How about a little side contest? Make a Pencil sharpener...

[David Weaver]

The catch being, make it completely and totally by hand. No electric at all with the possible exception of drilling a hole in the cutter. In the world of everything being sharp working better, I'm thinking that those little hand twist manual sharpeners would work pretty well if the cutter in them was just sharp and could be kept that way.

Would be a good hardening and tempering exercise for people, too, with a tiny blade that would be easy to heat uniformly and quench in just a cup of oil.

Anyone up for it?

[John Coloccia]

Now for the big question:

Chip breaker or no chip breaker?

[David Weaver]

crossgrain/endgrain cuts, so none needed :)

(won't see me say that very often!)

One of the easiest ways to make one might be to make something with rare earth magnets that sticks to the bottom of a plane. attach it, sharpen your pencil, take it off and put it back in the drawer.

[Chris Fournier]

Now for the big question:

Chip breaker or no chip breaker?

I hadn't got this far yet, I was consdidering my choice of alloys...

[Chris Griggs]

I'm going to wait until Rob starts making PMV11 pencil sharpener blades...

[David Weaver]

Some of you guys could cheat a little and rob the end off of an old hss planer blade. I don't have any dud pooped out blades to do that, but I have gobs of O1 that's not big enough for anything good.

[Trevor Walsh]

I have a bunch of dull hss planer blades, I chopped them up, pieces are about 1.5" long 3/4 wide and 3/64 thick. They are double sided.

Anybody want some? I also have the whole 12" knives that I can cut down to something specific. I'll mail them free in an envelope domestically.

I'd like to have a crack at this too. Thinking cap applied.

[george wilson]

I have a very effective pencil sharpener: A razor sharp pocket knife.


WAIT!!! I got it!!! A chip breaker on my pocket knife!! This is going to be bigger than Google!!!!

[David Weaver]

I have a very effective pencil sharpener: A razor sharp pocket knife.

party pooper :)

[george wilson]

I was sitting outside the shoe maker's shop in the museum. I noticed the girl who worked there had a pencil with an extremely blunt point. I took her pencil and sharpened it to a long,very sharp tip. She ran back into the shop all excited,telling everyone they were not allowed to use her pencil!!

[Trevor Walsh]

Hah, I was hoping that ended with an "in her fervor of excitement, she ran to scribble a doodle and broke the point." The actual ending is pretty good too. I use mechanical pencils for a lot of work, and I always have one, a pen, a 6" starret rule, and a knife on me. I look at people who ask for a pen/pencil or struggle with dull pencils like they are daft. What sense do you have not carrying a pocketknife?!

[John Coloccia]

BTW, is Lee Valley the only source for a decent pencil these days? The junk I get at the office supply places are uniformly junk. I can barely even sharpen half of them. The lead breaks, they're off center, etc etc. I have a little stash of the LV pencils that seem to be much better.

[David Barnett]

Anyone up for it?

Might be. Two questions:

Time limit?

Must the cutter be metal?

[David Weaver]

No time limit. Cutter can be whatever you want it to be as long as you make by hand and don't run it off of a mill or edm machine or something.

[Paul Saffold]

"I use mechanical pencils for a lot of work, and I always have one, a pen, a 6" starret rule, and a knife on me."

And a pocket protector?:D

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

BTW, is Lee Valley the only source for a decent pencil these days? The junk I get at the office supply places are uniformly junk. I can barely even sharpen half of them. The lead breaks, they're off center, etc etc. I have a little stash of the LV pencils that seem to be much better.

Art stores, craft stores, or the drafting/art section of someplace like Staples. I like Derwent pencils, the last Staedtler's I used were nice, too.

I suppose it's a good way to spend more than you should, but I don't go through enough pencils for me to really feel the pinch. I'm also really cheap, so I always have some clutch holders around to use up the last little nib of pencil.

[David Barnett]

No time limit. Cutter can be whatever you want it to be as long as you make by hand and don't run it off of a mill or edm machine or something.

I can easily saw synth ruby with a diamond wheel in my eggbeater, then lap, bevel and polish by hand. Should be fun and I already have a buyer. :)

[Bill Houghton]

crossgrain/endgrain cuts, so none needed :)

(won't see me say that very often!)

One of the easiest ways to make one might be to make something with rare earth magnets that sticks to the bottom of a plane. attach it, sharpen your pencil, take it off and put it back in the drawer.

Well, OK, but then the bevel up/bevel down/straight/skew questions arise.

