Caran d'AchePencil-sharpening Machine (455.200)

This sharpener exceeds all expectations and if you’re thinking about buying one, just do it I promise it’s worth it. It’s so well-made and beautifully crafted capable Of sharpening my colored pencils and pastel pencils perfectly.It’s certainly worth the money!

One day, I was shopping for a good pencil sharpener.I had an old school house Boston that did an adequate job. In fact, it did a very good job, most of the time. But if you were not holding the pencil square with the hole then there would be too much wood up the one side almost to the tip of the point. Sigh...So I kept looking, and searching. I didnt want no stinkin electric made in China junk.Then I saw this Caran d'Ache manual crank pencil sharpener.Made in Switzerland, all, metal, good quality they said. But, I said to myself, this is obscenely expensive. How can I, a blue collar factory worker, justify spending over $100.00 on a pencil sharpener?Especially with everything going on in the world, famine , pestilence, war.It just does not seem right. It might even be immoral. What if my family finds out?Then I reasoned, look, I said to myself, I use pencils every day, I need them to be sharp! OK, OK, I went for it. I ordered one.A couple weeks later, one morning, I was making coffee. I happened to glance out the window towards the street and a black Caddy Escalade with tinted windows stopped in front of my house. This strange looking guy in a black suit gets out of the passenger side, and hurries right up to my front door carrying a small package. Then he turns and almost runs back to the SUV.I bolted to the door, opening it just as they were screeching away!I looked down and saw a small red box.I picked it up, looked around for any nosey neighbors watching and closed and locked the front door.I cleared the table and opened the box. It was the Caran d'Ache pencil sharpener. It was heavy and looked like a real good quality item.I grabbed a bunch of pencils and started sharpening them. The expandable chuck holds the pencil nice and straight. It puts the exact same perfect point on every pencil, every time! Amazing!But there was more. As I was sharpening, I started to notice that when I removed a sharpened pencil from the chuck it seemed to be glowing. I could also feel a vibration as I held the pencil in my hand. This was too weird! I started to feel dizzy after sharpening five or six pencils. I stopped for fear of passing out.As a couple weeks went by, I sharpened a handful of pencils every day.The same faint glow, and vibration coming off the pencils after sharpening them. These odd characteristics lasted maybe five or ten minutes, and also was followed by my dizzy spells.I was using the pencils daily in work. People started acting differently around me. Good looking women, who never noticed me before started saying hello, even winking at me some times!My boss started commenting on how my work had improved lately.I have to say after a month with this sharpener my life has improved dramatically!In fact, I'm convinced there is something very different about this pencil sharpener. That's right.This is Alien technology!The government is somehow using people as test subjects for this Alien technology that has been built into these sharpeners.I find myself drawn to the sharpener. I have to sharpen pencils. If I cannot find an unsharpened pencil to sharpen, I start breaking the points off my pencils just so I can sharpen them!I know it sounds crazy! What am I supposed to do?So that's it.I have to go sharpen some pencils. Where are those pencils. I need more pencils. pencils pencils pencilsc penilscspemnxilsslas......aha, hahaha, aaahhahahahahahahahaha ahaha...........[two weeks later] sorry about that. I see I never finished this review.OK. I have not left the house in two weeks. I keep the lights all off. I just sit in the corner, in my chair in the dark, with the pencil sharpener on a small table in front of me. There are sharpened pencils all over the place, the floor, everywhere.I know they are coming back for me soon. Not sure how I know this. I just do. The men in the black Caddy SUV. If they were men! I'm not at all sure about that. That they were men.What's that?! I think I hear something outside!

The review by "Reader of November 9/ 2016" was extremely helpful and prompted me to order this magnificent pencil sharpener.It has arrived in great order and have just figured out how to operate it for my top of the line Caran d"Ache Luminance colored pencils.Truly Swiss Workmanship and Design!I have not yet clamped it down with the clamp provided as I want it to be more mobile as I want to use it in various locations.I rotated the center pin inside the Rotary Handle anti-clockwise to sharpen Colored pencils as per sticker on the Sharpener. the pin will extend out further.For graphite pencils, this pin needs to be turned clock-wise to fit further into the Rotary Handle!It is also suggested to clean the cutter of the sharpening mechanism every once in a while with graphite type pencils to avoid wax "build-up".All in all it is like "a piece of art", heavy duty and for me well worth the money spent!

It worked for 2 weeks and sharpener broke, shipped back to seller never heard a word after that. No refund and no sharpener SCAM SELLER!

This machine is so solid and smooth that sharpening a good pencil becomes oddly satisfying. I’ve had cheaper, competent electric sharpeners but as a professional artist I go through lots of pencils and those cheaper models have always failed sooner than expected, so the extra cost not only buys obvious quality but I expect it’ll be the last sharpener I’ll need to buy. Absolutely worth every penny!

I bought this because I love all things Caran D’Ache. It is beautifully made, solid and sharp. The clamping mechanism is trouble free ( no wiggle) however the pencil lead doesn’t go to an absolute point. I have the adjustment all the way to the left, but there is still a flat end. This is disappointing (pun intended). I am a professional artist, and it matters. I could buy anything and sandpaper the pencil to a point, which is what I was trying to get away from having to do. But as a utilitarian sharpener it’s great.

I purchased this pencil sharpener essentially for artist quality colored pencils. After reading reviews and such, I realize that this perhaps isn't necessarily meant for such wax or oil based pencils, but have also read enough reviews to know that people do use them this way. I do sharpen graphite pencils every once in a while to "clean" the sharpening blades. Prior to this, I have used mostly handheld sharpeners with a single blade for my Caran D'ache Luminance, Prismacolors, FC Polychromos, Derwent Inktense, Stabilo pastel pencils amongst others.These do work wonderfully for colored pencils and much easier on the hands than the little handheld sharpeners I used to use. I have not experienced breakage with Prismacolors and I like the fact that you can adjust sharpness of the lead. The construction of the sharpener is solid (steel, I believe) and well made. It is impressive that the pull out tray edges for the pencil shavings is not welded or glued but precision cut and bent. It is tight enough that the shavings stay put and even though the edges are not bound together (it is possible to lightly push to see that they are not bonded).All in all, it is a quality product. Sure, there are others of the same style that can likely do the same that cost significantly less. I can't comment on whether the performance of this pencil sharpener justifies the price relative to those other sharpeners. I do know that I'm happy with the purchase, it is a well made piece that has done what I wanted it to do, sharpen my (not so cheap) artist quality pencils to a nice point without too much effort or breakage.