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Post by flatline on Aug 15, 2014 9:19:35 GMT -8
I'm not user of wooden pencils, but my wife and kids use them.
I've got a Helix Sharpen-All Pro Sharpener. It has 1 large pencil sharpener, 2 regular pencil sharpeners, a 2mm sharpener, and some sandpaper and lead cleaners. It turns out that one of the regular pencil sharpeners in it does a superb job sharpening pencils (the other sharpeners are mediocre at best) and so that's the sharpener I use if I care about putting a quality point on a wooden pencil.
I've also got a Bostitch QuietSharp6 which can almost instantly put a decent point on a pencil, but the point is slightly off center. It's good enough for the kids and wife, however, so it's how we sharpen most of the pencils in the house.
--flatline
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Post by rr4u on Aug 15, 2014 10:42:07 GMT -8
I have numerous pencil sharpeners. For regular size pencils (8.0mm), the one I like best is a KUM long point sharpener (mine is an old style model, different design and a bit bigger than the current ones). It has a 2.0mm and a 3.0mm sharpeners included. The high carbon content steel blades are razor sharp and they can be bought separately, they come with a couple spare blades. A great pencil sharpener IMHO! Also, they are sold under other brands, like Palomino and Alvin. kk.org/cooltools/archives/5915R. |
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Post by flatline on Aug 15, 2014 15:23:09 GMT -8
I have half a dozen sharpeners for 2mm leads, but now that I've got Staedtler rotary sharpeners at work and at home, I don't use anything else. If I'd just started out with the rotaries, I'd have saved enough money for more pencils...
--flatline
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Post by rr4u on Aug 15, 2014 16:05:38 GMT -8
I have half a dozen sharpeners for 2mm leads, but now that I've got Staedtler rotary sharpeners at work and at home, I don't use anything else. If I'd just started out with the rotaries, I'd have saved enough money for more pencils... --flatline Yup! The Staedler Rotary sharpener is very nice, it can be used with many 2.0mm leadholder models but not all! The most efficient and versatile 2.0mm sharpeners, surprisingly, are quite simple and cheap, like this one. it can be used with all 2.0mm leadholders.  Also, most leadholders have a sharpener included in the push button! R. |
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Post by rr4u on Aug 16, 2014 7:26:02 GMT -8
Oddly enough, the Staedtler rotary sharpener (Mars 502 lead sharpener tub) don't fit Steadtlers own 925 25/35 leadhlders. Like I said before it cannot be used on a great number of pencils, like for instance, the 2.0mm rOtring Rapid Pro. It is not an universal 2.0mm sharpener!
R.
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Post by flatline on Aug 16, 2014 9:56:42 GMT -8
Oddly enough, the Staedtler rotary sharpener (Mars 502 lead sharpener tub) don't fit Steadtlers own 925 25/35 leadhlders. Like I said before it cannot be used on a great number of pencils, like for instance, the 2.0mm r Otring Rapid Pro. It is not an universal 2.0mm sharpener! R. I suppose I've been lucky thus far that all my lead holders work fine with the Staedtler rotary sharpener, although given the ease of swapping leads between lead holders, I guess it wouldn't bother me much if a particular lead holder didn't fit as long as I had another with me that did. On a side note, I am unlikely to ever own a 925 2mm lead holder since I don't like lead holders that don't completely release the lead when you open the clutch. I do, however, have both a 925 35 and a 925 03 ($7 plastic version with rubber grip) in 0.3mm and they are both fine pencils. I've been very fortunate to have a friend with a large pencil collection who is willing to let me experiment with his pencils. It's saved me from making several purchases that would have resulted in owning pencils I don't like. He likes the 925 2mm just fine. --flatline |
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Post by rr4u on Aug 17, 2014 7:26:59 GMT -8
Aesthetics and function! I believe Staedtler opted to fit the 925 2.0mm pencils with an incremental advance mechanism for them to match the rest of the products in the line. The same applies to the rOtring Rapid Pro. I like this kind of mechanism as much as I like the classic drop type.
R.
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Post by flatline on Aug 17, 2014 8:23:26 GMT -8
Setting the lead length with a drop mechanism is fraught with peril when wearing gloves, so I tolerate an incremental advance mechanism in the lead holder I use in the shop. I should probably just replace that lead holder with a 0.9mm pencil.
--flatline
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Post by rr4u on Aug 17, 2014 9:12:45 GMT -8
That or a nice, super sharpen, wooden pencil ...to resume the original topic of this post!
You said you're not a user of wood cased pencils, I think you should give them a try. I recommend you to try a Faber-Castell Perfect Pencil, like the Junior (basic model) or 9000 models (much better option). They are cheap, and will accommodate all your graphite writing needs, you can use an enormous variety of pencils on them!
R.
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Post by flatline on Aug 17, 2014 10:06:03 GMT -8
I've got the Faber-Castell Perfect Pencil 9000 on my Amazon wish list just to try it out. Even if I don't end up liking it, I'm sure my son will like it. He's all about pencil accessories (1st graders are crazy!).
I got some woodless pencils as a gift a while back (HB, 2B, 4B, and 6B) but haven't really tried using them yet.