Wandering onto a tangential topic, I am always bemused when I see references to the sharpeners for carpenter's pencils that put a fine point on the pencil; a real demonstration of not understanding tool's (pencil's) function.

[David Weaver]

Yeah, I'd assume that nobody here is going to put a point on a carpenter's pencil, but I could be wrong. I sharpen those with a purpose built sharpener that makes a blunt point. But I don't use them for anything other than something like sawing 43 inches off of a board when I want 42 inches of finished length.

As mentioned by others, I almost exclusively use a 0.5mm mechanical pencil if the board isn't rough. I've got lead holders, etc, but the mechanical pencil and a marking knife seems to be the most functional combination.

Of course, this is a group of people who might get tied up in things like spill planes, so parsimony isn't required in this contest. Presume that the sharpener will be for normal #2 type lead school type writing pencils, but if someone wants to do a carpenter pencil, that's fine, too.

[David Weaver]

How well does the ruby tolerate stuff like pencils, does it microchip?

[Jack Curtis]

Can't believe I'm the first one to say this, but isn't pencil sharpening something that chisels are good at?

[David Weaver]

Yep, used those before, too, they work well. Esp. on carpenter pencils when the plastic sharpener gets lost in shavings.

[David Barnett]

How well does the ruby tolerate stuff like pencils, does it microchip?

If the blade geometry and polish is correct, ruby'll hold up well. Ruby swivel knives had been used for years but many of those left much to be desired, the finish being so rough as to glide less well than now more affordable ceramics. My ruby-bladed gramil and cutting gauges glide beautifully, though, have never chipped and have never needed regrinding after high silica woods, nor have my marking knives chipped, but those were sharpened then slightly radiused to my taste—I don't like sharp marking knives. My favorite marking knife is a dull bone-handled vintage Queen peanut, by the way.


So really, ruby/sapphire cutters are little more than a novelty—nothing approaching necessity, obviously. At any rate, the extra-thick ruby'll look terrific in an Argentium® sharpener on an opera or sautoir chain, which is the whole point of my exercise, I'll admit—that and fabricating it all by hand. Besides, what better excuse for making snakewood and ebony pencils with crimped silver ferrules?


Thanks for serendipitously proposing this, David—I needed an idea for teachers.

[David Weaver]

The thing that made me think about it was my experience with the cheap thread boxes. Sure, they don't cut the thread the right proportions, and sure a lot of them don't cut very well out of the box, but if you take the time to pull the cutter out of them and sharpen them on a good hard finish stone and work the inside of the bevel with a shaped abrasive, they cut like crazy, zip right down a dowel and with no broken threads. Shame that people think they're worthless, it's only the last 2% of the job that wasn't done right on them.

So, those pencil sharpeners that have visible serrations on their crappy blades, and that cut the grain and crush it at the same time, wonder what they'd work like if they were made properly? I've got to think they'd work a treat with a sharp blade. I'm glad you're participating, you've always got a robust varied perspective that we don't get anywhere else.

[Trevor Walsh]

The knives are always folders for the EDC purpose, and the ruler sits just right in my pocket to not stab me in the leg. I wear jeans every day. I had a ruler holder that eventually broke from having a slightly too wide ruler in it. so I'm looking into another one.

[David Barnett]

... if you take the time to pull the cutter out of them and sharpen them on a good hard finish stone and work the inside of the bevel with a shaped abrasive, they cut like crazy...

Right, and not at all hard to get a polished bevel. The insides of the V need to be flat and smooth and if you can get a decent polish, so much the better. Getting rid of burs left by the manufacturer is the difference between not working at all and working amazingly well.


So, those pencil sharpeners that have visible serrations on their crappy blades, and that cut the grain and crush it at the same time, wonder what they'd work like if they were made properly? I've got to think they'd work a treat with a sharp blade. I'm glad you're participating, you've always got a robust varied perspective that we don't get anywhere else.

Ah... there are good sharpeners, of course—cheap, too. I have several KUM sharpeners, both simple* and so-called specialist—I'd hate to be without my KUM Automatic Long Point Pencil Sharpener, http://www.pencilrevolution.com/2006/06/review-of-kum-automatic-long-point-sharpener/—which led me to discover that, as I had suspected (we jewelry designers do a lot of searching—there's so little that's new), silver pencil sharpeners have indeed been done and not only done but done with a KUM blade. Monika Wyndham's ring:

http://monikawyndham.com/mw_portfolio/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/SHARPENER_RING_MonikaWyndham.jpg

So while I still might make one ruby-bladed sharpener pendant (mine would look nicer), the thrill is gone—I don't do knock-offs unless you consider ancient Etruscan or Mycenaean replicas to be knock-offs—so I'll rethink the challenge and see if I can find another wrinkle. Hmmm... maybe forge a really tiny Damascus billet with my jeweler's torch... maybe not.

