You might remember Lexikaliker’s blog post about Möbius+Ruppert’s new sharpeners Castor and Pollux. Well, thanks to Lexikalier’s generosity I got my hand on half of these geminis, I even got the more interesting half: the Pollux, a brass sharpener that’s producing a concave tip.
Lexikaliker has already covered all important points in his blog post about the Pollux, so I’ll keep it short and will just add a few of my impressions.
Out of the box the sharpener did sharpen well, but it was tearing/ripping the wood more than it should. Strangely enough the graphite point was cut very well, so I am not sure what exactly caused this behaviour that only affects the wood, not the graphite part.
You can see what exactly happened in this video:
I tried fixing it by sharpening the blade, first on a Belgian whetstone. You might have seen this stone in my videos about the Little Shaver. Unfortunately it wasn’t abrasive enough or I didn’t try long enough. I then tried my luck with Spyderco’s Sharpmaker and I got great results. After soe work on the blade the Pollux sharpened like a dream. Before working on the blade it produced shavings with holes in it, because the wood was torn. The shavings themselves had a thickness of around 0.25mm. After my blade treatment the shavings were thinner, 0.15mm thin – very thin.
Here’s a video I made after I worked on the blade:
Like Lexikaliker I measured an angle of around 18.5° for the pencil points produced by the Pollux.
I have added the Pollux to my list of sharpeners.
Please open the images in a new tab to see them in high resolution.
Please open the videos in Youtube to watch them in 4K.
Thank you for that detailed review! Your first results are really odd since my Pollux works flawlessly. I am happy to hear that you like the Pollux! – It is great to hear that the Pollux fits into the case of the DX4322.
Nice work sharpening the sharpener!
I hope the twins make their way into UK shops – Fred Aldus already stock some of the M&R range, I think.
Thank you very much for your comments.
Gunther, I agree. I have a few hypotheses, but no way of testing what is actually going on.
There are a few things going on, but without more investigation or comparison I don’t want to write about it on the web. Another idea is that the brass body might be slightly different to what it should be. If I ever get some concrete evidence of what’s going on I will let you know.
John, it was easier than sharpening the little shaver, the little shaver’s blade was blunt, but with the Pollux the blade wasn’t really blunt..
I think Fred Aldous might be a good bet. They even have Staedtler’s Wopex sharpener! …but unfortunately too expensive compared to what you pay abroad..
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I wonder if the blade was mounted incorrectly and was in the correct position only after remounting. – I would rule out the possibility that the brass body is different to what it should be. – How exactly did you sharpen the blade in the Spyderco’s Sharpmaker? In other words: What did the Sharpmaker change?
I don’t think it was the mounting, because the blade didn’t improve after my first, extremly careful attempts: When I tried the Belgian whetstone I moved the blade in a circular motion, but not too much and it didn’t help. Next was the Sharpmaker, which is very long, so I mainly moved the blade sideways. After a while you could see it being polished and the original scratches/lines from factory sharpening, perpendicular to the blade stated to disappear, first in the middle. I didn’t want to overdo it and stopped at that stage. The blade was then much better, but I think my treatment is wearing off again and sharpening is becoming less smooth.
how is this different than the dux sharpener from Germany? and how do i get a sample? i teach kids drawing and painting and have never heard anything of this company.
thank you for your time and efforts.
Michael grayson
thermopolis studios
160 boulder dv
buhl idaho. 83316
Is the case from the DUX DX4322 available without the DUX sharpener? Is it made of genuine leather?