--flatline
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Post by rr4u on Aug 17, 2014 10:28:22 GMT -8
I've got the Faber-Castell Perfect Pencil 9000 on my Amazon wish list just to try it out. Even if I don't end up liking it, I'm sure my son will like it. He's all about pencil accessories (1st graders are crazy!). I got some woodless pencils as a gift a while back (HB, 2B, 4B, and 6B) but haven't really tried using them yet. --flatline That's more like it! If you keep an open mind about them you will see how pleasant wooden pencils really are! As for your son, you can get him the Junior model ...Better yet, try the 9000, if you really like it pass him on and upgrade yourself with the UFO (aluminum version)! When you say woodless you mean pure graphite pencils right? Which brand, if I may ask? Looks you were gifted a nice art set, they are usually pretty good, mostly manufactured by well known and reputed brands, like Caran d'Ache, Faber-Castell, Lyra, Koh-I-Noor, Derwent, to name a few. Some are watersoluble. If I were in your shoes I would have already tried them. R. |
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Post by flatline on Aug 17, 2014 15:03:23 GMT -8
I've got the Faber-Castell Perfect Pencil 9000 on my Amazon wish list just to try it out. Even if I don't end up liking it, I'm sure my son will like it. He's all about pencil accessories (1st graders are crazy!). I got some woodless pencils as a gift a while back (HB, 2B, 4B, and 6B) but haven't really tried using them yet. --flatline That's more like it! If you keep an open mind about them you will see how pleasant wooden pencils really are! As for your son, you can get him the Junior model ...Better yet, try the 9000, if you really like it pass him on and upgrade yourself with the UFO (aluminum version)! When you say woodless you mean pure graphite pencils right? Which brand, if I may ask? Looks you were gifted a nice art set, they are usually pretty good, mostly manufactured by well known and reputed brands, like Caran d'Ache, Faber-Castell, Lyra, Koh-I-Noor, Derwent, to name a few. Some are watersoluble. If I were in your shoes I would have already tried them. R. Hmm...I no longer have the packaging, but the pencils all have printed on the side "General's Woodless Graphite 97-XB" where "X" is either H, 2, 4, or 6. They also came with a sharpener, but the sharpener is terrible and shreds the wood. I don't know if that means it has a dull blade or if I need to shim the blade up a bit so that it doesn't bite at such a steep angle. --flatline |
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Post by rr4u on Aug 18, 2014 6:18:32 GMT -8
Hmm...I no longer have the packaging, but the pencils all have printed on the side "General's Woodless Graphite 97-XB" where "X" is either H, 2, 4, or 6. They also came with a sharpener, but the sharpener is terrible and shreds the wood. I don't know if that means it has a dull blade or if I need to shim the blade up a bit so that it doesn't bite at such a steep angle. --flatline I don't have any experience with General pencil Co. products. I have only one of their wooden pencils in my collection, an HB Kimberly 525. It is a very good quality and beautiful pencil (love the brass metal cap on the top). I only wrote a few words with it and put it on the collectibles box! For what i've read, the company was founded in 1989 and has a very rich story. I think it is one of very few remaining American owned and based pencil manufactures. Their products have always had a good reputation. Graphite woodless pencils have a (ticker than usual, I think) clear coat of lacquer on them. It may cause the blade to skip and perform irregularly. These pencils/lead cores, need to be smoothly sharpened, with almost no pressure. Graphite is brittle so some minor shredding is normal. You can also try another sharpener, these pencils usually are 8.0mm thick like the regular wooden ones. R. |
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Post by rr4u on Aug 18, 2014 6:34:28 GMT -8
Hmm...I no longer have the packaging, but the pencils all have printed on the side "General's Woodless Graphite 97-XB" where "X" is either H, 2, 4, or 6. They also came with a sharpener, but the sharpener is terrible and shreds the wood. I don't know if that means it has a dull blade or if I need to shim the blade up a bit so that it doesn't bite at such a steep angle. --flatline I don't have any experience with General pencil Co. products. I have only one of their wooden pencils in my collection, an HB Kimberly 525. It is a very good quality and beautiful pencil (love the brass metal cap on the top). I only wrote a few words with it and put it on the collectibles box! The company was founded in 1989 and has a very rich story. I think it is one of the very few remaining American owned and based pencil manufactures. They always had a good reputation and they still manufacture a very good range of Art products. Graphite woodless pencils usually have a (ticker and harder than usual, I think) finish of clear coat lacquer that may cause the blade to skip and perform irregularly. These pencils/lead cores, need to be smoothly sharpened, with almost no pressure. Graphite is very brittle so some minor shredding is normal. You can also try another sharpener, these pencils usually are 8.0mm thick like the regular wooden ones, any standard sharpener will do. R. |
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Post by flatline on Sept 19, 2014 9:25:18 GMT -8
I recently got a Kum Automatic Brake Long Point sharpener. The one that has separate blades for removing wood and sharpening the lead (and 2mm and 3.2mm pointers).
It makes quick work of the pencils I've tried and the resulting point is actually quite fearsome looking. I won't be using this sharpener on any of my son's school pencils. The "automatic stop" feature lets me sharpen the wood just a little bit too far so that once I'm done with the lead, there is not a seamless transition from lead to wood, but it doesn't bother me.
It came with 2 replacement blades, but I've read some reviews that claim that since the retaining screw is screwed into plastic, it never holds firmly again once you change the blade. I'm sure I'll get to perform that experiment eventually (assuming I don't break or lose it before I wear out a blade).
The 2mm pointer is decent. If I didn't have a rotary sharpener on my desk, it would probably serve my needs just fine.
I don't have any 3.2mm leads, so I have no idea how well the 3.2mm pointer works.
--flatline
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Post by flatline on Oct 30, 2014 6:48:07 GMT -8
I've been experimenting with 4B and 6B pencils and none of my sharpeners do well on these pencils that have such soft leads. I've had pretty good luck using a knife to expose the lead and then using a piece of paper to shape the edge.
--flatline
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