How Do You Sharpen Your Pencils?

Question:

Paul,

This my not be important, but looking at your pencils in the jar in the tool well, I wondered how you sharpened your pencils?

John F

Answer:

Most of my life I used a chisel to sharpen my pencils but `i felt the graphite wasn’t good for my chisels. I use pencil sharpeners in the school for convenience for the students who are not used to chisel sharpening and switched from using the chisel to the sharpener. Anyway we used one made by Swordfish and it has proven the best of all as it’s a simple hand wound one that always gets a good point even with soft leads for drawing and even coloured pencils too. Phil found a new one from Swordfish called the Swordfish Pointi. It creates a beautiful long and slender point and for around £6 it is good value for money.

On a side issue:

My boss always irritated me whenever I sharpened my pencil, about ten times a day working on wood, by saying, "The problem with blunt pencils is there's just no point to them." I lean across my bench for the sharpener now and every time I hear his Irish lilting voice saying, "The problem with blunt pencils is there's just no point to them.", but now I smile to myself and everyone I work with wonders why I always smile when I sharpen my pencil.
Have a nice day everyone. Oh, and always try to get your point across. Make someone in the dim and distant future smile. It's nearly 50 years since I heard Patrick's voice. One day someone will chuckle to themselves I'm sure.