Broken lead in Prismacolor pencils :(
 

I got my pencils yesterday! Woohoo! I went right away to sharpen them. Three of the pencils kept breaking off (the lead). It looked like it was broken down below where the wood and lead meet.

I hate to send them back to Viking after I've sharpened all of them...it was a lot of work!

Has anyone had any experience with calling Sanford to see if they will replace just the ones that were broken? They are still useable, but are about 2-3 inches shorter than the others. I know they sell them individually. I just hate getting something new and having this happen.

And yes, when I was a kid and would get my 64 pack of Crayolas for school I would boohoo when there would be crayons that had the tips broken before I even got to use them. :oops:

TIA

i am curious as to what you used to sharpen them.
i got mine yesterday and need to sharpen them.

I heard to use a cosmetics sharpener instead of one for lead pencils.

I don't have an answer to your question though, sorry

I had purchased a blending kit at Michaels that had blending stumps, erasers, emery board and a sharpener. The sharpener worked really well, but just not on those 3 pencils. I can't recall the name of the kit I purchased, but the sharpender is metal (whole thing, not just blade), is a heavier weight and says it's made in Germany.

I have an orange pencil that does that. I had to individually order a replacement from DickBlick.com because there was nothing I could do. I bought the top of the line pencil sharpener for my top of the line pencils, it was just the orange that had issues. The manufacturer said certain colors can have issues because of the pigments used. Could be the case, I do know you need an extremely good quality pencil shapener for the Prismacolors.

I know I read somewhere that you shouldn't use an electric pencil sharpener. There is too much vibration and it cracks the lead. Try a hand one, maybe you'll have better luck.

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I didn't use an electric sharpener...I used a hand held metal sharpener. It sharpened really well on all but 3 of my pencils.

I'm on hold with Sanford right now to ask them about this. I'm hoping they will replace the 3 pencils that did this. I'd hate to have to send them back to Viking after all that work sharpening them.

I'll post here when I get an answer and let everyone know in case others have this problem.

I got my answer.

I talked to someone in consumer affairs and he told me to send in the pencils that did this and they will replace them.

I forgot to ask about postage though.

Just to let you all know that since Prisma have soft leads, the leads can break easily inside the pencil. Be careful not to drop your pencils (I know no one would intentionally do this.). Probably your box got dropped during shipment and those were the pencils affected (effected?). I hate it when one of my precious colors is broken. I hate to see that lead go to waste!

Sharon

I have to use an electric sharpener or I'd be here forever :( I have carpal tunnel and can't sharpen 2 without my hands acting up. I went to my friends house today and did all my pencils and have had no problems with them :)