X-ActoKS Manual Pencil Sharpener

I love this pencil sharpener it's just like the ones we had it school. It's easy to use and very sturdy. You mount it to a wall or desk and it's ready to use. It sharpens your pencil in know time and they are very sharp. It is no louder than any other pencil sharpener.

good quality.

X-ACTO KS Pencil SharpenerWe own two of these sharpeners -- one is mounted on a wall in the garage and the other one in our tool storage room.Pros:- each sharpener brings a pencil to a fine point with little effort or time. Like most sharpeners, if you keep at it, the pencil will get shorter and shorter. It only takes a few turns for a nice point. One turn if the pencil is almost sharp.- adjustable for pencil diameter and easy to empty wood shavings.- wood shavings bin can be attached horizontally or vertically (see customer image).- inexpensive, making it a good buy.Cons:- the “frame” for the hardened steel cutters is zinc. Zinc is easy for manufacturers to work with as it’s plentiful, inexpensive, and has a low melting point -- but it’s among the weakest metals on the planet. E.g., zinc’s tensile strength is only 5,370 psi versus aluminum’s 42,000 psi or stainless steel 304's 90,000 psi. That zinc “frame” is a weak point. The frame should be aluminum.- the tiny screws provided are way too small. Mine went directly into the trash.Here’s one way to mount it to a masonry wall, for do-it-yourselfers:- Enlarge the base’s three holes to accommodate #8 or #10 machine screws, 7/8" long.- Use a scrap piece of 3/4" thick oak or maple 3.5" x 6" (approximately) for a base.... route an edge on the oak, via an ogee, round-over, or similar bit. (See Customer Image).... drill three holes in the oak aligning with the sharpener base.... install three Tee nuts on the rear of the oak base to receive the machine screws. Increase the hole size from the rear, ½ of the wood depth to receive the tee nuts. Use a Forstner bit to a depth of 1/16" for the tee nut base – so that the oak will lay flat.... mount the sharpener base to the oak using the machine screws and grind those screws flush from the rear.... remove the sharpener handle and set it, the mounting screw, and the cutter assembly aside.... drill two 1/4" holes into the oak to receive 3/16" concrete screws at least 2.5" long.... using the oak as a guide, drill a hole into the masonry (cinder block, brick, etc.) to proper depth using hammer drill and masonry bit.... put a washer on a the masonry screw and attach the oak to the wall.... level the oak, drill the second hole, and attach with a masonry screw – tighten both screws.... attach the cutter and handle to the sharpener – attach the wood chip bin – and you’re done.

I got so tired of replacing batteries in our electric pencil sharpener. Apparently they suck up a lot of energy and as a homeschooling family, that gets old quickly. I decided to go back to the tried and true sharpeners and came across this.My first impression is that it is cheaply made compared to the old school versions. However, it does work well still. Not sure it will last for decades but it’ll outrun my multiple packs of batteries, so I call it a win. Pencils come out nice and sharp.My only real complaint is that the screws they send with it are very short and SO cheap. Whatever soft metal they make them out of strips almost instantly, and I even pre drilled holes. These would not work on drywall, even over a stud as the screws are too short. Frustrated that they stripped because I cannot get the sharpener to attach to the wall without wobbling a little bit, making it hard to use the sharpener easily.Overall, still a good buy. I could have gotten different screws but I think the company should provide adequate ones from the start.

I have this to say: life is too short for shoddily manufactured pencils. Even the best pencil sharpener cannot redeem them. Sometimes one of those plastic-coated nightmares will come into our lives and give the children fits, despite their love for the shrink-wrapped graphics and the thrill that they won something, in their little hand-turning sharpeners. How do they make the lead break right when it's finally sharp? When the pencil is a fraction of it's original length, the child has settled for a flat-top lead that wobbles just a little. Or how about those pencils (do they still make these?) made of some kind of sawdust composite? Sharpening is not an issue but writing with one is like trying to push around a rubber rock. You'd have more luck trying to communicate with a burned match than with the ones where you can tell a light and dark half of the wood. I think they cut the shafts (or at least half the shaft) against the grain. People. Poorly made pencils are at every turn. You cannot swing a dead cat in today's classrooms without hitting one. If one of these little abominations makes it way into your pencil sharpener, do not damn the poor machine.Ahem. I'm very satisfied with this pencil sharpener. We gathered up all our pencils in need of sharpening, including the colored pencils, totaling more than 100 pencils in all, and gave them each a turn. The size selector was easy to work: you hold the tab against the face of the sharpener and turn to the appropriate size. All of the pencils sharpened smoothly, taking each about six cranks from dull to sharp. None of the leads broke and none sharpened off kilter (if the selected hole is larger than your pencil needs, this will almost certainly happen). A couple of them were the fatties like "My First Ticonderoga", a most excellent make of pencil in any model; one was a "Smencil", which is made of tightly wrapped paper; several were drawing pencils with soft lead grades like 4B and 6B. No problems. Even the plastic-shrink-wrapped "Minion" pencil received a stable, sharp point after only six turns. Maybe miracles do happen. We had no lower grade pencils to test, because they have been banished from the house like so many foreign gods.After these successes, I decided to try my pastel chalks in pencil form. The wood sharpened fine but the chalks--no surprise--were too delicate and broke. I decided not to try the charcoal pencils. I don't think I'd try make-up pencils, either.Now, the shiny metal part that catches the shavings is easy to take off and put back on but is thin. I don't see where this is a drawback. I'll not calling it flimsy, because it holds together and does the job. I'm not looking for an iron-clad shaving catcher to cast in my next action motion picture, clanking in my backpack while I hang from a sheer rock face. I can imagine the thing could be smooshed by a careless foot in a series of slapstick accidents, but I'm not going to waste my life living in fear of that moment, because this thing cost $10.48 plus tax, and because slapstick accidents are usually entertaining. I confidently recommend the X-Acto Model KS Table- or Wall-Mount Pencil Sharpener (1031).