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. Without a doubt, the electric X-ACTO School Pro is the most convenient of all the sharpeners reviewed here. While the unit only uses a single spiral blade, its construction is entirely metal — a more robust design, to be sure.

Helix Metal Desktop Sharpener - Ryman Helix Metal Desktop Sharpener - Ryman

For our purposes, it covers aspects of sharpeners such as the number of hands needed to operate the machine, how noisy it is when sharpening a new pencil, how long it takes to bring a new pencil to a point, and the size of the shavings bin. We looked at everything from size, shape, and the lead type that the machines can accommodate to their noise output, durability, and sharpening time.So, whether you're a finish carpenter looking for a wide-angle tip for rough surfaces or a sketch artist looking for a long, fine point for detail work, there is a sharpener here for you. Despite how impressive we found this sharpener, the suction cup feet often required resetting on our smooth desktop. Pencil makes writing fun with a stylish Math equations design making it a great addition to any pencil case.

Helix Metal Desktop Sharpener for Standard and Jumbo Pencils

Fortunately for those who want options, the OfficeGoods sharpener has three settings (blunt, medium, and sharp) so you can make task-specific decisions. The machine sharpens fairly fast (7 seconds for an 8 mm graphite pencil) and, perhaps best of all, you can set the tip angle to blunt, medium, or sharp to match your intended use or preference. Under each of these broad categories were carefully designed tests to provide a full understanding of each machine and who it will best suit. Both units are travel-sized and offer a fair amount of flexibility to sharpen different pencil types. From erasers , ballpoint pens , notebooks , pens and pencils , journals , pukka pads , scientific calculators , academic calendars and more.While we like the look of the Personal, the tapered sidewalls make emptying a full tray a messy affair.

Pencil Sharpeners | Metal Pencil Sharpeners | Ryman® UK

That said, we think this machine is a good product all around for those sharpening a diverse pencil selection to a variety of point angles. For example, we timed how long it took to sharpen a standard pencil, how much noise the machine produced, and whether the blade included an auto-stop mechanism to prevent over-sharpening. The ultimate pencil sharpener here is the KUM Automatic AS2, which sharpens in two stages: first the wood, then the lead. The single blade digs into the pencil forcefully enough to make holding a pencil stationary relatively difficult.

We like several features of the Ranger, but for some users, these same features could be perceived as drawbacks. Unfortunately, the feet of the AFMAT are not very grippy, which makes using it a two-handed operation — one to hold the machine in place and the other on the pencil. This model can handle a variety of pencil shapes, sizes (up to 8 mm), and types (color, graphite, and soft charcoal).