How to Sharpen Pencils

by David Rees

  Our stubby friend, second from the left, was the quickest point to produce, and the only one that didn’t require a separate finishing stage for the exposed graphite. As you can see, the graphite and wood form a single plane—a sure sign that the point was produced via rapid cuts from the collar bottom toward the top of the pencil, cutting wood and graphite simultaneously. (This calls for an extremely sharp knife.) Indeed, this “quick and dirty” point can be produced in a matter of seconds; its savage utility makes it a favorite of the harried woodworker or housewife—though its minimal graphite exposure will require constant maintenance and renewal, and as such is not recommended for languid poets of the Romantic school.

  Third from the left we find an unusual point, a provocative showcase of elegance and brute force. (Readers are invited to join me in referring to this point as “the Lamborghini Countach,” in honor of the legendary Italian sports car whose image occupied my every waking moment from ages twelve to fourteen.) This example is remarkable for the low ratio of graphite to exposed cedar: approximately 1:5. This ensures a point that can withstand greater than normal pressure in application, as most of its graphite core remains buttressed by wood. The flattened tip further suggests its use for intense, heavy mark-making—it is easy to imagine this pencil in the calloused hands of the contractor, the butcher, or the shack-dwelling megalomaniac with ideas to share.

  The complicated point on the far right offers no less than four discrete surfaces for mark-making. It is ideal for the artist who works quickly and intuitively, and desires “many pencils in one.” Its resemblance to the beveled blade of a broadsword promises its inclusion in many a dungeon master’s Trapper Keeper.

  Now that you have some sense of the variety of pencil points available to the skilled pocketknife user, I encourage you to use the space below to sketch out some “fantasy pencil points” you’d like to try making.

  In plotting your pointing strategy, ask yourself how collar-bottom location, blade angle, stroke length, finishing process, and other technical considerations will inform your creation. (The dotted lines represent the graphite core; keep this in mind while plotting your masterpiece!)

  1 Unfortunately, detailed instructions for sharpening knives using a whetstone are beyond the scope of this book. Suffice to say the key concepts are: lubrication with mineral spirits; a steady angle of 10–15 degrees; light pressure applied evenly to the blade; alternating sides of the blade with increasing frequency; switching from the whetstone’s coarse surface to its finer surface to complete the sharpening process; the preferability of not being blind drunk.

  2 Similarly, the constellation of acne scars on my temples memorialize an adolescence defined by too much passion; my complexion has much improved since I jettisoned all emotion and declared myself a psychological eunuch with nothing to live for beyond pencils.

  CHAPTER 5:

  USING A SINGLE-BLADE POCKET SHARPENER

  EQUIPMENT CHECKLIST:

  • Emery board

  • Toothpick

  • Magnifying lenses

  • Tweezers

  • Bag

  • Single-blade pocket sharpener

  • Pencil (not pictured)

  OF ALL PENCIL-SHARPENERS, THE HUMBLE single-blade pocket model is perhaps the most ubiquitous. That doesn’t mean our little friend is easy to master. On the contrary, its unassuming appearance gives no hint of the potential frustrations, pitfalls, brambles, dead-ends, and heartbreaks that lie within.

  I approach every use of a pocket sharpener with guarded optimism. As far as I’m concerned, it offers the most intimate encounter with a pencil. It’s my favorite sharpening technique precisely because, like all intimate encounters, its ideal outcome is so obvious yet its practical application is so fraught with peril.

  STEP ONE: INSPECTING AND CLEANING THE SHARPENER

  Before beginning the sharpening process, do a quick visual inspection of the sharpener. The casing should be free of cracks and blemishes. The blade should be properly aligned relative to the body of the sharpener and free of rust, blood, or other elements that could compromise the blade’s motion across the surface of the pencil.

  If wood shavings or graphite residue from previous use are lodged against the blade, remove them by gently inserting a wooden toothpick between the blade and the opposite plane. Pull the toothpick towards the sharpener’s entrance hole, collecting debris as you go.

  STEP TWO: PLACING THE TOOL IN HAND

  Hold the sharpener in your non-dominant hand so it rests comfortably between your thumb and index finger. Apply your middle finger to the body of the sharpener so as to stabilize it during the sharpening process. The blade should be face-up and visible throughout the process, as you will be monitoring its contact with the pencil as well as the unfurling of shavings.

  Hold the pencil in your dominant hand. You will be rotating the pencil, not the sharpener. The sharpener should remain stationary throughout the process, barring extreme circumstances.1

  STEP THREE: ENGAGEMENT

  Begin rotating the pencil inside the body of the sharpener so the blade is engaging with the shaft of the pencil. For left-handers, this means a clockwise rotation.2 Maintain steady, moderate pressure along the shaft as you guide it towards the forward end of the sharpener.

  STEP FOUR: MONITORING THE SHAVINGS’ EGRESS

  Many of my clients request the use of a single-blade hand sharpener because of the iconic, scalloped ribbon of shavings it produces. (Sometimes called “the apple-peel effect” or “M’lady’s ruffled skirt abandoned on the floor in the throes of our love-making.”) Although you may be tempted to focus exclusively on the pencil point, attention must be paid to the merry byproduct of your labor.

