longer so that may be why.

I definitely would like to find one that didn’t consume the pencil.

You are right! Good call! For a while, sharpeners were a big topic. Hence the threads. Haha! If we get some good responses in this one, I’ll put it in the library. (Only moderators and guides can edit the library threads, that’s why you weren’t able to access it.)

Oh I didn’t know that. LOL I just figured that it was late and I obviously wasn’t doing something right.

Sharpener questions seem to be huge online right now. I’ve found a lot of questions and so few answers.

It also seems to be based on the quality of the pencils used. Like Prismacolors seem to need their own style (apparently an electric or hand crank is preferred for those) altogether.

It’s just frustrating. I just want a sharpener that works. It doesn’t have to be fancy or spendy or not. Just needs to sharpen my pencil without mauling it.

One of the big reasons for the change is the fall from favor of Prismacolors for polychromos and luminance. Both the german and swiss pencils are far more resilient and sharpening them does not need fancy tricks.

That is really good to know. So which sharpener did you land on? And what sort of point do you prefer? That seems to be where I keep tripping up. The ones who give a nice long point (according to the reviews) either die in a month or aren’t for colored pencils. I haven’t found any suggestions on a handheld. I don’t mind a handheld. It’s the point and the non-mauling that I am trying to find.