There’s so much choice available, and so many different types of pencils, that it can be mind boggling trying to find the best sharpener for your materials. Double hole sharpeners usually have one aperture for standard pencils and another for larger than standard pencils. Coloured pencils contain waxes and oils that will gunk up blades much quicker than graphite, pastel and charcoal. If you would like to know more about these brands then check out our Ultimate Guide to Wooden Pencil Brands where we go into detail about the 20 biggest pencil brands and their pencils.

Two good indicators are the wood around the point of your pencil and the shape and size of your sharpenings. Other artists, especially prolific pencil users, may prefer to save time and use an electric sharpening machine. If there are signs the blade isn’t sharp enough then it means it’s probably time to replace your sharpener or just replace the blade if there are replacements available for your model. Some brands of clutch pencils include an inbuilt sharpener – this lead pointer is great for those that don’t.The German pencil manufacturer Faber-Castell used to dominate the world record for the biggest pencil until the world record was broken in 2007 by Ashrita Furman. The Faber-Castell Grip 2001 and Jakar Trio sharpeners each have a hole for standard pencils, one for jumbo pencils and a third hole for colouring pencils– which are usually slightly thicker in diameter than a standard pencil but not quite jumbo sized. However, there are single hole sharpeners that have a larger hole suitable for jumbo pencils (like the M+R Giant Pencil Sharpener) or for uniquely shaped pencils (like the Lyra Groove Sharpeners).

This sharpening technique is particularly popular for sharpening soft leads like pastel and charcoal pencils. If the wood looks a little rough or furry then that’s a sign that the blade on your sharpener is dull.Our range of sharpeners can be split broadly into four categories: simple manual sharpeners, reservoir sharpeners, crank sharpeners, electric sharpeners and other sharpening accessories. While your standard two hole manual sharpener can do a fantastic job, there’s a whole world of other sharpeners to try. But even though the giant-sized graphite and coloring pencils hold the world record for being the biggest and largest pencils and are ginormous they are not the longest. All our other reservoir sharpeners have two holes – one for standard pencils and a second hole for larger than standard pencils.

Reservoir Pencil Sharpeners, sometimes refered to as Canister Sharpeners, work like a simple manual sharpener, but they include an inbuilt drum to catch your pencil shavings. Some soft lead pencils may also require a blade that is a more gentle to avoid chips and broken leads.Pencil Sharpeners are just like your kitchen knives – for them to work effectively you need to maintain their blades properly. Single blade sharpeners have a hole that holds your pencil inline with the blade, so that when you gently turn the pencil both the lead and wood are sharpened. They’re a lot more heavy duty than a single blade sharpener, and much better for sharpening high volumes of pencils.

These basic sharpeners are usually made from metal, plastic or wood and are likely to be the types of sharpeners you might have first enountered at school. The record is currently held by Bic and was set in October 2017 at their factory in the French city Samer. If you find that your sharpenings are breaking off into small, jagged shards then your blade will probably need replacing. However, they are still more bulky than a standard sharpener and aren’t exactly what most artists would consider to be ‘portable’.Do you need a sharpener you can take on your travels or are you looking for something more heavy duty to use in the studio? Remove the blade and dust it gently with a paint brush or other brush to get rid of any loose fragments. With manual sharpener it’s pretty easy to locate and get rid of any shards of lead or wood trapped in the blade.