  As pencil shavings begin to curl out of the sharpener, turn the sharpener away from you so the shavings fall to the side and don’t obscure the blade. Do not allow the shavings to collect in your palm. Shavings should unfurl completely, lest they jam the sharpener.

  If shavings are reluctant to leave the sharpener’s planar orifice, a gentle tug will release them from its grasp. Place them on a flat surface and return to the task at hand.

  STEP FIVE: CHECKING IN WITH YOUR PENCIL

  After some time you should notice the pencil point beginning to take shape and feel the sharpener engaging the newly exposed graphite, which will offer less resistance than the wood. (See Table 5.1.) This typically happens after thirteen to fifteen rotations. Now is the time to pay especially close attention to your pencil’s progress. You may be tempted to remove the pencil and test its point after one or two further rotations. Resist the temptation a bit longer—approximately two more rotations, if not one additional rotation, or even a further, final rotation.

  Remove the pencil and look at it.

  If the pencil is still not sharp enough, engage the sharpener in one or two additional rotations. Avoid a third rotation, a.k.a. “the Devil’s Dance.”

  STEP SIX: “A CLOSER LOOK”

  Use your magnifying spectacles to search the pencil point for irregularities. In this photograph, we see a ragged edge to the collar at the site where the sharpening process was concluded. This begs for correction.

  5.1: TYPICAL LENGTH OF PENCIL AFTER EACH FULL ROTATION IN SINGLE-BLADE POCKET SHARPENER, BLADE LENGTH = 29/32 INCH, MODERATE PRESSURE APPLIED

  Original pencil length (zero rotations): 7 ½ inches

  After one rotation: 7 ½ inches

  After two rotations: 7 ½ inches

  After three rotations: 7 ½ inches

  After four rotations: 7 ½ inches

  After five rotations: 7 ½ inches

  After six rotations: 7 ½ inches (sharpener is still shaving wood; no graphite exposure)

  After seven rotations: 7 ½ inches

  After eight rotations: 7 ½ inches

  After nine rotations: 7 ½ inches

  After ten rotations: 7 ½ inches

  After eleven rotations: 7 ½ inches

  After twelve rotations: 7 ½ inch
es

  After thirteen rotations: 7 ½ inches (360 degrees of graphite exposed)

  After fourteen rotations: 7 ½ inches

  After fifteen rotations: 7 ½ inches (noticeable amount of graphite swarf along with wood shavings)

  After sixteen rotations: 7 ½ inches (turning pencil inside sharpener notably easier due to reduced contact of blade against wood)

  After seventeen rotations: 7 15/22 inches (could be plausibly identified as “sharp”)

  After eighteen rotations: 7 7/16 inches

  After nineteen rotations: 7 7/16 inches

  After twenty rotations: 7 ⅜ inches

  After twenty-one rotations: 7 11/32 inches (good place to stop; further sharpening increases the risk of breaking the pencil’s tip)

  After twenty-two rotations: 7 11/32 inches

  After twenty-three rotations: 7 ¼ inches (tip broke off)

  After twenty-four rotations: 7 7/32 inches

  After twenty-five rotations: 7 7/32 inches (project abandoned)

  STEP SEVEN: CORRECTING THE COLLAR

  You can further improve the pencil by removing the raised edge where the blade last encountered the collar. Smooth the collar with an emery board, taking care not to flatten its conical surface. A light touch is key.

  After smoothing the collar, clean any graphite residue with a cotton handkerchief or rag. Make sure not to damage the graphite and the tip!

  STEP EIGHT: “BAGGING THE BIG GAME”

  At the end of the sharpening process, you must attend to the shavings. They are part of the pencil and, as such, should be returned to their rightful owner.

  A bag of clean shavings, besides looking delightful, should put to rest any concerns your clients may have about your technique: that you used an electric sharpener instead of a hand-sharpener: that you hoard shavings for your personal use; that the “pencil” is a plastic simulacrum; that you passed the shavings through your body before returning them, etc.

  Using tweezers, carefully place the shavings in a bag. Label the shavings and pencil according to your preferred indexing system.

  STEP NINE: REVIEWING YOUR HANDIWORK

  This step can be emotionally wrenching, but it’s required if you hope to improve your practice. Taking a long look at your finished pencil is an opportunity for reflection and renewal.

  While reviewing your handiwork, ask yourself the following questions:

  1. How closely does the pencil point correspond to your desired outcome? Is it sharper or duller than you wanted? If the former is the case, review the rotations recorded for this job in your log book and try one or two fewer rotations on your next pencil; if the latter, add rotations—keeping in mind that most pocket sharpeners lack a physical bulwark against over-sharpening, thereby risking the production of an irregular “pin-tip” which may break at the slightest pressure and leave the point further compromised.

  2. Is the collar-top consistent around the point and flush with the graphite? Are there dips or scoops in the wood you didn’t intend?3 (These issues may have more to do with the quality of your pencil than your abilities; lesser pencils may have a loose or otherwise imperfect bond between the graphite core and the wooden shaft.)

