Dennis wrote in recently with this question:
My problem is with sharpeners:
Tri-Conderoga pencils, KUM large sharpener:
When I try to sharpen the pencils, I get gouges, repeatedly broken leads, and spirals on the lead that’s left.
What is the magic?
To be sure, sharpening by blade requires a good bit of skill. But even without a straight blade, there is a certain trick or magic to getting a perfect point on pencils, with a manual or a crank sharpener. It is often the case when I am in a hurry to put a point on a pencil that I get the effect that the pencil would have if the lead were not centered, even on a pencil which is perfectly centered in the wooden case. For instance, using the same KUM Longpoint sharpener, I murdered the point on a Dixon but then got a perfect result the next time with the same sharpener.
So, Comrades:
What is the magic?
[Photo, J.G.]
You might find this page useful. It’s a page summarizing pencil sharpening techniques (by Derwent) http://www.pencils.co.uk/sharpening_techniques.asp
For me, it’s keeping the pencil against the top (blade side) of the chamber. If I put the pencil against the bottom of the chamber, I get spirals every time.
I’m w/ Shane. You need a little finesse when using these things.
Chris
http://amateureconblog.blogspot.com/
Blades seem to need sharpening or replacing pretty often. I run mine over a sharpening steel. For the KUM longpoint mentioned in the post, you can also rotate the blades, since one sharpens wood and the other graphite – switch them when they get dull.
Regarding:
If you start to see shard-like pieces coming out of the sharpener, then throw it away.
Some really bad sharpeners start out this way!
For the Tri-Conderoga pencils, I get good results with the sharpener that comes in the package with them. The two-hole sharpener that I bought at an office supply store doesn’t work as well, possibly because the larger hole is quite a bit bigger than the Tri-Conderoga and so the pencil is not really supported during sharpening.
Other factors:
1. The sharpener. Some sharpeners take a bigger bite (the KUM being one example) and so may not work as well with some pencils (depends on the wood, see next item).
2. The pencil itself. Some pencils are made with harder or more splintery wood or wood with a higher amount of resin in it than others. There may not be much you can do about this (other than buying a better grade of pencil), but see the next item.
3. The amount of pressure you place on the pencil. If you really shove those pencils in, your results are not going to be as good as they could be with a lighter touch.
4. The sharpness of the sharpener blade. Replace blades after they have sharpened a few dozen pencils, or if the blade isn’t replaceable, replace the whole sharpener. You might also try spraying the blade once in a while VERY LIGHTLY with WD-40 or with the spray lubricant for electric razor heads.
5. Weather. Your results aren’t going to be as good in damp weather as in dry. Wood reacts to environmental changes. It isn’t plastic. If you can’t live with this, buy a mechanical pencil. Or move to Arizona.
Nothing in life is certain. YMMV, but these are some not-so-magic suggestions.
It is funny how just when this was the current post on Pencil Revolution, a friend at work asked me what was my secret for sharpening pencils. He always sharpens them with an X-acto knife, but with a very steep attack to the pencil. The results are obviously horrible.
To his question I answered “I use a sharpener”. But then I thought of teaching him the way I was tought to sharpen knives at school in technical drawing class. I took the X-acto kife and showed him, stressing on the fact that the blade angle of attack should be almost parallel to the pencil . For a good 20 years without sharpening a pencil that way, I think I did a pretty good job.
Oops! Correction to my comment: where it says “sharpen knives” it should say “sharpen pencils”. :)
Is using a Dahle 166 rotary sharpener cheating? There’s much discussion of small hand sharpeners, but little of the good old traditional APSCOs etc….
I don’t think a rotary is cheating at all! It has just occurred to me now, after getting my Palominos (yes!!), that The Smell we all enjoy so much is much more prominent with the rotary, mill-type sharpeners (the ones with a couple cylinders with spirals on them, as opposed to blades). Since they’re removing lots of little shreds, they expose more surface area, thus releasing probably quite a bit more of That Smell.
Is there such a thing as a desk Long Point sharpener?
I’ve noticed that the lead is not centered in the body of the pencil. After sharpening I get a good point but there is wood covering half the pencil point.
All else