How to Make an Xacto Pencil Sharpener Blades Sharp Again

How to sharpen a colored pencil

Learning how to sharpen a colored pencil is an indispensable skill for colored pencil artists!

If you are a fan of drawing with colored pencils, then y'all know how precious the colored pencils are to y'all... and how frustrating it can be when the lead breaks off! This article explains the various ways you can sharpen your colored pencils, equally well every bit measures you can accept to prevent the lead from breaking.

The "pb" in colored pencils is actually colored paint in a wax or oil base, depending on the brand. Wax-based colored pencils similar Prismacolors are quite soft, which means they can intermission quite easily. Colored pencil artists beloved getting their colored pencils to a dainty, abrupt signal (like in the picture above left). But without the protective wood encasing the lead, it becomes extremely vulnerable.

This article focuses on Prismacolor colored pencils, since that is what I employ most, but this information can apply just too to any brand of colored pencils.

What is the best way to acuminate colored pencils to prevent breakage?

Prismacolor colored pencils tin work beautifully and last a long time if they are sharpened well and cared for correctly. Artists sharpen their Prismacolors in a number of ways: handheld pencil sharpeners, electric pencil sharpeners, cosmetic sharpeners, sandpaper blocks, and fifty-fifty the onetime-fashioned way - using a knife.

What works for i artist may not work for another creative person. It is often a matter of trying out different sharpeners and sharpening methods, to run into what works best for you. Here is the lowdown about the all-time means on how to sharpen a colored pencil:

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Handheld

Handheld pencil sharpeners allow for careful precision and control when sharpening. The sharpener that I use is the Maped Hand-Held Sharpener. It's a inexpensive, sturdy pencil sharpener that will last a long fourth dimension.

Prismacolor also makes their own pencil sharpener, which many artists review favorably. The Prismacolor Colored Pencil Sharpener has a great, compact shape, so it'southward great for travel without the mess.

Here's the best way to acuminate a colored pencil

Hold the colored pencil in ane hand and the pencil sharpener in the other hand, then plough the pencil sharpener, while property the colored pencil notwithstanding.

Most of u.s. do information technology the other mode round (turning the pencil and holding the sharpener all the same), simply if y'all plow the pencil sharpener instead, it reduces the stress on the colored pencil and reduces breakage.

If y'all use a handheld pencil sharpener and you feel lead breakage, check whether your pencil sharpener is still sharp or not. You lot can determine if your sharpener is in good condition past checking the length of the pencil shaving. If your pencil sharpener can produce 1 long, continuous pencil shaving (as you see in the moving-picture show in a higher place), then it is in skillful condition. That means you are less likely to feel any breakage every bit a result of sharpening.

If the shavings are small and come off in $.25 and pieces, information technology means your pencil sharpener has gone blunt. This ways that there is more chance of breakage. If the blades are replaceable, supersede the former one with a fresh blade. If the blades are non replaceable, effort tightening the little screw to see if that makes a difference. If that doesn't aid, information technology's fourth dimension to chuck it out and buy a new pencil sharpener.

If your pencil sharpener is abrupt and y'all are still experiencing breakage, read more reasons why the lead in your colored pencils might break.

Another tip on how to sharpen a colored pencil with a handheld pencil sharpener:

When you utilise a handheld pencil sharpener to sharpen your colored pencils, endeavour non to apply too much pressure. Use a gentle touch to press the pencil against the blade. It may help if you lot hold the pencil vertically, every bit shown above, rather than horizontally.

Electric Sharpeners

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Some artists love electric pencil sharpeners for sharpening their colored pencils, whereas others report bug. In that location is a big debate over which type of sharpener is best for colored pencils: handheld vs electric.

With electric pencil sharpeners, you have a lot less control. You basically slip your pencil into the sparse nighttime abyss and hope for the all-time. The danger with electric sharpeners is that they may utilize too much force, grinding abroad at your precious pencil. With handheld, you have the power control the amount of force applied on the pencil.

Some teachers study that their electric pencil sharpeners get ruined from students using them to sharpen colored pencils. This is most likely due to the fact that the wax from the colored pencils will inevitably build upwardly and clog the sharpener.

