Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This review is for the Staedtler 512-001 A6 "Tub" pencil sharpener. I use red and yellow colored pencils at work - either Ticonderoga or Col-Erase brand. We have a standard AC powered pencil sharpener from Panasonic but it doesn't work very well with colored pencils. It doesn't leave enough wood surrounding the pencil tips and they break off easily. Colored pencils have leads that are both soft and brittle. I measured the sharpening angle of the Panasonic and it's only 16 degrees. No wonder it never worked very well with colored pencils. The Staedtler sharpener has two holes: 23 degrees and 30 degrees. Either one works well with colored pencils. It's a vast improvement over the standard old Panasonic office sharpener. The 30 degree hole is larger than a standard Col-Erase colored pencil diameter, so it's not as easy to use as I would wish, but it's still usable. (Based on that, I would give it 4.5 stars). The 23 degree hole is the standard pencil size diameter and it works well with colored pencils, so it's no real problem. See the photos I posted and read the captions for more information.