I'm a firm believer in the power of the written word, as echoed by Malcolm Forbes: "Putting pen to paper lights more fire than matches ever will." An effective pencil sharpener is a worthy investment that any artist should make. After all, pencils can be expensive and you don’t want a poor sharpener to chew up the wood and damage the leads. At their most basic, they’re one of the most simple tools you’ll have lying around in your studio. You might even give little thought to the vast amount of sharpeners available. While your standard two hole manual sharpener can do a fantastic job, there’s a whole world of other sharpeners to try. Choosing the right one can completely transform the way you use your materials. Read below to find out more or use the links below to navigate to a particular topic. Pencil Shavings should be long and continuous from a sharpener with a good blade. If you find that your sharpenings are breaking off into small, jagged shards then your blade will probably need replacing. Mandala map poster - world map - travel - giant mandala - coloring for adults and children - meditation - Wall decoration Read below to see a comparison of all our sharpeners and it should help you find the perfect sharpener for you. What are the different types of pencil sharpener?

Helical Sharpeners don’t really have a ‘blade’ as such. Instead they have a cylindrical barrel cut with a spiral pattern. This barrel moves around your pencil when you turn the crank, griding against pencil to remove the wood casing and sharpen the tip to a fine point. They’re a lot more heavy duty than a single blade sharpener, and much better for sharpening high volumes of pencils. Simple Manual Pencil Sharpeners Dragon art print, 5x7. Fantasy drawing of mythical wyvern creature and lost adventurer. Dark medieval illustration hand drawn in graphite Safari Animals Extra Large Colouring Cloth Set for Kids, Children's Washable Colour In Cloth, Art Craft Giant Colouring Mat with CrayonsIn 2009 the world’s biggest Pencil was moved to the City Museum in St. Louis, Missouri where it resides on the third floor. 2. Faber-Castell Giant 9000 Pencil The world’s largest coloring pencil is located in the UK at the Derwent Pencil Museum which opened in 1981. Their star attraction the giant yellow coloring pencil was made by the Derwent Pencil factory for the museum in 2oo1. Some types of pencil require different types of pencil sharpeners. If you’re using larger or smaller than standard pencils you might need to get a sharpener with a different size hole. Some soft lead pencils may also require a blade that is a more gentle to avoid chips and broken leads. Soft leaded pencils, like pastel pencils, require a delicate touch. Use a standard sharpener and you could end up with a chewed up pencil and a pile of pastel powder.

Our other sharpening tools include sharpeners and accessories suitable for non-standard pencils or specialist sharpening techniques.Manual crank sharpeners, also sometimes referred to as helical sharpeners, have a completely different sharpening mechanism to pencil sharpeners with a single blade. These pencil sharpeners tend to be large and often bulky, so not very portable or suitable for outdoor work. You’re best keeping them in the studio, or in a room where you prefer to create your artwork. You can also mount most of our models onto a desk, giving them a bit more stability during sharpening. Detail of the pincer mechanism on a manual crank sharpener.