OT: pencil sharpener

[kvmck]

Okay, I feel kind of silly asking this.. but each school year we go through at least one pencil sharpener. They either break or just don't work very well. Does anyone have a pencil sharpener that they LOVE?? We currently are using those little tiny ones that come in back to school kits which get the job done but they're messy and get misplaced too easily.
Growing up in public school I remember we had really heavy duty "turn the crank" pencil sharpeners, that screwed into the wall, that you adjusted for whatever size pencil you had. I've tried a few newer models like that but they all seem to be cheaply made so the shavings end up on the floor and the actual sharpener falls apart. We've also been through 3 different electric ones (two broke and one just didn't work well). Can you tell that we're hard on pencil sharpeners around here??
Anyway, school is so much easier if it isn't a monumental chore just to sharpen a pencil! And lets not even get started with mechanical pencils... I mean, my kids break pencil sharpeners left and right so mechanical pencils are an even bigger disaster for us!

[shellbell]

Wish I could help~ but we have the same issues with pencil sharpeners too. So you are not the only one! Hopefully someone can let us know of a good one.
Michelle

[kmartin]

I have had similar experiences with pencil sharpeners and have pretty much given up on them all together. I personally think those tiny little ones are great because they are more dependable than others I have tried and don't break when dropped. I found one at the grocery store that has two different hole sizes on it. Perfect for regular pencils as well as the big beginner pencils. I keep it in a drawer next to the trashcan. The sharpener is only allowed to be in the drawer or over the trashcan while in use. Before school I make sure each child has two sharpened pencils ready to go to lessen the chance of them needing to sharpen one during school. Another benefit to the little ones is when one needs to be replaced it isn't a big expense to do so. Probably not the answer you were looking for but I really do think those little pencil sharpeners are the best.

[parjackson7]

I recently (about a month ago) bought a pencil sharpener that I'm actually happy with. I found it on amazon and it's rather pricey, but when I added up the cost of all the little sharpeners I've bought (for 5 kiddos), this one has been worth it. It's called the Westcott ipoint manual pencil sharpener with microban. It has titanium blades that stay sharp longer and a vacuum base so I didn't have to drill any holes. The base was a little tricky to get to stay put, but after fiddling with it for a few days, it isn't going anywhere unless we unclamp it. It has the adjustable holes and can sharpen large, trigrip pencils as well as very thin ones. It works very well and I have been quite pleased with it.

I hope this helps!

[smithdonnajo]

We like the KUM Color Combi 2-Hole Pencil Sharpener. Also called Color-Combi 2-in-1 Sharpener. I bought enough so each child can have their own and they keep it in their pencil pencil case. For us, it has worked well with regular pencils and also with our Prismacolor colored pencils which we use with the Draw and Write Through History drawings.

[holyhart]

Here is an old thread on this topic. viewtopic.php?f=6&t=6947&p=50637&hilit= ... ers#p50637

I have an old one like you remeber from school days (it was in my parents house when they bought it almost 20 years ago). I too got sick of going through multiple sharpeners and having them all break on me! It could use some sharpening I think but I'm not sure how to do that? It is mounted just inside our cellar door so the holes don't matter nor does it look out of place in our decor as we don't have a "school room".

hth!

[holdinon]

I think pencil sharpeners are from the devil .

Seriously, though...we have gone through countless sharpeners here. I bought a vintage one last year and, so far, it is still going strong. I think I got it for around $15 on ebay. Before that we had all kinds. I have also switched over to all Ticonderosa (spelling??) pencils. I had a friend tell me that's all they used. Before, I had never really paid attention to pencil brand, but I really do think that has made a difference too. Even the little hand held sharpeners seem to work better on the Ticonderosa pencils.

Wishing you a successful "sharpener hunt" ,
Angie

[kvmck]

Thanks for your suggestions ladies... I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who has a pencil sharpener problem! Finding a vintage one on ebay may be my #1 choice. But how hard should it be to make a new pencil sharpener that is as good as one that is 30 years old?? A friend recently clued me in about the Ticonderoga pencils so I bought some of those (and they were pre-sharpened! ). It could be that all those years of buying cheap pencils at WalMart was just a bad idea . It seems silly that something as "insignificant" as a pencil sharpener can make a big difference in how smoothly our day goes but it does.. and the sight of sharpened pencils all lined up in our school supply holder (we use a wooden scrapbooking turnstyle "thingy") makes me happy .

[doubleportion]

I have a Boston electric pencil sharpener that I bought about 14 years ago. Still going strong. If it is used too heavily straight through it will sometimes over heat and turn itself off( But that is after like 15 or more pencils sharpened back to back). But once it has cooled it worked fine again. I used it in my classroom when I taught PS and then took it home later when I stayed home for good. HTH

Edie