  3. Does the exposed graphite show signs of irregularity? Are there divots associated with inconsistent pressure applied during the sharpening process? Again, an inferior pencil may be the culprit, as pencil-core production involves a delicate balance of graphite, clay, and wax—which may, in lesser models, be less than uniform throughout the core. Nevertheless, too much rotational torque during the sharpening process may gouge the graphite and leave a twisting “ghost image” of the sharpener blade.

  The photo above exhibits several imperfections in a pencil point produced by a single-blade pocket sharpener. See if you can identify them, and consider how they could be reduced or eliminated in future jobs.

  This illustration shows an ideal pencil point produced by a single-blade pocket sharpener. The collar’s height stands at ½ inch, roughly equal to the length of the blade less the exposed graphite. The collar-bottom runs parallel to the ferrule and eraser, perpendicular to the edges of the shaft. The collar-top is uniform and parallel to the collar bottom; there is no gap between the wood and the graphite. The point is consistent and smooth, showing no mark of the blade. The tip is solid yet sharp; there is no “pin tip” waiting to shatter.

  This pencil point could be usefully employed by the general-interest user. It offers hours of stable, uniform graphite exposure for writing, arithmetic, or doodling. Highly recommended for the layperson.

  1 One of the kinetic differences between a single-blade sharpener and a hand-crank sharpener is the movement of the pencil relative to the tool—a hand-crank sharpener usually requires the pencil to remain motionless as the sharpener’s blade(s) rotate around it.

  2 Further research is required to determine what it means for right-handers, and is beyond the scope of this book.

  3 A single dramatic scoop in the collar-top is not necessarily a blemish; it may lend an air of sophistication or erotic frisson to an otherwise unremarkable pencil point. (One is reminded of the eighteenth-century courtesan’s practice of adding a “beauty mark” to an otherwise perfect face.)

  CHAPTER 6:

  PROTECTING YOUR PENCIL POINT

  If a pencil you’ve sharpened is not going to be used immediately, you should protect its point. I always carry a coil of ⅜" × ¼" vinyl tubing in my tool kit for this purpose. (You can find such tubing in the plumbing section of your local hardware store.) Taking a few minutes to ensure the safety of a pencil point is a simple investment whose dividends include peace of mind, economy of effort, and insurance against heartache.

  Woe betide the pencil sharpener who fails to safeguard his creation!

  Needless to say, the piece of tubing must be long enough to cover the entire point, leaving none of the graphite exposed; it should also extend far enough beyond the tip to stabilize the pencil against the interior of a display tube’s cap.

  If you’re unsure how long your piece of tubing should be, place the pencil and display tube beside it for comparison before making the incision. Although it may seem easiest to fit the pencil inside the tubing before cutting it to size, I don’t recommend this strategy, as you may accidentally break the point while cutting through the vinyl.

  Once you’ve calculated the proper length, cut the tubing.

  The transformation is complete: What was once a humble piece of vinyl tubing is now a protective sheath tasked with preserving your pencil point against breakage.

  Carefully place the protective sheath over the pencil point. It should fit snugly on the shaft of the pencil. Remember that the farther you push the sheath down the pencil shaft, the more difficult it will be to remove without risking damage to the point. There’s no need for the sheath to extend more than ⅛ inch down the shaft.

  With the point now protected, the pencil is ready to be fitted inside its display tube for shipping1, or handed directly to the client for later use.

  As long as it remains sheathed in vinyl and protected by its display tube, your pencil point will remain sharp for centuries. It will maintain its shape at any altitude, in large and small rooms alike.

  For this we must thank our vinyl tubing.

  1 To ensure the pencil doesn’t fall out of the display tube, place a cap on each end.

  CHAPTER 7:

  USING A SINGLE-BURR HAND-CRANK SHARPENER

  EQUIPMENT CHECKLIST:

  • Toothbrush

  • Single-burr hand-crank sharpener

  • Pencil

  • Clamp or stable surface

  THE MODERN HAND-CRANK PENCIL SHARPENER’S familiar morphology belies an alien tradition. As this method of pencil pointing wormed its way into the iconography of modern life, it left in its wake a viscous trail of engineering and experimentation that would leave today’s user agog, if not aghast. (See this page.)

  Today’s hand-crank sharpeners, regardless of
manufacturer, have converged on a more-or-less standard configuration: the sharpener’s handle is connected to a planetary gear in which one or two cylinder blades, or burrs, rotate while circling and shaping the pencil. The shape of the point is determined by the angle of the burr relative to the pencil shaft.

  In the single-burr iteration, the pencil rests inside a shaping sleeve with an opening exposed to the cylinder blade. As the handle is cranked, the shaping sleeve spins around the pencil, allowing the blade access to all sides of the shaft.

  Single-burr sharpening mechanism

  This chapter shall take as its focus the single-burr iteration of the hand-crank sharpener. Once the user feels comfortable with this device, both its theoretical underpinning and its practical application, he or she can move on to grappling with its more sophisticated double-burr cousin.