Helix Metal Desktop Sharpener for Standard and Jumbo Pencils (Assorted Colours)

Product Information

Like the X-ACTO School Pro, the Gold Sovereign Electric Pencil Sharpener boasts a quiet operation mode and six pencil holes for sharpening various sizes. This sharpener emphasises classroom safety with an automatic shut-off feature when the shaving cup is removed and has rubber feet to ensure no slipping and sliding on the desk. This Faber Castell Easy Grip Trio Sharpening Box is made from strong yet lightweight plastic. It features three holes: one for sharpening coloured pencils, one for regular-sized graphite pencils and one for jumbo pencils. It did well in our tests and is very portable. This sharpener is small, economical and portable. Like many of the plastic pencil sharpeners we sell, the colour of the item might vary. A real fan-favourite on our team, the X-ACTO School Pro Electric Sharpener means business when it comes to sharpening pencils. Teachers were explicitly involved in designing this durable sharpener to ensure safety and suitability for little hands. It also has a large capacity for pencil shavings, which means fewer trips to the bin throughout the day. Best of all, it features quiet operation to minimise classroom disruptions – yes, please!

Our very own Teach Starter Resource Production Manager Natalie Brown also raves about this sharpener, saying, ‘I had the X-ACTO Pencil School Pro Electric Pencil Sharpener, and it lasted me YEARS! I loved it!’ This innovative and portable Jakar sharpener combines a reservoir sharpener with an eraser, which has a plastic cap to keep it clean. It is suitable for use with standard diameter pencils.You'll also want to consider whether or not you want a simple portable tool to keep in your bag or something more sophisticated to display on your desk or attach to the wall of your office. And if buying pencil sharpeners for a shared work space, you may want to pay attention to noise considerations from electric pencil sharpeners, which can be grating on the ears of those who aren’t using them. This single hole sharpener has a lightweight magnesium blade and a sturdy glass jar to catch the pencil shavings. Teach Starter teacher community member Kevin Collins says the ‘X-Acto® School Pro Electric Pencil Sharpener is the best! It has multiple sizes that it can sharpen, rarely jams, and is super fast.’

These sharpeners are small and portable. They range from large plastic models for use with Jumbo pencils, to sharpeners for pastel pencils, which have softer leads that cannot hold a fine point. (note: the round Faber-Castell UFO sharpener is no longer available.) The Faber Castell Lead Pointer is a miniature blade sharpener for use with 2mm clutch pencil leads. It is extremely small and portable, and can be mounted on a keyring. In fact, if you don’t mount it on a keyring or something similar, I imagine it would be very easy to misplace. It’s far less practical than the Mars 502 Lead Pointer Tub pictured below. The sharpener revolves: it can be turned inwards so that it does not leak graphite dust through the blade aperture. To empty the pencil shavings from the (very small) reservoir, simply swing the sharpener outwards and pull it off the main unit. Our favorite sharpener has been updated since testing. The revised model, pictured above, has sleeker aesthetics and the pencil diameter knob has been redesigned for easier turning. We're linking to the updated X-ACTO School Pro in our review.The X-ACTO School Pro Electric is a workhorse pencil sharpener made for high volume usage across a variety of pencil types, including color, graphite, and charcoal of varying hardnesses. This unit has six preset pencil diameters covering a wide range of sizes up to 10 millimeters. The shavings are collected in a large, clear container, so it's easy to see when it needs emptying. This machine helps combat oversharpening (and thus, pencil waste) by disengaging the "fly away" spiral blade once it achieves a fine point. The KUM Long Point uses two separate sharpeners in one unit. It first renders the wood into an elongated cone and then shaves the lead to a fine point. The palm-sized sharpener easily fits into a briefcase or tote, and the clear shavings bin allows you to see when it's time to empty the filings. The sharpener is designed for the 2- and 3.15-mm lead common to art pencils but can handle 8 mm diameter pencils as well.If you’d instead not rely on an electrical sharpener and don’t mind putting some elbow grease into it, a manual pencil sharpener like the Carl Angel-5 Pencil Sharpener might be for you. Known for its durability and sharpening performance you can count on, teacher Tel A. Bel from our community told us that her Angle-5 lasted 40 years. Wow! One easy way to minimise the amount of time students spend out of their chairs sharpening pencils is to make sharpening a job that just one or two students do each week. When a pencil breaks, students can place it in an assigned spot in the classroom where the official pencil sharpener can set it right. This Jakar pencil sharpener has a single hole and a stylish ergonomic design. It has a reasonably small chamber for pencil shavings, but is otherwise very well designed. This KUM Double Metal Sharpener pencil sharpener is made of metal and has two steel blades. It will fit any 7 mm and 9 mm pencils.

This Faber Castell 9000 sharpener has two sharpening holes and is suitable for coloured pencils and graphite pencils. It has a compartment which will catch the shavings from wood-clad pencils. When not in use, the sharpening apparatus will slide down into a plastic case so that graphite dust cannot fall out of the sharpening holes. The case of the missing pencils will always be a classroom mystery! To help combat this, assign every student in your class a unique number and then mark all their pencils with it. This will help endless digging around in the pencil bag and save time organising pencils to be sharpened, too. Set up a Smart Pencil Sharpening Station One thing to keep in mind? Electric sharpeners are often noisier than their manual counterparts, which can cause a disruption! We’ve made sure to consider the noise factor in what we consider ‘best’ on this list. X-ACTO School Pro Electric Sharpener This double-hole sharpener is suitable for use with 7 mm and 9 mm pencils. It is light and very economical.This Staedtler Pencil Sharpener is designed for use with regular graphite pencils. It is a single-hole sharpener with a reservoir for graphite and wood shavings and a cap to stop dust leaking from the sharpening hole when not in use. Once the reservoir is full, simply press the button on the side to release the lid then empty the sharpener into a bin. It’s made of plastic, but this sharpener has an air of solid dependability about it.

Our analysis of pencil sharpeners relies on four metrics to examine all aspects of a good pencil sharpener. Specifically, these are convenience, lead type, pencil diameter, and shape, as well as sharpness and point type. Under each of these broad categories were carefully designed tests to provide a full understanding of each machine and who it will best suit. For the details of each metric and the machines that performed best, please continue reading. Convenience We know just how overwhelming shopping for the right pencil sharpener can be, especially with so many different types to choose from!Note that the red pencil peeler pictured is no longer available, but the same model is available in silver This Derwent Twin Sharpener can be used to sharpen pencils of 7 mm and 8 mm diameters. It has a lid to stop lead dust falling out of the sharpening hole, and a larger reservoir than most sharpeners. It would therefore be perfect for longer sketching trips or for those who sharpen their pencils very regularly. In the following table, an ‘X’ entry indicates that a pencil and sharpener are incompatible. Either the pencil won’t fit, or the sharpener will only chew it and break the lead off. The most versatile was the Jakar Trio 3 Way Pencil Sharpener, which sharpened all of the pencils nicely. The other sharpener which shared the same design, the Faber Castell Easy Grip Trio Sharpening Box, was also very effective on pencils of different sizes.