Do you use an electric sharpener?
A wall sharpener?
A pocket knife?
I know of one person who believes strongly that wooden pencils should only be sharpened by hand. For this reason, and because I like pencils myself, I could not resist reading the book How to Sharpen Pencils by David Rees.
Part humor and part reference,
How to Sharpen Pencils is an informative little book about the #2 pencil. Rees reviews the anatomy of a pencil, discusses different types of pencil sharpeners, and shows how to carve four different pencil points with a pocket knife. For the pencil enthusiast, Rees lists various pencil-related resources in the appendix of his book. One resource is his website, www.artisanalpencilsharpening.com. The other resources are about vintage pencils, antique pencils, pencil industry news and blogs written by pencil enthusiasts.
Because I have a thing for pencils (yes, those are my pencil boxes), I did not hesitate to ask David to sharpen an ArtPlantae pencil. I sent David one of my beautiful natural wood, unpainted pencils and a check for $15 so that my pencil could be sharpened with his pocket knife and so that I could include a photo with this post (David takes orders online).
Not too long afterwards, I received…
Pencil sharpened by David Rees.
… a note, a Certificate of Sharpening, the shavings from my pencil and a very sharp ArtPlantae pencil encased in a tube.
All now have a special place in my library.
Do you need your pencil sharpened?
How to Sharpen Pencils is available at ArtPlantae Books. Save 20% ($3.99)
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