Sharpener brass garnet

The 1949 edition of the "Handbuch für Papier und Bürobedarf" (Handbook for Paper and Office Supplies) refers to the solid "Brass Grenade" as the mother of all pencil sharpeners, available since 1890. Like the other hand and container sharpeners on this page, the "Grenade" has replaceable blades made of hardened steel and is still Made in Germany.

The best way to sharpen leads or coloured pencils is to use a scalpel or a small, sharp knife; this way you can sharpen one side of the lead for broad lines, the other for genuinely fine lines. A real connoisseur would also have a small piece of sandpaper to hand, to rub the tip of the leads from time to time: the pencils remain sharp without being shortened continuously. However, if you prefer to use one of the usual small pocket sharpeners, you should make sure that its blade is always sharp. Dull blades will tear the wood and cause the lead – especially with the more delicate coloured pencils – to break at the slightest hitch. Therefore, we searched after the quintessence models of this commonplace article. Now we offer you our findings plus proper replacement blades.