KS Manual Pencil Sharpener

très bon taille crayon point de vu rapport qualité prix... car pas facile à en trouver sur le marché dans les prix moyens..... très satisfait de cet achat effectué il y a plus d'un an et qui fonctionne toujours aussi bien qu'au premier jour malgré un usage intense (plusieurs fois par jour)

The quality seems good, but it's very hard to use without fastening it to a table, and it has to be screwed into the table (making holes in the table).

2-3-18 I'm reviewing the X-acto Ranger 55 KS model. I wanted to purchase a sharpener that was quality made and did not need to rely on electricity or battery power. I have a daughter who loves to draw and seems in constant need of a sharpener. She has a few handheld ones that came with art kits and others that were purchased for school throughout the years. The handheld type always seem to break the point, right before the pencil becomes sharp. This has lead to a lot of wasted lead. No adjustments can be made to correct this issue either. The electric ones are nice too, and we have one, but somewhere over the years we lost the tray for the shavings, so it's not the "go to". Plus, she tends to over sharpen on those. I looked at a few brands and models and came across this. I read how heavy this model was, how it felt to be durable in construction.... well, I have to agree. The whole base and roller portion are the heavy and solid pieces of this item. The shaving collector is only a thick tin, but I'm totally OK with that. The rollers, crank, and base are what matter. I have already mounted it, and boy does it remind me of the old solid sharpeners we had in school, although.... this one doesn't wobble or squeak while using it. My daughter, my niece, and I have already tried it out. This thing is awesome! Within 3 or 4 rotations the pencils have a decent amount of point, especially with colored pencils. I posted photos of before and after, with the sharper pencils being shown are only after 3 to 4 crank rotations. For a writing pencil, I'd crank a couple more times though, but I had none on hand to test out. This came well packaged and even came with mounting hardware (3 screws), which I found convenient and overall EXCELLENT for the price. Under $10. shipped, for a decent, rugged tool! One more advantage, the face plate turns to accommodate different size pencils. You could properly sharpen the huge round preschooler pencils, which I always found hard to do in the past. I bought this from the seller "Amazon", which I feel is important to list this info. I've come across sellers with variances in their items, including knockoffs, even if listed as same brand. I'll post an update with a durability review. ***UPDATE*** 11-5-19 I've now had it for decent amount of time and the sharpener is holding up well. I expect it to last just as long as the ones we had in school. It's my daughter's favorite sharpener, as it usually does a better job than most of her handheld portable ones she'd keep in her pencil case. If I had to choose over again, I'd still make this exact purchase. I still plan to update as time progresses.

A real boon to anyone who loves drawing. Works well with a variety of pencils but not with charcoal or very soft pastel pencils. The Faber Castell and Carbothello pastel pencils can be sharpened easily as they are relatively hard. The Conte pastel pencils however will tend to break as the leads are too soft. It also sharpens coloured pencils, graphite pencils and watercolour pencils. The odd colour will tend to break off eg some cobalt blues tend to be brittle. If a lead breaks off the sharpener won't work properly and you'll need to disassemble it with a screwdriver (a Phillips head screwdriver) which only takes a second, then get the broken lead out by tapping the barrel against a hard surface. The barrel and helical blades need a bit of a clean every now and again with a stiff brush anyway. All in all, well worth having and very good value.

I remember that back in the 1970's how strong, durable and easy to sharpen to a long, tapered point this X-Acto sharpener was. Now with grandkids going to school and always needing to sharpen, I decided to invest the money in a "quality" sharpener. How times have changed! The metal is flimsy and easily bendable. I am guessing that if I need to change the pencil hole diameter often, it will not last very long. Trying to secure the base, the screwhead stripped on one. Another screw broke off at the head. I will need to buy new screws and will have a difficult time getting the stripped and broken screw out. Be sure to pre-drill holes for less aggravation, although you will still have problems. I am disappointed in my purchase.