Sometimes people forget that a pencil sharpener (or a craft knife) is just a blade like a razor or a kitchen knife. You wouldn’t dream of using the last 2 for long periods of time without sharpening the blades, but somehow we expect a pencil sharpener to last forever.
To use a pencil sharpener, keep the pencil and the sharpener in a straight line. Do not insert the pencil at an angle or the point will be subjected to unnecessary pressure and may break.
Pencil sharpeners work very well when new and sharp, but do not last nearly as long as people think. There are a couple of easy ways to check whether a sharpener is blunt:
Examine the wood around the pointed pencil. If the surface of the wood is smooth, then the sharpener is sharp. However, if the wood is rough or ‘furry’ then the sharpener is becoming blunt. A very blunt sharpener will produce a very rough surface on the pencil point.
Watch the shavings coming out of the sharpener. A good pencil sharpener will produce a long, continuous sliver of shavings. The blunter the sharpener the smaller the pieces of shaving become. If you start to see shard-like pieces coming out of the sharpener, then throw it away.
