Ok, I admit it, the ‘original’ pictured here is not really the original. The real original is here.
Nevertheless, it’s still the inspiration for Deli’s pencil sharpener 0668.
The left one prefers Kodak Ektar, while the right one’s favourite food are Mars Lumographs.
Today another video. This time featuring a drill powered pencil sharpener. You can read the whole article at Notcot.
I found this through notizbuchblog.de.
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When you visit a university in Shanghai you will usually find at least two types of shops nearby: Snack shops (lots of them) and stationery shops. I have not yet seen another city where this phenomenon is as obvious as in Shanghai. The stationery shops can be split into two groups: stationery shops with functional stationery and stationery shops that sell girly stationery as well as other things like make-up, charms, etc – but you can also find shops that are somewhere in-between these two groups.
After my good experience with another Deli sharpener I could not resist and bought this TLR shaped sharpener, the Deli 0668, in December 2010 when I saw it in it in Shanghai – in a stationery shops outside a university. Deli’s headquarters are near Shanghai, so I it is not surprising that this sharpener was inspired by a Shanghainese-made Seagull TLR [1]Seagull TLRs were basically Rolleiflex copies. Outside China Quelle rebranded Seagull TLRs and distributed them as Revue cameras (40 years ago). There are still companies out there that distribute … Continue reading.
I paid about ¥ 30 (£ 2.80, € 3.30, $ 4.50) for this sharpener, a bit more than what I paid for the Deli 0635. You can get this sharpener cheaper if you look around or if you buy online, e.g. from Taobao. Outside China you can get this sharpener from Kikkerland for $15 (£ 9.30, € 10.80) or from Urban Outfitters for £ 15 ($ 24.20 , € 17.50) [2]Urban Outfitters buy it from Kikkerland and in the end after shipping it over, everyone adding some profit and after adding tax, it is more than five times as expensive than what I paid in a little … Continue reading. It is currently on offer and can be bought for £ 8 online and in the Urban Outfitter shops .
The 0668 has a single rotary blade cylinder, similar to the one in the 0635. There is also a removable tray for the shavings. The clamps that hold the pencil during sharpening have a rubber surface so they won’t damage the pencil’s surface. Additionally, there is an automatic stop mechanism that will prevent you from over-sharpening a pencil. The main difference between the two Deli sharpeners is that the 0668 produces a shorter (and blunter) point. It also features a point adjuster switch similar to the one seen in the Carl Bungu Ryodo BR-05 pencil sharpener, reviewed at pencil talk and in the Dahle 133 / M+R 0981, reviewed at Lexikaliker. The blunt setting at the extreme end will result in a “point” diameter of about 2mm is only suitable for colour pencils with a wide core. Normal graphite pencils do not have a wide enough core for this setting.
Conclusion: A great sharpener for a great price. I will not use the blunt setting and, to be honest, I do prefer the longer point I get from the Deli 0635 much more. It is nevertheless a sharpener I will enjoy using. It is currently in my office where I use it for all kinds of wooden pencils, but not for pencils that use difficult to sharpen material, like the Wopex, as my experience with the Deli 0635 has shown that the Deli’s automatic stop mechanism does not work with these pencils and that the harder material seems to be detrimental to the blade cylinder.
The pencils used in this blog post are Faber-Castell’s 1117 B and Uni Mitsubishi’s Arterase Color Vermilion 310. The 1117 feels like an unpainted pencil. It is not really painted but features a water-based varnish. It also has a breakage-resistant lead and an eraser. It does performs well for a budget pencil. It is made in Germany and sells for around € 0.30 each (~42¢, ~25p). You can find a review of the Faber-Castell 1117 at pencil talk. The Uni Mitsubishi’s Arterase Color Vermilion 310 is made in Japan. I do not have more information about this pencil, but you can find a review at Lexikaliker and at pencil talk. I would like to thank Lexikaliker for the Arterase Color pencil used in this blog post.
Prices: December 2010
Exchange rates: March 2011
References
| ↑1 | Seagull TLRs were basically Rolleiflex copies. Outside China Quelle rebranded Seagull TLRs and distributed them as Revue cameras (40 years ago). There are still companies out there that distribute Seagull cameras outside China, one of the most famous ones is Lomography. Another interesting point: Whoever designed this sharpener changed the markings compared to the real camera, from f/3.5 to f/1.5 |
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| ↑2 | Urban Outfitters buy it from Kikkerland and in the end after shipping it over, everyone adding some profit and after adding tax, it is more than five times as expensive than what I paid in a little shop that wasn’t cheap in the first place. |
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I found this KUM sharpener on a recent trip to Manchester. Unfortunately the model number is neither printed on the package nor on the sharpener, but it is probably 400-1K. Paperchase in the Trafford Centre sells these wedge-shaped magnesium-alloy sharpeners for £ 0.75 (~ € 0.82, $ 1.12). This does sound quite cheap for a sharpener that can potentially be used for a long time, but for just a few pence more you can get the 400-1E from Cultpens, a similar magnesium sharpener that comes with two spare blades, while the 400-1K does not come with any spare blades.
