CARL Angel-5 Pencil Sharpener, Blue

What comes in the box (March 2021) sharpener with mechanism detached, desk clamp. No directions.First the cons:* No directions* Cost, in my opinionthe Pros:* Sharpens my Prismacolors, Artezas and Polychromos like a champ. (Bites a bit into the Polychromos)* Brings lead to long, true point (see pic), perfect for coloring small areas or defining a line.* Easy to crank and smooth* Quiet* Portablethe Mehs:* the pencil holding mech is handy-dandy but doesn't always gauge when the pencil is sharpened. Note here that it works 95% of the time for me.So where has this been all my life? I generally use my Xacto School Pro multi-barrel-sized classroom electric sharpener (https://tinyurl.com/dwcm2v8) despite that electric sharpeners are not recommended for colored pencils. I'm just too lazy to use a knife or hand sharpener.Enter the Karl. I saw it on a YouTube video and needed a sharpener for work. It took me a bit to figure out how it works but most people would find it intuitive. I had it set up and ready to use in under a minute.I know that revelation is an overused word, but it was a revelation to use it. It has enough heft that I didn't have to find a desk to clamp it and it was easy to crank. The pencil holder meant I just laid a light hand on top of the Karl while cranking with the other hand. It was pretty easy to establish when the pencil was sharpened as the holder mech quit drawing back into the main part of the machine. I have posted a picture of what the point looks like. May not be sharp enough for engineering or fine art but great for me as a colorist/cardmaker.I just bought another one for home. I don't see using my Xacto anymore except as a last resort if a barrel wouldn't fit in the Karl. Very pleased with this purchase and am now eyeing one of the ones that allow you to adjust the point. That could come in very handy for colorists.

This review has been updated to reflect over three years of use.I ordered this sharpener at the end of August, 2014. It is now mid march, 2018; so we've had this sharpener for about three and a half years.It's been used, regularly by three school aged children, one of whom thinks anything that can be picked up must be tossed, caught, and dropped on the floor. We have no carpet, and while I wouldn't say it's been dropped regularly, I do know it's been dropped several times in my presence. My wife and I also use it, as well as others. It sharpens common pencils as well as colored pencils with no problems, and that's really about all you can say about a sharpener, isn't it?Well, no, not really. When I first reviewed this sharpener I was rather disappointed in it's lack of mountability. I wanted to stick it on a wall and always know where it was. Over the first year or so, that desire faded to the point where I now consider it utterly irrelevant. It's large enough and distinct enough that it doesn't hide from us. We keep it on top of our piano and it's sort of fitting that two such high quality items are together. The piano is over a hundred years old, and still keeps on working pretty much like it should. The pencil sharpener is just a few years old, but for a device that I'd come to expect might work as few as two times, if at all, it's still working pretty much like it should. And I've now come to expect that that's exactly what it will be doing in another 3 and a half years.The fact of the matter is that sharpeners of good quality seem to be in truly short supply. Some blame the Chinese for building garbage. I blame Americans for consistently making purchases based on price. I was somewhat concerned when I bought it, knowing that it was made in China. But after more than three years of use and not the slightest problem, I have no reservations. This is a quality pencil sharpener!If, like me, you're disgusted by paying good money for what turns out to be garbage, (like the sharpener I bought that sharpened maybe a couple hundred pencils at most and had to be thrown away) then get this sharpener! No, the mounting system isn't very good. But, it can be mounted to the edge of a desk. And if you're inventive you can build a good mount for it with a little thought. No, it's not made in the U.S. (the design is Japanese), but rather China. Yet it is still the highest quality sharpener I've been able to find for anything like a reasonable price. I could throw it away today, buy a new one, and it would still be less costly than buying cheaper sharpeners.