After having enough of battery-eating weak electric models, we decided to do it "old school." I have fond memories of those sturdy, satisfying wall-mounted manual pencil sharpeners from elementary school. This model would be decent if it were manufactured properly...(but isn't that true of sooooo many things?) Okay, here's my assessment: Either one of the steel receptacle centering fins was honed at an incorrect angle or one of the twin barrel cutters was set at the wrong angle, or both.
When you were in grade school did you ever place way too much downward angular pressure on your pencil as you were sharpening it? If you ever did, then you probably also remember returning to your desk and discovering half the "lead" still covered by the wood barrel of the pencil. Employing a writing instrument prepared in such a way is like scraping and scratching with a pointy stick, rather than the smooth unfettered flow of freshly revealed graphite. I swear, what happened to product testing or, for that matter, product quality?
Fast forward to present day: No, I did not place too much angular pressure on the barrel of my present-day pencil...the afore-described result was from gingerly CENTERING the pencil in the sharpener before turning the crank. (I think I got the "centering" thing down to a science after 12 years of daily manual pencil sharpening.) And, yes, I tried many, many pencils to make sure it wasn't just a poorly manufactured pencil. I wanted soooo badly for this product to work, but it just wasn't to be :-(
It's shocking. And yet, disturbingly, I *somehow* have gradually come to expect such disappointment from my purchases over the past couple of decades.
I would pay *4* times as much money for a 100% American-made quality product...if I could *find* a 100% American-made quality product. Come on America, let's get on (or in this case, off) the "stick" and get the "lead" out! X-Acto Model KS Table- or Wall-Mount Pencil Sharpener (1031)
A great sharpener, I have two girls in my house (ages 7 and 13) and they have broke nearly a dozen plastic and various electric models. This sharpener is very heavy duty and solidly built. I think it would stand up to a class room full of kids. I plan on buying one for my shop.
I've decided to replace this pencil sharpener because it has been destroying too many pencils. I have the same problem so many reviewers have had - namely it tends to sharpen only one side of the pencil when it doesn't chew right through them. In the end, I find myself having to remove the wood on the unsharpened side by hand, all too often breaking the lead in the process. We'd have -much- better luck with a cheap 50 cent sharpener, or a kitchen knife, or a machete...blender...
I thought this was going to be a good sharpener, but it doesnt matter what pencil I use, it just does not sharpen well at all. I'm about to pitch it in the trash. Only one side of the pencil sharpens while the wood remains on the other half, making it impossible to write with. It's junk.
As usual X-Acto has somehow managed to de-evolve the pencil sharpener. My first experience with X-Acto was with a simple electric sharpener. The quick convenience I had taken for granted with my Boston 19 was not possible with my new five-minute-per-pencil X-Acto. My next experience was with the $130 + "heavy duty" X-Acto in the department center in my school. Well before the end of the year it was simply an impressive looking paper weight. Finally, this rotary model was installed in my classroom. Basically, it ate every pencil at an impossible-to-write with angle. I tried out three others in neighboring classrooms. I did not have the same problem; rather, the others were worse: noisy, grinding pencil crushers that no student would use. My only option is to stock up on the small plastic manual sharpeners that frequently break but at least manage to sharpen a couple of pencils before they bite the dust. That's much more than I can say for my X-Actos.
Finding a pencil sharpener in my home was impossible. We have/had dozens of the small plastic hand held sharpeners come and go. Never to be found when I actually needed one. So I decided that mounting a hand-cranked sharpener to a fixed point would solve one of my life's many problems. I always welcome a quick easy way to eliminate a chronic hassle.
Anyway, I wanted the same model that I commonly found in my grammar school classrooms. My parents also had one mounted in their garage while I was a kid. Those things were built like Army tanks. Never seemed to wear out. Unfortunately, it appears the quality of that model, while still available, is now lacking in quality.
So after searching Amazon, it would seem this X-acto model is the best hand-cranked sharpener available. Easily mounts to any wooden surface with the included wood screws. Performs great. After I mounted it, I grabbed 10-12 new pencils and "got crankin". Each pencil was quickly sharpened to a perfect point. Quality seems solid with the all steel construction. No downsides could be found in this product. On top of being a well-regarded product, its also one of the cheaper models on the market. Best of both worlds. - School Supplies - Pencil Sharpener - Manual Pencil Sharpeners - Old School'
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