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Gripsharp pencil sharpener

New pencil accessories aren’t introduced too often, so I was quite intrigued to learn about the Gripsharp.
It resembles one of those rubber ‘ergonomic’ grips that some people prefer for gripping thin writing instruments.
You put the pencil in, start sharpening, and leave the Gripsharp in place. Put another way, you sharpen away the wood, [...]

November 30th, 2009 | Category: sharpeners | 6 comments

Flying saucer pencil sharpener

November 7th, 2009 | Category: sharpeners | 7 comments

The Dixon Oriole pencil and an unusual sharpener

Does anyone remember the Dixon Oriole?
The official product page calls them a “first-rate commercial grade woodcase pencil offered at an economical price”.
Hmmm, “commercial grade”.

Well I ordered them online after finding a store that had some older US made stock. Or so I thought. I should have known what was coming – the photo and description [...]

June 11th, 2009 | Category: Dixon, sharpeners | 17 comments

HAL 9000 pencil sharpener

Okay, that’s not the real name. But this pencil sharpener did communicate an enthusiastic futuristic sensibility to me. Or at minimum, a recollection of the brilliant and sublime villain in Stanley Kubrick’s classic 2001, A Space Odyssey.
This reflective red orb is quite interesting by itself – even before knowing what it is. Being able to [...]

December 4th, 2008 | Tags: | Category: sharpeners | 3 comments

International Arrivals pencil sharpener

One small mystery solved.
The International Arrivals pencils – fluorescent and carpenter – have no practical way to sharpen them.

A lucky break came my way, and I found the right sharpener at a local bookstore – a place with no other International Arrivals products that I could see.

Much larger than just a general large hole [...]

September 28th, 2008 | Category: carpenter pencils, sharpeners | 4 comments

Carl Bungu Ryodo BR-05 pencil sharpener

Finally – a modern design aesthetic applied to the desktop pencil sharpener!
The Bungu Ryodo BR-05 from Carl is a marvel – it costs less than some handheld sharpeners from Faber-Castell and KUM – and it performs amazingly well and has a compelling modern design.

The mechanism is easily understood, and offers two point choices – blunt [...]

September 1st, 2008 | Category: sharpeners | 21 comments
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