Swordfish 40100 Ikon Desktop Manual Pencil Sharpener, 8 mm

I was impressed with this sharpener. I got it to sharpen pastel pencils. Does a really nice job. You have to be aware of what you’re doing as it can sharpen the point to sharp. Pastel pencils will break if given too much of a point. After you realize when to stop it is easy to get the proper point repeated. I read on another review it is a good idea to sharpen a woodless graphite pencil periodically when doing pastel pencils to lubricate the sharpener. Pastel pencils are very abrasive so the graphite helps the helical blade last longer. Shavings are deposited in a drawer and it comes with a desk clamp. Another plus is when the helical blade does get dull it is replaceable. The auto stop feature can’t be used with pastel pencils but graphite pencils can take advantage of the auto stop which can prevent over sharpening. For standard 8mm diameter pencils. The pastel core kept breaking when I used a hand held sharpener. When I figured out how many turns of the handle needed that was no longer an issue with the pastel pencils. Great sharpener

I've used many different pencil sharpeners as I work in colored pencil and pastel pencils and almost all of them either broke or were impossible to get snapped leads out of. This sharpener is wonderful and easily creates a very fine point to all my pencils.

This sharpener worked excellent, until it broke. I have hardly used it. I was very happy with the sharp point but there are teeth where you insert the pencil that holds the pencil in place. My pencil was inserted and in the middle of sharpening when it suddenly snapped closed and the teeth will no longer come out to hold the pencil while sharpening. I love the idea of being able to replace the blade when it gets full, but my sharpener hasn't even lasted long enough for that to happen. I can still pull the front plate out, but there is nothing to hold the pencil still and I'm place. It is worthless now.

Hands down the best sharpener out there, I have bought so many, electric, all types , this one works so well with my color pencils, it doesn’t eat them up like an electric, makes a perfect point and saves so much money on pencils. It’s super easy to use and pays for itself by not wasting your expensive pencils. Save time and frustration buy this! You won’t regret it!

Nice compact size. This is excellent for most medium to hard lead pencils once you initially sharpen them so the point angle matches. The beauty of it compared to a power sharpener is once you get the profile, you can "top off the point" with a turn or two, provided it hasn't broken off. This means less pencil waste. When leads do break, it's really fast and easy to remove the crank. In most cases, you won't have to take the entire cutting mechanism apart--a tap will release the point. When you want to clean it, you will probably want to disassemble it, but there are only a couple of parts. It needs to be cleaned frequently as bits of lead seem to cling to it and get embedded in the points (mores o than in a standard hand-held sharpener). I tried this on the following pencils: Derwent Lightfast - great point but leads broke Derwent Coloursoft - great Polychromos - great Derwent Pastel - sharpened but tips break/need less steep angle Carbothello Pastel - sharpened but tips break/need less steep angle Pitt Pastel - great Prismacolor Premier - hit or miss. It broke two points yesterday. Is it the sharpener or the crap quality of the pencils?? Not sure. Verithin - great Art Grip Faber - great Caran - d' ache Pastel - you have to jam them in the too-small hole. While they do sharpen--this badly mars the pencil barrel (perhaps paper towel around the pencil would alleviate this?) Goldfaber - great Cretacolor Woodless - sharpened but tips break/need less steep angle Graphitone - great Various hexagonal standard graphite pencils - great Lyra Aquarelle - too big/won't fit Arteza Pastel Set - great Phoenixcolor - great Van Gogh Watercolors - sharpened but tips break/need less steep angle Pablo - works great on these, but as with other Caran d'ache, it mars the barrels really bad (padding maybe will help?) Derwent Artists - sharpened but tips break/need less steep angle Castle Soft Touch Watercolors - great Brunzeel Design - sharpened but tips break/need less steep angle Colour Tint - sharpened but tips break/need less steep angle Graphitint - sharpened great but tips are a bit brittle, may still be usable Conte' do not fit in this sharpener. General Charcoal and Pastel - I was able to fit some General's pencils in it, but the red General's sharpener does a much better job. Woodless pencils - it breaks the lacquer so you are left with a mess on hands and having to tape the barrel. That said, it sharpens most well--from graphite to colored ones. It did great on Prismacolor pencils (both kinds), and the Premier were able to handle the point, but I did get some tip breakage in use. Probably the Prismacolor sharpener is a better angle for Premier and most pastel pencils, in my opinion. Followup (see list above): I had two points break off yesterday. Frustrating. I got mixed results on the Derwent pastels. When they did sharpen, the point was too long. The point needs to be a greater angle so that more core supports the point. I feel this way about most soft pencils. The only pastel pencil hard enough to support this angle (that could fit in the machine) is the Pitt pencil. It ate up an expensive Derwent Lightfast and broke points, so I feel the same about this one. This sharpener works best with harder leads. It worked great with most watercolor pencils except the Van Goghs are brittle--plus Pitt pencils. It also did okay with Polychromos, which are hard enough to support a long point. I wish the build were a bit better. It feels a bit chintzy, but it's a good design. They make some other models sold under different brands including a more expensive one (with more metal parts) and adjustments for angles. I would probably hold out for that one, as it would probably work great for most slim-barreled pencils. The grip that holds the pencil is, I feel, what makes this superior to regular hand cranks. Reducing barrel movement makes it less apt to break points, although it is still quite possible to break them. Watch out for the spring mechanism as this could pinch your finger if you pull out the extension and release it. The clamp is a nice feature, but it comes loose because it's hard plastic (which will damage surfaces). I'm going to add some sticky rubber to it. Overall, it's a cool idea. I wish it could take the fatter round barrels and Caran D 'ache hex barrels could be sharpened without marring the barrels though. And I was disappointed that I couldn't sharpen all my pastel pencils, which I thought I could based on some reviews I saw. Not all pencils need a long-skinny point, and the point angle of pencils is rarely spoken of unless one wants a super point. This is NOT what is needed for soft pencils, however (in my opinion). I think consumers should pay attention to the angle manufacturers put on their pencils, as this is usually the optimal angle. I think for what it is, it could cost 10 less... Being able to buy replacement blades is a bonus. I'd opt for one with a bigger hole range and angle settings for softer pencils. Still, this is nice for all graphite pencils (except woodless) and medium to hard pencils, provided the barrel fits and they can support long points.