By the way, while they do start in usable condition, you can improve the edges on KUM blades, as you'd likely intuit. No way would either of us not try it. :)

*http://www.cultpens.com/acatalog/Kum_Simple_Sharpeners.html

[David Weaver]

You're right, I try to improve the edge on everything, unless something comes with the quality of edge that a straight razor has (so brightly and uniformly polished and with absolutely nothing visible at the edge - as all of the finest edges appear, natural or otherwise, regardless of this "shiny vs. sharp" talk). So, I haven't actually found the latter - I try to improve the sharpness of everything. Even utility knife blades can be made much nicer to use in about 15 seconds, and can be resharpened pretty well the lazy man's way until they get steep.

I saw the kum sharpeners, almost bought one, but not yet. I am surprised to see one on a ring, though. I figured (in the realm of nothing being new) that at some point, someone made one of the style of sharpener you show above, and they probably made the first one nicer than any of the subsequent ones have been made. So much now isn't an issue of whether or not someone ever made something, but finding out when they made it well.

[Chris Griggs]

I try to improve the edge on everything....


I have on exactly two occasions received new/new to me things that I deemed sharp enough.

1) The razor I bought off you.

2) My 10" shun chefs knife that I got as a wedding gift. This was actually quite a surprise as the factory edge, even on good quality knives is often only "sharpish". This thing was popping hairs off my arms right out of the box, though still went back and stropped in on chromium oxide.

...but even I've never thought to try to improve the edge on a pencil sharpener...Maybe I'll need to give that a go :)

[Metod Alif]

David,
In competent hands a block plane or one of those 2" mini (borg) planes should do fine. My mom taught me how to use a pocket knife. An eye opener for (many) college kids.
Best wishes,
Metod

[David Barnett]

You're right, I try to improve the edge on everything, unless something comes with the quality of edge that a straight razor has...

For fellow members of the I've Bought A Tool Just To Sharpen It Club, this proclivity, this sickness knows no bounds. Yes, I've repointed both English and Czech lepidoptera pins to improve preserving those delicate iridescent scales, never mind sharpening glover's and other needles, refining microsurgery tools for netsuke carving, right down to making glass Ralph knives for thick and thin histological ultramicrotomy. Eagerly performing the latter for free is doubtless well past the warning sign stage.

Tip: For those wishing never to fall into these behaviors—do NOT buy a microscope.


I figured (in the realm of nothing being new) that at some point, someone made one of the style of sharpener you show above, and they probably made the first one nicer than any of the subsequent ones have been made.

Oh, I could so easily "different it up" and improve on it. But I'm vain, flawed—wouldn't want anyone to think I out-and-out copied Wyndham's idea. :)


So much now isn't an issue of whether or not someone ever made something, but finding out when they made it well.

Yeah, too soon for me.

Anyway, there are other easily-made-with-hand-tools-alone pencil sharpening paradigms to be explored, such as the swing-blade sharpener.

http://design-milk.com/swing-blade-pencil-sharpener/

[Trevor Walsh]

+1 I got a Thiers Issard 8" chefs knife for xmas, French made blackwood scales. And it was delicious out of the box.

[george wilson]

I used to sharpen a plastic surgeon's nose chisels,iris scissors,etc..

[Mel Fulks]

George, I hope he doesn't blame you for any of the "bad noses".

[Ben West]

Anybody try one of these?

http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?cat=1,42936,42452&p=68746

[Derek Cohen]

These days I use 2mm clutch pencils. The ones I prefer are the metal-bodied Caran d'Ache Fixpencil 22. These have become something of a cult as it was the daddy of clutch pencils.

I keep both dark- and white-leaded clutch pencils at the ready. White is especially useful for marking dark woods.

The lead is sharpened with a Gedess Lead Pointer, which I believe once won an award for design in the 1930s. The one I have dates to the 1950s. Insert the pencil and swivel it around the abrasive stone inside.

This combination creates a fine point, one that is easy to maintain.

http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ToolReviews/Anotsohumblepencil_html_749b2af0.jpg

http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ToolReviews/Anotsohumblepencil_html_53c92954.jpg



Recently I managed to repair my father’s electric sharpener. Well electricity is OK here because it is vintage (I’m guessing about 50 years old) and it brings back memories of visiting my dad in his architectural practice when I was a youngster. He used Faber Castell clutch pencils, and the sharpener is made by Faber Castell and constructed of Bakelite … insert the pencil and a pressure point starts the motor, which proceeds to sharpen the pencil.

http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ToolReviews/Anotsohumblepencil_html_2bcef540.jpg

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

I'm a big fan of 2MM clutch pencils as well; I think I've mentioned them here in the past.

