Staying Sharp

I love my pencils to be sharp and have a fine point when doing detailed work, especially fur techniques. I am often asked asked if I use an electric sharpener. Well, every electric sharpener I have ever had I have burned out the motor fairly quickly. I sharpen that often I have yet to find one that withstands constant use - even the very expensive $300 one I bought started to smoke and died after week of use.

So in the end I find the good old-fashioned hand held type suits me best  and I have many! But what is the best and what type or brand do I use? Well, for regular wood cased pencils, I find the small little metal or plastic ones do the job fine. No particular brand, just the ones you find for a couple of dollars at the art or stationery shop. I have a variety of these and they are indispensable.  You can replace the blade if you are keen, or just toss into the recycle bin when they go blunt. Depending on your pencil choice, be aware of the size of the hole in your sharpener. It is worthwhile having a few of the wider hole versions on hand for pencils that have a wider diameter such as some of the color pencils.

Other types are what I call 'Travellers', and are self contained units that hold the shavings.  A wide variety of these around, but I do like the little Faber Castell model.

For my Staedtler Mars Techno clutch pencils, nothing can beat the Staedtler 502 sharpener designed especially for these pencils.

Just a few from my sharpener collection!

And when I don't need a super sharp point I use a Stanly knife to whittle the point and then create a chisel or rounded end with a sandpaper block.

But my all time favorite is this novelty sharper. It actually doesn't sharpen all that well, but it makes me smile every time I look at it.