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Thread: Pencil Sharpener

  1. #16
    The one Jim highlights is a great classic. It's nice because it screws to a worksurface or shelf. If you really want the perfect point, though, try this one. Carl Angel 5. The 'guide bushing' is something straight out of Incra. If you can get over the preciousness, it's really a cut above of the classic school house crank (which I have several of anyway)...

    Also try #4 pencil. So good for woodworking. Dixon Ticonderogas are cheap and take a hard and durable point.


  2. #17
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    I have accumulated more than a lifetime supply of these, since they stopped making them back in the '80's. I used to be able to buy boxes of any hardness I wanted from Mom, and Pop office supply stores. I panicked when they all went out of business, and started buying boxes whenever I could find them. You have to get used to not pushing down so hard, like newer pencils, but once you do, the line will go a Long ways. They changed the name from Mikado, to Mirado after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

    The graphite is super finely ground, and mixed with wax. They go for real money now, when you can find them. I can't stand Ticonderoga's. I almost never use a marking knife. If you leave, or take a fine no.4 line, as the need arises, you can't do much better. I always had trouble leaving a knife line. It does require good eyesight though.

    Some of the newer good ones in boxes on top of the miter saw box in the picture. The other explains the old manufacturing methods.
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Last edited by Tom M King; 11-12-2020 at 12:49 PM.

  3. #18
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    The one I mentioned in my previous reply is an old Boston.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  4. #19
    The old crank sharpener attached to the wall by the stairs came from the elementary school I went to, so it's at least 56 years old, still works great

    --got four school desks from the same school, I swear the things could hold up a semi
    ========================================
    ELEVEN - rotary cutter tool machines
    FOUR - CO2 lasers
    THREE- make that FOUR now - fiber lasers
    ONE - vinyl cutter
    CASmate, Corel, Gravostyle


  5. #20
    If you use low grade pencils in an electric sharpener ,you can grind the whole thing up with out sharpening it. Our Costco
    electric works fine. Some pencils that sharpen well won't write, keep some ink handy!

  6. #21
    Tom, thanks for posting that informative pencil making stuff. Old ads are often hilarious...but that means the people of
    the future will laugh at us.

  7. #22
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    I also use a hand crank for two reasons. One they seem to work better, but also because I use two types of pencils. The standard sized, but typically in a #3 so they stay sharper longer, but also the one shown below. The My First Pencil is about three times the thickness of a normal one, so the point is bigger and doesn't break as easy. When I am working out of the shop, I would always go through many pencils due to the tips breaking off. These big ones are more robust.


    index.jpg
    I am in love with Montana. For other states I have admiration, respect, recognition, even some affection, but with Montana it is love.... It seems to me that Montana is a great splash of grandeur....the mountains are the kind I would create if mountains were ever put on my agenda. Montana seems to me to be what a small boy would think Texas is like from hearing Texans. Montana has a spell on me. It is grandeur and warmth. Of all the states it is my favorite and my love.

    John Steinbeck


  8. #23
    Really like my Xacto as well. It works great. Get's everything very sharp. and is easy to dump. I have had electric and several hand powered, but I bought the Xacto, because my Dad had one for at least 20 years growing up.

  9. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Becker View Post
    Honestly...find a traditional "classroom" type pencil sharpen that you turn a crank. They work well and work every time. I have one in my shop that was left in the building by the previous owners, both who were school teachers.

    Example scarfed from Amazon:

    This is what I have in my shop slthough I have the vacuum mount.
    Brian

    "Any intelligent fool can make things bigger or more complicated...it takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." - E.F. Schumacher

  10. #25
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mel Fulks View Post
    Tom, thanks for posting that informative pencil making stuff. Old ads are often hilarious...but that means the people of
    the future will laugh at us.
    I have a whole collection of old Mikado/Mirado pencil adds, but that was the only picture I had in the gallery here.

  11. #26
    My old man and his old man built houses in the '30's and 40's,
    and so because of these things,



    My dad always sharpened pencils with one of these things-

    He was never without a pocket knife, and while I'm sure he did,
    I don't remember ever seeing him using a pencil sharpener...
    ========================================
    ELEVEN - rotary cutter tool machines
    FOUR - CO2 lasers
    THREE- make that FOUR now - fiber lasers
    ONE - vinyl cutter
    CASmate, Corel, Gravostyle


  12. #27
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    Quote Originally Posted by David Sochar View Post
    I use hand cranks. The best one has a spring loaded clamp arrangement that can be pulled, pencil inserted, released , and the spring pressure keeps the pencil in the cut as you crank with one hand. That came from my grandfather's garage.

    A trick he taught me with the handcrank pencil sharpeners is to counter rotate the pencil a few full turns as you are sharpening. This puts the point right in the center of the lead.
    That's the type I have and really like it, however in the shop I use 0.7 or 0.5mm mechanical pencils for almost everything.

    I also have a mechanical carpenters pencil that's used for marking on rough wood during the breakdown phase of the work....Regards, Rod.

  13. #28
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kev Williams View Post
    My old man and his old man built houses in the '30's and 40's,
    and so because of these things,



    My dad always sharpened pencils with one of these things-

    He was never without a pocket knife, and while I'm sure he did,
    I don't remember ever seeing him using a pencil sharpener...
    Those are great for rough carpentry. What you use to mark with will depend on the accuracy of the marking that's required.
    ~mike

    happy in my mud hut

  14. #29
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rod Sheridan View Post
    That's the type I have and really like it, however in the shop I use 0.7 or 0.5mm mechanical pencils for almost everything.

    I also have a mechanical carpenters pencil that's used for marking on rough wood during the breakdown phase of the work....Regards, Rod.
    I've never found a mechanical pencil that was satisfactory for wood working. Even the .7mm lead, which is too thick for my liking, breaks too easily. I'd love to find a .5 or even .3mm mechanical pencil that didn't chew through the leads. Any suggestions?

  15. #30
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    As seen, responses vary with how folks use pencils. The Carl Angle is sweet but, a good old Bostich or similar hand crank model will do you fine. I have a simple Boston electric sharpener that I like since I just have to poke the pencil in for a moment or two as I pass by. Lazy I know but, also convenient in that I don't have to set down whatever I am carrying at the time. Seems I am always carrying something.
    "A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg".


    – Samuel Butler

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