KUM has a very good reputation. Like most German manufacturers in the pencil and sharpener industry they are from Franconia (more details can be found in the Eisen 402 article). Because of KUM’s reputation my expectations were quite high and I was soon disappointed when I realised that I got another sharpener from this company that does not perform as well as expected. Previous disappointments include the KUM Streamline Chrome Canister Sharpener 460S and the KUM Long Point 400-5L. My only good KUM experience with a sharpener so far is with the Kum Automatic Longpoint Sharpener, reviewed at pencil talk.
To sum my problems with the 400-1K up: it does not sharpen the pencils well. The sharpener will produce a long, continuous sliver of shavings, so the blade of the 400-1K is not blunt, but the graphite will end up with gouges or spirals. Good sharpener like the Möbius+Ruppert’s grenade, reviewed at Lexikaliker (Google translation), or the Eisen 402 do not have this problem.
The point produced by the KUM 400-1K is rather short and blunt. The sharpening angle is only about 24°. Normally you will only get a shorter point if you use a sharpener for coloured leads. The 400-1K‘s point is certainly shorter than the one produced by Möbius+Ruppert’s grenade.
| Sharpener | F-C Trio (colour) |
KUM 400-1K |
M+R grenade |
Eisen 402 |
| Angle
(approximately) |
29° | 24° | 22° | 20° |
Conclusion:
It is nice to have a sharpener that produces a shorter point, but I am not very enthusiastic about the KUM 400-1K. Maybe I got a “bad one”. It does perform similar to other average sharpeners, but you do not have to spend much more to get a good sharpener that will certainly outperform the 400-1K.
I would like to thank Kent for the Staedtler 134 yellow pencils used to compare the different sharpeners.
Prices and exchange rates: March 2010
If you ever go to Shanghai you should visit FuZhou Road. This road is famous for its book stores (including the Shanghai Foreign Language Bookstore), but you will also find many stationery shops there. After seeing the sheer number of different stationery shops, focussing mainly on calenders, note books, diaries, tools used for Chinese calligraphy (like brushes, paper, inkstones) and stationery, you might be disappointed when you actually want to buy stationery: the choice is smaller than expected because many of the shops sell exactly the same items. Other places in Shanghai that sell stationery are big supermarkets (Carrefour, E-mart) or small stationery shops you can normally find near universities.
Keyroad, a relatively new shop on FuZhou Road, is offering items quite different to those offered in the more old-fashioned stationery shops nearby. Targeting Japanophile students, only about half of the space is used for stationery, the other half is used for things like mugs, gloves, toys, etc. Most of these other items are for girls, quite expensive, cute and conjure up associations with Japan, Korea or Taiwan.
The selection of sharpeners was not overwhelming, with the focus on cute looking sharpeners, but to my delight I found a rotary sharpener for only ¥ 25 (£ 2.40, € 2.70, $ 3.70). It is model 0635 from Deli, a stationery manufacturer established in 1988 and employing more than 2000 staff. The sharpener has one burr cylinder and even includes a spring-driven holder for the pencil. There is no desk clamp and no regulator for sharpness or point, but I do not think anybody would mind at this price.
The waste container even includes a prism sharpener in case you need to sharpen oil or wax based pencils as they are not suitable for rotary sharpeners. The manual of the sharpener is in Chinese and English, but the English is rather poor and difficult to understand.
Performance:
Performance-wise the Deli 0635 is excellent. The point is very long, even longer than one from a KUM Automatic Long Point. This is a problem for pencils with very soft graphite leads, for colour pencils or for pencil users who use a lot of pressure when writing or drawing, as the point might brake easily. I have not yet had any problems with the point of graphite leads braking, but I stopped using the Deli 0635 with colour pencils. Even the ones with harder leads, like the Mitsubishi Vermilion and Prussian Blue will brake easily when writing if you are not very careful.
Conclusion:
This is an excellent sharpener at such a low price. As it is a cylindrical cutter it should last quite a while without getting blunt. More expensive sharpeners have a desk clamp and let you adjust whether you want a long or short point, but if you like a sharp point and do not want to clamp your sharpener (I assume most people don’t) the Deli 0635 offers fantastic value for money.
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Exchange rates: February 2010
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