Well made and durable. Small enough to be portable. Outstanding points. Works well with colored pencils and does not break the leads. I really like the design of the pencil insertion point as it grips the pencil in place while sharpening.

I do not like sharpening my pastel pencils with a craft knife. This is the closest to a fine point I can achieve on my pastel pencils. They still sometimes break inside the mechanism and I have to disassemble and give it a good whack on the table to remove but still better than using the knife. In a 10 hour span of working with the pencils, I have to do this at least 5 times. I've had this sharpener for 2 months now and while time consuming, I am able to create some pretty fine lines (whiskers, hair, plant stems and leaves) in my art.

This sharpener is quite different from others on the market. But the difference is great for every colored pencils out there. I've used it to sharpen my high quality colored pencils and the lower quality ones that I used to start out. It never breaks the leads (even on the soft core pencils) and it doesn't chew up the wood. It stops when the perfect point is on the pencils and since it's a manual sharpener I can take it anywhere. I've tried a lot of sharpeners and this is the perfect one. If you are having trouble with other sharpeners ruining your expensive pencils, get this one and forget about ruining your pencils forever. I've had this sharpener for quite awhile now and it has never failed me. I can't say that about any of the others I have tried over the years. Get this sharpener and you will never be disappointed again.

Sacapuntas de manivela fiable. Saca buenas puntas, no tan puntiagudas como el de Derwent, ni tan pobres como algunos sacapuntas de precio similar. Este cumple de verdad, y bien, y no deja marca en el lapiz, como el Derwent. Solo tienes que afilarlo con un lapiz de grafito de vez en cuando, y seguira funcionando perfectamente. Lo vi en un video de un pintor pastelista conocido, y me decidí. Te saca del apuro sin problema, a excepcion de los lapices muy blandos, con los que hay que tener precaucion. El diametro esta bien, aunque con un lapiz conte, ya es otra historia. Salud¡

Very fine sharpener.have to see longevity

Love it so much !! Works great!

Ordinato a seguito di una buona recensione del pastellista Jason Morgan, consegna puntuale e prodotto integro. Molto soddisfatta dell'acquisto finora, ho temperato diversi Stabilo Carbothello (molto delicati e costosi) velocemente e con ottimi risultati. La particolarità delle matite pastello è la mina molto friabile che viene molto facilmente distrutta anche dall'affilatura a mano. Pro-tip, sempre da Jason Morgan: per "pulire" e manutenere l'efficacia delle lame di questo temperamatite, basta temperate una matita di grafite senza legno ogni 3-4 temperate di pastello (quando è nuovo, anche di più, dalla mia prima impressione). Inoltre ho notato che non è neanche necessario arrivare all'allentamento della manovella per ottenere una buona punta. Ottimo rapporto qualità/prezzo, vale la pena provarlo.

Als das Produkt kam, war ich etwas überrascht betreffend Qualität. Es fühlte sich eher minderwertig an und die Spitzmaschine ist sehr leicht. Die Kurbel etwas tief, um bequem zu kurbeln und beim Herausziehen des Stifthalters blieb er hängen, beim zurückschieben. Wenn man das kleine Halterung jedoch etwas nach innen drückt, geht er problemlos wieder zum Anschlag zurück. All diese kleinen "Unschönheiten" machen aber das Ergebnis mehr als wett. Aber das Ergebnis ist phänomenal. Die Spitzen sind extrem spitz und es bricht keine Miene mehr. Endlich Spitzen, die nach dem Spitzen nicht noch nachbearbeitet werden müssen, um endlich damit zeichnen zu können, wie ich das von den anderen Geräten kenne. Im Weiteren kann die Klinge ersetzt werden, wenn sie einmal stumpf werden sollen. Sie ist ebenfalls über amazon beziehbar (Artikel: Swordfish Ikon und Ebenholz 40908 Ersatzklinge) Nach verschiedenen Fehlkäufen und Ausprobieren habe ich nun endlich meine Spitzmaschine gefunden, ohne den ich nicht mehr sein möchte. Jeder, der ein Top-Gerät zu einem Top-Preis sucht, ist mit diesem Anspitzer mehr als gut bedient. Würde das Gerät jederzeit wieder kaufen.