Faber-CastellGrip Trio Pencil Sharpener: Silver

This fantastic little sharpener is deceptively small. Compact might be a better word. I needed a sharpener for fat pencils, and wanted one which could also work for my colored pencils, especially my soft-core prismacolor premiere & Prismacolor Verithin. I previously bought the Prismacolor sharpener with dual holes-one for each of those brands/types of pencils, and it works very well-I think there's a review for it too. But I keep my pencils in two locations and I got very tired of always needing the sharpener and it being in the location I wasn't!When I read all the reviews about one sharpener after another, from 99 cent plain one hole blades to fancy sharpeners, electric, battery operated, etc. which were supposed to be awesome, I really thought I'd run out of luck! I decided to skip the fancy, save money and look for a manual multi-size sharpener. This came up on my search list...and was exactly what I needed!I bought it from TCP Global Corp, which is my go-to seller when amazon's price is higher, or whoever sells the product doesn't offer free shipping (be sure to check-some items are NOT free to ship from TCP). So I stuck this in an order with some other art supplies and as usual, got it quickly and in good shape.The large hole works perfectly for jumbo pencils, such as the kind small children are given to use, and worked for the oversize multi-color novelty pencils I'd bought. Next to that hole/blade is a standard sharpener for regular #2 HB pencils or other graphite pencils, and does a great job on cheap or expensive pencils alike. Opposite these two holes is the colored pencil sharpener. It's labeled with Faber Castell's brand of colored pencil "color grip". I have used it on my Prismacolor premiere soft cores and it works just as well as prismacolor's sharpener, though the shavings have to be dumped more frequently as the bin for them is much smaller than that of the Prismacolor (black, stand up with lid 2 hole sharpener for soft-core and Verithin pencils specifically-also recommended) sharpener intended for lots of use with colored pencils.This sharpener is superior in that it has 3 types of sharpeners, and is small and portable but still holds shavings from average sharpening of one to three pencils and more if you're just touching up. It works like a "clamshell" and splits open along the black line in the center, revealing the two holes on one side of the hinge (jumbo and standard) with one hole on the opposite side (the colored pencil sharpener). The shavings are held right under the sharpeners, so the side with 2 holes will fill faster with shavings from two kinds of pencils, if you sharpen both types regularly. I rarely use jumbo size pencils, so it's not an issue for me. Obviously, there's a bit more room for colored pencil shavings since that side holds only one sharpener.The neat little trick of this compact sharpener (or, if you're not very dexterous in the fingers, a possible complication) is that when you close it, you turn it around and open the BACK side where there are two arrows. You need to be a bit more careful opening these, and have your trash bin handy (or whatever you dump shavings into). I recommend only opening one end at a time so you don't have shavings falling out in two directions at once! Holding it over a table or paper cup, etc. will allow shavings to escape, so a little care is a good idea.As some reviewers noted, you can drop these-hopefully your trash can doesn't have regular trash in it!- because they come completely off, unlike the opening where the sharpeners are located, which don't come off from that side and are hinged together. Once you've dumped the shavings and put the bins back in place (arrows should both point at each other), you're good to go, and can turn it around to face front again, ready to open and sharpen some more pencils!!!If you don't want any hassle or mess with a portable, hand-powered sharpener, you might want to stick with an old fashioned one which you just hold in your hand with no receptacle for shavings.I did find one kind of pencil which I won't put in this sharpener again. I tried (and will be reviewing-they are awesome) Derwent's Inktense watersoluble ink colored pencils. If you haven't heard of these, the product page has an excellent explanation. (If you think you'd like them, don't be cautious-order the 24 set, skip the 12-but that's another review!) The Inktense has a soft, chalky (not smooth) consistency unlike smoother colored pencils which are not watersoluble. I'm guessing any watercolor pencils with similar lead characteristics would be a problem in any sharpener which collects shavings. I used a Faber Castell sharpener-the most basic metal kind-on the Inktense pencils, and it works fine. The problem was that the chalky consistency smeared onto the sharpening blade and 'clogged' it up. Easy enough to clean, and if all else fails, you could run it under water to dissolve the pencil 'lead' on the blade. My Prismacolor colored pencil sharpener encountered the same problem, so I'm guessing it's a matter of pigment, not brand or quality, etc.That's the ONLY type of pencil this compact little darling couldn't handle...so far. I'm planning on extending my repertoire of colored pencil & graphite pencils, so I may update if I discover any others which don't 'play nice' with this sharpener. It was just under $8 from the seller I chose at the time I ordered it. I took the gamble, even though I thought something this small shouldn't cost so much-but I'm glad I did, because it's easily worth double that price for convenience, ease of use (of the sharpeners, not the shavings bins)and quality of sharpening. I didn't even consider removing a star for the slightly clumsy shavings bins because no sharpener I've tried, from the kind put on supply lists for elementary school kids all the way to brand name specific specialty sharpeners, was perfect in this area. They're all messy-that's why there's a shavings catcher in the first place!So, if you like three in one capability, excellence of blade and angle in sharpening all 3 types of pencils, and versatility for a decent price, this is the pencil sharpener for you! It even looks sort of 'modern' sitting on your computer desk or wherever you use it, sleek and 'metallic' looking! :) Hope this review helps y'all decide what to buy-this really is a great product. I might even get another one...just because!

I absolutely love this little pencil sharpener. Art is my passion and I use colored pencils quite a bit. The tips of these pencils seem to always break and when you go to sharpen them the point is always breaking off. Using this pencil sharpener seems to have solved my problem.

Thank you for the sharpener.. it works very nicely.

I love how sharp a point l can get as well as easy to use. BUT l hate how it's easy to pull off the container when you go to open.Mine has sharpened and not gouged . the wood which is important for my soft leadand does not eat up much of the pencil.Nice weight , color . Otherwise I am ok with this product but l do hope they make openings easier to handle

Does a great job of sharpening colored and graphite pencils. Very convenient having both in one container.

It sharpens all types of pencils, including watercolor, with just a few twists. It’s a perfect travel sharpener.

Just what i needed.

I started using this almost as soon as it arrived, and I wonder how I did without it. My other sharpener did a good job, but this seems just a little better.I did order this mainly for the jumbo size pencils. I have set a pencils that don't fit into any other sharpener, and I hoped this would do the trick. I'll admit, they still don't fit into this one very well.Pros:--Sharpens regular drawing pencils to a beautiful point--Sharpens colored pencils will, without breakage--Keeps pencils in great shapeCons:--Doesn't really fit jumbo pencils--After several sharpenings, there may be some shavings that spill out of the sharpener when it's opened.--