In 2002 a giant version of the Faber-Castell 9000 pencil set the record for the world’s largest pencil. It is housed in a specially built glass building to show it off in all its glory. The pencil was built from local Malaysian timber and the graphite core was manufactured in Germany and then shipped to Malaysia. If you want to see the pencil it is at the Faber-Castell building in Subang Jaya, Malaysia. For canister sharpeners the only other maintainance will be making sure that you empty the removable bin regularly. Helical Pencil Sharpeners It may not be a world record holder but the folks at Casey Illinois are certainly proud of their giant size pencil. It is proudly displayed at 19 W Main St, Casey, Illinois 62420 USA. The tip of the pencil is sealed in a see-through reinforced cone to protect it.

M&R’s Pollux Long Point Brass Pencil Sharpener has a unique concave design that sharpens pencils to an extra long, super fine point.Some types of pencil require different types of pencil sharpeners. If you’re using larger or smaller than standard pencils you might need to get a sharpener with a different size hole. Some soft lead pencils may also require a blade that is a more gentle to avoid chips and broken leads. Soft leaded pencils, like pastel pencils, require a delicate touch. Use a standard sharpener and you could end up with a chewed up pencil and a pile of pastel powder. Electric sharpeners can be either mains or battery powered. Any sharpener using mains power, like our Electric Pencil Sharpener, you can really only use in the studio. They’re quite bulky, and you’ll always need a power outlet nearby. Both our battery powered models ( Derwent and Jakar) are much more lightweight. However, they are still more bulky than a standard sharpener and aren’t exactly what most artists would consider to be ‘portable’. There’s nothing stopping you popping one in a bag and taking it on your travels though – although some extra batteries might be worth taking too. Miscellaneous and Specialist Sharpening Tools Like with most other sharpeners, you’ll begin sharpening your pencil by placing it in the aperture at the front. With a crank sharpener the pencil is held in the hole using a clip mechanism that releases from the front of the machine. You can usually activate this via a pincer grip that protrudes slightly from the top of the sharpener. As you turn the crank the pencil will feed into the sharpener. In some models the feeding mechanism will stop automatically once the pencil is sharp. Detail of the point adjustment tool on a manual crank sharpener. Read below to see a comparison of all our sharpeners and it should help you find the perfect sharpener for you. What are the different types of pencil sharpener?

A blunt blade can damage your pencil and leave a less than satisfactory point on the lead. But how can you tell if a sharpener is blunt? Two good indicators are the wood around the point of your pencil and the shape and size of your sharpenings. With manual sharpener it’s pretty easy to locate and get rid of any shards of lead or wood trapped in the blade. If there are any indications that your sharpener is dulling, most artists just choose to dipose of the old sharpener and replace with a new one. Especially given that most are fairly inexpensive. With more expensive models (like most of our M&R brass sharpeners) there are often replacement blades available. Using replacement blades is a great way to cut down on waste and keep your sharpener in tip top condition. The wood around the point of your pencil should be smooth. If it is smooth then the blade in your sharpener is sharp enough. If the wood looks a little rough or furry then that’s a sign that the blade on your sharpener is dull. Some crank sharpeners also include a tool to adjust the length of the point on your pencil – so you can choose anything from a super sharp, long point to a short, more blunt point. This mechanism is usually controlled through an adjustable screw at the base of the handle.

The world’s largest coloring pencil is located in the UK at the Derwent Pencil Museum which opened in 1981. Their star attraction the giant yellow coloring pencil was made by the Derwent Pencil factory for the museum in 2oo1.