Freak369's Full Review: Staedtler Handheld Pencil Sharpener
You might not think that something so small could leave a red mark but I’ve got the battle scars to prove it! When my youngest proclaimed that he was done with automatic pencils [one too many snapped tips pushed him over the edge] he set out to find a good pencil sharpener that he could carry with him. He didn’t like the plastic ones with the pencil shaving cover on them [too childish] and he didn’t want one of the neon colored ones that they were giving away at the office supply store. No, this finicky little guy had to spend a good ten minutes mulling over the choices before I gave him a sixty second warning. “Pick something or I’ll pick for you” were the only words he needed to hear. He knew that if the choice were left up to me he’d get something “child like” just to embarrass him. Ever since then, he’s gotten revenge on me with this damn sharpener.
Staedtler Hand Held Single Hole Metal Pencil Sharpener
I will say this, this is a sturdy little pencil sharpener but it is made of metal so if you have a slightly mischievous child you may want to skip this when it comes time to stock up for back to school needs. No, it doesn’t weigh a ton but when it’s tossed at someone, say their head; it can leave a pretty nasty mark. The nicest thing about this sharpener is that it has indented grooves on the side so you can get a firm grip on it when you are using it. There is an opening at the end of it for lead scraps and pencil shavings to come out of and if you happen to snap off the tip in it, it can easily be removed. There is a screw that holds the blade in place so I am assuming that you can take this off and slide in a new blade to replace a spent one but so far I haven’t been able to find replacements for this, that doesn’t mean they don’t exist, I just haven’t tracked them down yet.
This should only be used for pencils – that means no crayons, pastels, art marking pens or eyeliner. Yes, I admit it, I ruined one of these when I lost track of my eyeliner sharpener and I grabbed this off my sons desk. I didn’t think that it would harm it but not even two hours later he walked into the kitchen, holding said pencil sharpener, and asked me [in a very stern tone] if I knew that the black gunk was on the sharpener. I played dumb, shrugged my shoulders and he stormed off doing his best impersonation of Dexter from Dexter’s Laboratory. I did end up buying him another one to replace the one that I ruined but now he hides if from me in case I can’t resist the temptation to use it for my eyeliner or lipliner.
These are pretty cheap too; most office supply stores carry them for under a dollar and we found these for .75 cents. Not a bad deal for something that works so well and is so easy to use. After all, we are talking about a pencil sharpener not some sophisticated piece of machinery. These are great for kids of all ages and a handy thing to have in the junk drawer in case you need to sharpen a pencil in a hurry. Most of the time when he is home he uses the Boston School Pro Electric Pencil Sharpener but when he is in a hurry or just to lazy to get up and walk down the hall, he grabs this instead.
Things To Know
• If you are shopping for smaller kids you may want to go with something that is plastic or that has some type of pencil shaving bin attached to it, this will keep messes to a minimum and they won’t be tempted to fiddle with the metal screw that holds the blade in place. Some schools might say that kids aren’t allowed to have these types of sharpeners because of the possibility that they could cause injury so make sure you read the school supply list carefully before sending them off to school with this.
The Bottom Line
I had to laugh when I saw some kids walking around the aisles of the office supply store, they had lists of things that they needed to get and one of them was a manual pencil sharpener. They all looked at each other dumbfounded, like someone tried to tell them about vinyl records or black and white television. When they asked the clerk where they could find manual pencil sharpeners he gave them a funny look, pointed to the aisle and moved on to the next customer. When I pointed them out to them they let out a gasp. “Wait, you mean we have to turn the pencil and hold that thing at the same time?”. I tell you, I felt as old as a dinosaur at the point and I saw it as a sign of fate to leave the store without checking the clearance section.
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