Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

A year ago I had purchased a top of the line electric pencil sharpener but loaned it out to a friend who had purchased a set of colored pencils that were all unsharpened. Well... this was five months ago and I still haven't received it back. Then just recently I got in the mood for creating a picture using my large set of Prismacolor Premier colored pencils. Soon after starting this project I realized, darn, I have no pencil sharpener. So I went down to Staples and bought this Staedler sharpener. I already own Staedler drawing pencils and several other Staedler products and they were all good quality so I figured, this $6 item might be okay as well. It was a choice of buying that one or a very cheap school pencil sharpener or a much, much more "professional" and expensive (electric) pencil sharpener. So here I went. I needed to sharpen a red pencil. Mind you that the core of these Prismacolor pencils are quite soft and have wax in them. For that reason they are known to be hard to sharpen to a perfect point. So I put the pencil in the large hole and slowly but steadily turned the pencil only five times. I thought let me check to see if it needs more turns or not. I couldn't believe my eyes! The pencil was sharpened to perfection, to a beautiful sharp red point I know there are YouTube videos dedicated to sharpen these pencils because so many people have issues with sharpening them, such as getting broken off points, unevenness, a slanted point, and so forth. Not a problem with this little bad boy. It sharpened my pencil beautifully. The blade must be really good! Since then I have sharpened many more pencils out of the Prismacolor pencil set that I own and never had one single problem. Here are some useful tips: Use the wider opening always Don't force the pencil in too far. Just as far as it will go without putting pressure on it. If you feel that the hole isn't small enough, don't worry, just continue on gently and eventually the sharpener will "grab" the pencil. Sharpen at a slow and steady pace, three turns if this is your first time While turning, don't start pushing the pencil in harder or apply a lot of pressure on it, let the blade do its job Check the pencil after a just a few turns, turn once or twice more if needed For pencils with a good point but not a sharp point, 2 turns can already be adequate Save time by keeping this sharpener handy Very sharp points are always fragile so handle your pencil gently. On a piece of scrap paper gently make a few circles while holding the pencil vertically. You may see some "debris" come off. This will take off that super sharp point just enough to where you can draw fine lines without breakage while applying gentle pressure. If this is your very first time using this sharpener, start with three turns, then check. After you have used this sharpener for several times on the Prismacolors, you will develop a feel for it and you will only turn them the minimum amount of times needed without wasting any pencil. These pencils are not cheap. The enemy of sharpening any type of pencil is over sharpening and dull blades. Always be gentle using your freshly sharpened pencil. The sharper the point, the easier they can break but they won't break if you follow my directions. The key is to be gentle while sharpening and count your turns. Check your point after three or four turns, don't push the pencil in real hard and while sharpening, don't push the pencil in any further than in the beginning. Lots of explanations, yet super easy to do if you follow the tips above! Save your money on electric sharpeners. They over sharpen no matter how good they are. You will lose valuable pencil lead. This thing is faster than walking to your electric unit to sharpen a pencil plus you can travel with it! I hope my comments and tips will help you enjoy your pencil artwork without frustration. Happy drawing and coloring!