KUM Long Point Pencil Sharpener with Lead Pointer

The Pros: This is a great sharpener for a great price. It works in three stages. The first takes the wood down. The wood came off in long smooth ribbons. The second stage shapes the lead to a pin point. The third stage is a tiny hole (two sizes) referred to as lead pointers. I don't feel any resistance when I use it, so I don't quite understand the purpose. After stage two, the pencil is needle sharp -- so sharp that it's actually too fragile for writing right away. I can see that it might be more appropriate for an artist. I also used it on a standard pencil, a Tri-Conderoga and a colored pencil and it worked well on all. You do need a light touch with the second stage, or you could break the lead. There are replacement blades included in the case, and you can order even more from "pencilthings" online.The Cons: It doesn't fit large pencils (Dixon Tri-Conderoga). The case isn't meant to hold shavings. In fact the shavings are extruded on top of the blades, making it a little difficult to see the sharpening process without clearing them away. It retains them long enough to finish and tap them out into the wastebasket. The case feels sturdy, but I have to be careful not to put too much torque on the lid when I open it, as it feels as though it could break with too much pressure. I'm pretty careful with things, so I think it will be fine. And it lives in a drawer, not a backpack.Overall, I think they packed a lot of function into a small, good quality cased for the price. I love that I can replace the blades. I'm so sick of throwing things away because one part of it needs replacing. I posted a picture of a pencil I sharpened with it in the images above. I would recommend this to people who appreciate good engineering and/or who want a long, very sharp pencil lead.Update: I compared to the Faber Castell Trio Sharpener and this wins hands down! And it did a great job on soft lead "Test Scoring" pencils. With other sharpeners, the points break immediately.

Wow! This sharpener just came in the mail (and it's Sunday) and I am amazed at how ridiculously sharp the points are on my graphite drawing pencils now. A lot of people don't realize how difficult it is to find a good pencil sharpener around here because we all have our own use for them, whether it be for drawing or school work. Every sharpener I have invested in until now has been a very "Hit or Miss" situation or just sharpens things to an OK point some of the time and then unevenly sharpens or breaks the points the rest of the time. Not with this sharpener. This sharpener is perfect!What's great about this sharpener, as other reviewers have mentioned, is the 2-step sharpening process. Instead of just jamming your pencil into the abyss of your average everyday sharpener and hoping for the best, this sharpener uses one blade in hole #1 to cut back the wood from the graphite and then the other blade in hole #2 just to sharpen the graphite into a point. This way it doesn't break or shave unevenly. I have just sharpened all my graphite drawing pencils into razor sharp points with this sharpener AND it comes with an extra set of blades when these ones wear out.Long-term this is going to absolutely be worth the investment even if you don't want to be the guy spending 8 or 10 bucks on a sharpener. One of my biggest pet peeves is when I go to sharpen a pencil only to have it shave unevenly or the sharpener just consumes the entire pencil down to the eraser. I'm so excited that I don't have to worry about that anymore. I'll probably have to buy less pencils now because of this sharpener. What a relief!I'll definitely be buying another one of these very soon. I'm so glad I've found a sharpener that ACTUALLY WORKS! FINALLY!

I have around a dozen pencil sharpeners. This KUM pencil sharpener creates the finest point I've ever seen. It uses a two-stage sharpening process. Stage 1 (indicated on sharpener) perfectly shapes the wood. Stage 2 perfectly shapes the lead to a refined tip. And this is just the beginning. This sharpener also has two more smaller sharpeners. There are two small holes on each side for sharpening the lead for lead holders. Using the size 2.0 for my lead holder, I got as good a point as I've ever got from a sharpener as well. All this utility with quality and features to match. The internal sharpeners are all cast metal. The blades are polished and stamped "made in Germany" along with an extra set of sharpening blades contained within the unit (never get lost). All this in a nice compact shape that catches the shavings and at a reasonable price. It even looks nice. This might be the most perfect sharpener on the market. Recommended.

Delivered as expected and in perfect condition. I have tried many types and brands of sharpeners but this Kum two-stage is the best so far. Works just as described for most drawing pencils. The design prevents over sharpening which would simply waste pencil length. I do have a set of Caran d'ache Grafwood pencils that are slightly larger in diameter and are a tight fit in the sharpener but still work properly. The 2mm works well for sharpening mechanical pencils leads. While I don't currently have any 3.15 mm holders I am certain they would be handled just as well. The sharpener does come with one set of additional blades for the two-stage wood sharpeners stored in the sharpener body, very handy. The only downside would be the amount of shavings that can be stored before emptying, but that is a minor inconvenience since it keeps the items size down for portability. The sharpening mechanism is metal housed in plastic. Should be quite serviceable if handled properly. I would recommend this item for anyone interested in sketching pencils.