Mom Review: Classroom Friendly Pencil Sharpener

The holiday season is upon us, so I'll keep this short and sweet.  I was sent a free sleek black Classroom Friendly Pencil Sharpener to test, and we put it through its paces over the past three weeks.  What do we think?

Buy a Classroom Friendly Pencil Sharpener (or 3).

Why?  I'm glad you asked...

1. The CF Sharpener quietly sharpens #2 wood pencils to a long, perfect point every single time without removing any length from the pencil.   
• EVERY pencil, from the Ticonderogas to the Michael's glitter pencils.  We sharpened hundreds of pencils without a single glitch.
• EVERY time.  Perfect points.  No wood left on one side like our angsty electric sharpeners.  No  pencils nommed into nubs like our crank sharpener with the identity crisis (he thinks he's a beaver).  No ear protection required.
2. The CF Sharpener comes fully supported with faq's, videos, a PDF poster, and replacement parts on their website.
3. We purposely abused our sharpener but couldn't break it.
• We dropped the CF Sharpener from waist height several times on a hardwood floor, allowing it to fall on the crank, the metal case, and even the plexi shavings drawer.  No dents, dings, or failures.  The portability of the sharpener is an important feature for us, and we knew it would get dropped from time to time.
• We forced pencils into the hole without engaging the autofeed and turned the crank until the lead broke and jammed the mechanism.  This was a key test -- I knew one of my kids would do this at some point even though they understood how the autofeed functioned.  Following the video, I removed the crank, pulled out the burr mechanism, removed the broken piece of pencil, and had it back together and working well in under a minute.
• We sharpened things that were never intended to be sharpened in a pencil sharpener:  drawing pencils, tortillon stumps, watercolor pencils, Prismacolor art pencils, ends of paint brushes.  Not everything sharpened, but we didn't break the sharpener.  

Notice the nice sharp points on a glitter pencil, a col-erase (my favorite for maps and Bible Marking), and even a 6B drawing pencil.

Ooooo....tell me more! 

• The Classroom Friendly sharpener sharpens any wood-cased 8 mm graphite pencil flawlessly.  The lead was approximately 0.5mm thick when sharpened, and gradually wrote down to about an 0.9 mm.  No needle points, crumbly graphite (a personal pet peeve when using Japanese hand sharpeners), or rough/uneven wood grips.  The autofeed mechanism leaves behind a couple of small dents on the paint.  This is a huge money and timesaver for me.  I know I can buy or pick up a pencil anywhere and this sharpener will work.  As much as I like my little handheld German sharpeners, they are time consuming and make a mess.
• The Classroom Friendly Sharpener is portable.  The package includes a clamp which worked marginally well.  We keep it on top of the bookcase without a clamp, or pop it in my Reisenthel basket for trips to the library or other groups.
• The Sharpener is enameled metal and every part feels solid.  Even the little "ears" on the autofeed mechanism and the shavings drawer feel solid and work smoothly.  It's cute, too!
• The autofeed mechanism is ingenious.  My teenagers figured it out quickly, and a random elementary child who tested it for us was able to run the mechanism with no problems after watching the video.  
• The sharpener operates easily and quietly.  You'll have to find another way to get a workout...so sorry!
• The shavings drawer is large:  we don't even empty it once a day.
• Against manufacturer recommendations I ran over 200 colored and drawing pencils through the sharpener.  [From Classroom Friendly Supplies:  "Colored pencils are the kryptonite of most sharpeners! This sharpener works best with standard lead pencils. It does work on colored pencils but they do break off much easier and jamming can be an issue, as with most other sharpeners. It is best to tell students to only sharpen the colored pencils partially. This means only turning the crank 2-3 times. This allows for a partially sharpened tip and less jamming issues. This sharpener creates a very pointy tip and by only turning the crank 2-3 times will be sufficient. "]
• Watercolor pencils sharpened flawlessly.
• Verithin and Col-Erase pencils sharpened every time with no problems.  These two brands are what we use for all of our map and science work because we like transparent color for those purposes.
• Crayola and Roseart pencils sharpened well.
• With care (slowly, checking every 3 cranks or so), we were able to sharpen Prismacolor Premier pencils.  I had a couple of leads break, but that isn't a big deal to fix with the Classroom Friendly Sharpener. 
• With care, I was able to sharpen 2 B- 8B pencils and Sepia and White clay pencils.  The softer pencils got shortened a couple of times, and leads broke off. 
• The one pencil that absolutely cannot be sharpened in the Classroom Friendly Sharpener is the Wopex.  This pencil brand made from a PVC/wood byproduct extrusion process was a hot mess in a burr sharpener.  Several of my beloved Wopex were eaten down to 3" long and still weren't sharp.  The leads broke and crumbled.  The grip was rough and had sharp flakes of the PVC/wood casing left attached.  If you like and use Wopex pencils, stick to a hand-held blade sharpener.  

My momma recommendation...

Worth. every. penny.  I'll probably be buying another for upstairs. 

Update:  I am now an affiliate for Classroom Friendly Supplies.  A purchase of a sharpener through this link will help support Dear Lissy.  Click the ad below to go directly to Classroom Friendly Supplies.

The Classroom Friendly Pencil sharpener also makes an amazing gift.  It comes packaged in a frosted plastic box that would be pretty with just a ribbon.  I can't imagine a Sunday School teacher, Homeschool group coordinator or homeschool mom that wouldn't be thrilled to receive a Classroom Friendly sharpener.  Print out and laminate the poster, and pop it into a cute basket or bag with a bundle of pencils.  Don't be afraid of those Christmas themed pencils in the Dollar Tree or Oriental Trading Post catalog -- they'll sharpen just as beautifully as a Ticonderoga.