Staedtler Mars Technico Lead Sharpener (502)

Works great for sharpening 2mm leads. Easy to sharpen leads. I'm not sure how to empty it. I do recommend if you need 2mm leads sharpened.

Puts a really fine point on 8b mechanical pencil leads

I love how this sharpener has two point options, one is your pretty typical point which is great for writing and drawing. The OTHER option is P O I N T Y, super delicate work because the moment you make contact with paper that point is crumbling into oblivious, or I just don't know what I'm doing.It's very easy to use, drop lead into either hole, shove whole pencil in whole, give it the whirly twirly, and use the white sponge thing to retract led and clean tip. Then proceed with your pencil stuff.

The only thing to really change on these was the color of the plastic. I still have one from when I was a kid in the mid 2000’s and it’s just as good of a sharpener then as it is now. Gets continuous use and sharpens my lead the same every time.

The sharpener is designed to sharpen a specific mechanical pencil. I modified the sharpener to accommodate all my various pencils. Works perfect never breaking the color leads.

I originally posted a two star review because I couldn’t get mine to work properly. It really bothered me that I couldn’t get it to work correctly and figured it must be me. It was indeed me. I kept working at it and I figured out how to use this properly. Once I figured it out this thing works awesome. My only complaint is that it doesn’t come with clear directions or at least mine didn’t.Maybe it’s obvious to many people how to use this but it wasn’t to me.Step one:Use one of the two small holes to set your depth for the point that you want, either really sharp or dulled at the tip. Let the lead drop to the bottom of the hole then slide your lead holder till it touches the top of the unit. Once depth is set remove from unit.Step two:Simply place the tip of your lead holder into the large hole and rotate till you’re happy with the point.I know!!! Easy. It took me a bit to figure out. This unit is well worth the money.

I returned this so I couldn’t get it to work the way I expected it should

This a great little sharpener.The only drawback is it will not fit all mechanical pencils of the same type but it does put a very sharp point. I glued a small magnet to the bottom and attached it to my table saw and it stays handy.