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I went to Sally's beauty supplies and brought a sharpener for make-up. Make sure it is make in Germany. I paid 4.00 or 5.00 dollars buy it works great nice sharp point and pencils not breaking any more.
I have a battery-operated electric sharpener that I got at Staples for around $15 and love it. No matter which manual sharpener I tried (including the one from Prismacolor) I couldn't get it to sharpen the pencils without chewing the wood to bits.
I tried the small hand-held sharpener sold by Prismacolor, and had no luck with it. So I bought an electric sharpener and it worked great - until the lead in the Prismacolors gummed it up because they're soft. I read someplace that if you're going to use an electric sharpener that periodically you should sharpen a regular pencil in it to keep it clean. I found that works well.
I use an electric sharpener (with auto-stop) for starting my pencils, and a Prismacolor one (it looks like a black capsule with a silver band in the middle that says Prismacolor) for the day-to-day sharpening. The trick with the hand-held one is to hold it horizontally, not vertically. HTH!
__________________ ~ Jennifer Ellefson Created From Paper, a paper crafting blog
I think the best sharpeners to use are either the ones that come with the Prismacolor set or you can buy some that are specifically meant for use with color pencils. The sharpeners that you use to sharpen regular pencils are not meant for color pencils because the lead in the color pencils have a lot of wax in them and thus are softer and will break easily. The sharpeners made for color pencils and artist pencils are very sharp. Hope this helps.
I use an electric sharpener (with auto-stop) for starting my pencils, and a Prismacolor one (it looks like a black capsule with a silver band in the middle that says Prismacolor) for the day-to-day sharpening. The trick with the hand-held one is to hold it horizontally, not vertically. HTH!
I just use the little metal one that came in my 120 set. I've looked at the Prismacolor one at HL, but just haven't gotten around to buying it. Once I got the full lot of pencils sharpened, the driving need for it diminished.
Thanks ladies. I didn't know one came with my set. I can't wait. They will be here on Wednesday.
Candie
Yep, it comes with a little metal one. Plan on spending some time if you're going to sharpen all of them at once. You'll want them all sharpened in the long run, but have patience. I ended up with a blister on my thumb from it! :rolleyes: The things we suffer for our craft!
The inexpensive ones I buy for my children work just great for my pencils. I never use an electric sharpener because I can't control the sharpness of the point. I don't like a very sharp point on my coloring pencils, because they tend to break and/or leave scratch marks on my paper.
I have the little black torpedo looking one from prismacolor and I like it alot. It allows me to take my pencils in the car and sharpen without making a mess.
I just use the little metal one that came in my 120 set. I've looked at the Prismacolor one at HL, but just haven't gotten around to buying it. Once I got the full lot of pencils sharpened, the driving need for it diminished.
V
I, too, used the little metal one that came with my 120 set. It worked great!! Good luck!
Ok..I got an electric one but I used the little silver one that came with the 120 count package...can you say blister? I did all 132 pencils...now once that blister heals....I am going to color...lol
blessings.
I'll have to look for the one that came with my new 132 set ~ I know I have it somewhere! I purchased an electric pencil sharpener because my school-age daughter is always complaining about pencil sharpener inadequacies (although she likes the SU one!) and the battery-operated ones are always slowing down too soon. Well, I sat down thinking I'd use the electric sharpener for the brand new Prismacolors the first time out, and then use the little handheld one after that for day-to-day. The electric sharpener's motor burned out halfway through :( . Blister City here I come LOL!!
I also use and electric sharpener...A trick I read was to place new pencils in the fridge for 15-20 minutes before the first sharpening...I have never broken a lead so far, it has been 5 years...
__________________ Karen
...My life is like a stroll on the beach...As near to the edge as I can go...Thoreau...
I also use and electric sharpener...A trick I read was to place new pencils in the fridge for 15-20 minutes before the first sharpening...I have never broken a lead so far, it has been 5 years...
Karen, how do you know stuff like that !?! :mrgreen: If you found out accidentally - I want to hear the story!
I think it was in one of the art magazines I read...There are just a lot of articles for a little bit of everything in them...pencils, watercolors, like store your craft paints upside down and they never get a skin on the top or get hard? Don't know who wrote it, just remember reading it...Funny how some things stick in our minds...
__________________ Karen
...My life is like a stroll on the beach...As near to the edge as I can go...Thoreau...
I purchased a little battery operated sharpener that was recommended by T Madreras (sp?) who teaches colored pencil classes around the Arizona area. It is a Panasonic KP-4 or something like that. It wasn't very expensive. The reason it is recommended is that it does not sharpen with a razor or a single blade but with rotary grinders (picture the old school pencil sharpeners). I guess the theology is that the single blades can cause more breakage and the grinders don't. I do like Karen's freezer idea though!
__________________ Ann Here is my oily blog! CLICK HERE Certified Copic Instructor - Local ClassesI love cars, stamping and essential oils!
Ann, I think it's Medaris if anyone wants to look him up. I've bought some of his stamps and the coloring style he teaches is gorgeous. Did you take his class? He uses really saturated color and blending - it's like extreme colored pencil LOL! At least that's how I remember it. I've seen a few people use his stamps in their galleries here. Good to know about the sharpeners - we had one like that in the basement in my Dad's workshop when I was a kid, and it's still there!
I just used the little metal sharpener that comes in the 120 set and it worked great! I only had a problem with 1 out of the 120 pencils breaking. Sounds like it is a personal preference thing, though! Good luck!
Ann, I think it's Medaris if anyone wants to look him up. I've bought some of his stamps and the coloring style he teaches is gorgeous. Did you take his class? He uses really saturated color and blending - it's like extreme colored pencil LOL! At least that's how I remember it. I've seen a few people use his stamps in their galleries here. Good to know about the sharpeners - we had one like that in the basement in my Dad's workshop when I was a kid, and it's still there!
ETA the link.
Yup....that's him......Nope.....I didn't get to take the class. One of my friends locally took a class from him and brought her work home to show me as well as the hint of the sharpener. I personally used the little silver one that came with the set to originally sharpen the 120 but changed to the battery operated one later.
__________________ Ann Here is my oily blog! CLICK HERE Certified Copic Instructor - Local ClassesI love cars, stamping and essential oils!
Guess I'm just a manual girl. I use both the silver one that came with my big set of pencils and the black prismacolor sharpener I bought at Hobby Lobby.
I haven't tried any of the battery or electric sharpeners.
What pencil sharpener do you use with your prismacolor pencils?
