I have an old hand cranked Boston in my shop. It works fine. The electric one I had at work really worked well,too. Must be getting lazy. Most of my life I used a knife. Super fine points can be made quickly with a bit of 220 grit garnet paper to "strop" on.
If you have ever studied old drafting books(I taught it at one time),there are quite a few different points you can put on a pencil.