I'm a fan of the Trupoint (http://www.trupoint.com/product1.htm) sharpeners, which I believe are still being made. The variable taper models lets you get a shallow or steep bevel as needed.

What are you using for white lead, Derek? The last couple I had I wasn't very fond of, but I can't remember what it was I had stumbled across. I need to order some more anyway.

[John Coloccia]

I personally use a Staedtler Mars 780 and a rotary lead pointer. I've been looking for white leads for a while, but the Staedtler I was familiar with are now discontinued.

[David Weaver]

I have a couple of lead holders (one is an alvin, and I can't remember the name of the other one), but i have two issues with them.
1) woe be to the person who drops one and breaks the lead inside the pencil
2) two of them is too easy for me to misplace.

While they're fun to use, I'd rather have 20 sharpenable pencils and 20 mechanical pencils floating around so that no matter where I am, I can pick up a pencil without having to walk around somewhere to get it.

I'm sure I don't have 20 of each of them, but the point is the same...same reason I'd rather have three or four good marking knives floating around at any time (good doesn't mean expensive).

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

I'm pretty much always wearing a hat (I never learned to deal with going bald early, and now I just feel naked without one) or a bandana when I working and it's hot so a pencil stays tucked behind my ear at all times in the shop or at work.

Never had the lead break inside my clutch, but the Staedtler I've been using does a pretty good job of holding onto small leads.

[Derek Cohen]

... What are you using for white lead, Derek? The last couple I had I wasn't very fond of, but I can't remember what it was I had stumbled across. I need to order some more anyway.

Hi Joshua

It's Staedtler. Very pricey - about 4 or 5 times standard grey/black.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[John Coloccia]

I haven't been able to find it in the US anymore. As far as I can tell, it's discontinued.

[Derek Cohen]

Hi John

Yes, it is very difficult to source. I cannot recall where I purchased it last. It was about 2 years ago.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[David Weaver]

So, this turns out to be a real pain in the arse if you use no power tools at all.

I cut a notch in a piece of scrap, and clamped two piece of steel to the top, one being the blade and the other being a second piece snugged close to the blade. The whole assembly works, but two issues pop up.

The mouth created by the blade and functionally the sole that's in front of it had better be in the right place (no surprise). The sole has to be slightly higher than the blade.

Then it does work to sharpen a pencil to an extremely sharp point, but it takes some finesse since the plencil is feeding in a V groove cut in the scrap, and not in a conical holder.

And then I found 24 kum metal pencil sharpeners with removable blades on ebay for $20 shipped today. So that settles that. Maybe revisit it later for fun when i don't have anything I have to make. I don't know what I'll do with 24, but I know I'll leave a couple at work, a couple in the shop and a few floating around elsewhere in the shop.

[Jon Shank]

Not to throw a shaving in the blade supply grease(did that even make sense?), but here is a source for pencil sharpener blade replacements. My wife (who reminded me of this) is an artist and all kinds of picky about her pencils and her sharpener. I got her a ten pack of replacement blades for her normal sharpener for about 3 bucks if I remember correctly. I'm pretty sure the shipping cost more than the actual blades. I think I ordered them through Amazon but the art supply house they came from is Hyatt art supply and the brand is M+R (made in Germany). Nice high carbon blades that hold up well. These are made for this specific sharpener, also M+R branded, but they are pretty generic(square on one end and about a 1/4 inch radius on the other, inside of the sharpener) if someone was looking for a blade option for their custom sharpener. Also, the sharpener from M+R, also bought through Amazon from Hyatt is a nice solid piece of brass with 2 different size apertures for 2 different sized pencils (one blade on each side) that feels nice in the hand (weighty enough) and sharpens the wife's pencils to her pretty bizarrely high standards (needle like point you can hurt yourself with and flat enough sides to lay the bevel down and cover large areas with lighter color). She's very pleased with the results and I'm very pleased with the cheap cost on a unit that will likely last forever, or the least a good long time.

Disclaimer: I got jack all to do with these, just thought I'd throw it out there for you guys. But they do make nice quality stuff. And mostly it was SWMBO telling me I really needed to get off my butt and put this up for y'all.

Jon