Tips on how to sharpen a colored pencil with an electric pencil sharpener:

If you use an electric pencil sharpener, be sure to run a regular graphite pencil through the sharpener on a regular footing. The grease from the graphite will help to clean and clear the blades. It'due south also advisable to open the sharpener and clean the blades with Q-tips or toothpicks every now and then.

Corrective Sharpener

You can sharpen your colored pencils in a cosmetic sharpener that is unremarkably meant for things like eyeliner pencils. Eyeliner pencils are soft similar colored pencils, and so the sharpeners are designed to deal with such cloth.

Sandpaper Blocks

Sandpaper blocks are an like shooting fish in a barrel way to sharpen your colored pencils. They consist of several layers of sandpaper mounted onto a wooden cake.

Tips on how to sharpen a colored pencil with a sandpaper cake:

Holding your pencil at an angle, run information technology back and forth over the surface of the sandpaper, rotating information technology evenly to acuminate every side. When the top page of sandpaper becomes unusable, simply tear it off and you've got a fresh new sheet!

Sandpaper blocks are pocket-sized and lightweight, making them very portable. You tin can also use them to sharpen charcoal and pastels.

Pocketknife

You can also get dorsum to nuts by sharpening your colored pencils with a utility knife. This is the nigh dangerous option, because the bract is exposed, just information technology'due south common with artists (espcially those who use graphite) considering it allows them to sculpt dissimilar shapes that assistance in stroke-making.

Tips on how to sharpen a colored pencil with a knife:

Sharpen the pencil past belongings information technology in one hand, and holding the knife in your other hand. Concord the knife at an angle away from your body and carefully press information technology down confronting the end of the pencil with your thumb, shaving it off fleck by bit. Rotate the pencil so that y'all evenly shave each side.

Check out the Let's Draw course to see a step-by-stride video of how to properly acuminate a pencil with a pocketknife. They'll as well bear witness you how to sculpt different point shapes and demonstrate the strokes and lines they assist you achieve.

Hand-crank pencil sharpeners

How to sharpen a colored pencil with a paw-creepo pencil sharpener:

Don't! Paw-creepo sharpeners are the type of pencil sharpeners that you often discover attached to the wall at schools and universities. The general consensus is that these pencil sharpeners will butcher colored pencils.

Hand-creepo pencil sharpeners like the one on the left are a big no-no for colored pencils!

I would advise against buying one of these. Instead, a handheld sharpener or electric sharpener would serve y'all much improve!

Tips for preventing breakage in your colored pencils

At present that yous know all the unlike means y'all can sharpen your colored pencils, what other steps can you lot take to prevent the lead from breaking?

The fact is, no affair how carefully yous acuminate the pencils, the lead inside the colored pencils can still suspension. If they are dropped on hard surfaces or banged effectually, the lead within the pencil may weaken and break when it is sharpened. So accept good intendance of your colored pencils - don't drop them!

Remember though, that even if you treat them with the utmost care, you never know what may have happened to them earlier they reached your easily - they may have been dropped at the shop or banged effectually during shipment. So, even if you conscientiously go on your colored pencils condom and stable and they still break, information technology may be due to previous handling and no error of your ain.

So is there anything y'all tin can do if the lead is weakened or broken on the inside?

On Prismacolor'south website, they recommend "setting the pencils in a warm, sunny spot for a few minutes [which] can soften the wax-based colored pencils." Since the cores of Prismacolors are wax-based, the heat will soften the wax core and cause the broken pieces to fuse together. To me this sounds like the safest method for mending a colored pencil.

There are some "kitchen" techniques that many artists have tried (some with success and some without) such every bit microwaving the colored pencils for 5-10 seconds or placing them in a warm oven for a few minutes. Alternatively, some artists written report that freezing colored pencils makes them easier to sharpen (which certainly seems safer than popping the pencils in a microwave or oven). All the same, these techniques - particularly the ones involving microwaves or conventional ovens - come with risks. I haven't tried any of the kitchen techniques myself and so I tin't verify their effectiveness or suggest that you try them, so if you do try the microwave or oven technique, yous do and then at your ain risk. Please exercise all caution and keep a close centre on the colored pencil at all times. Remember that all microwaves are different so what works for i person in their microwave might not work in yours. Also be aware that if your colored pencil is labelled with metallic lettering, this tin can cause sparks (or worse) in your microwave.

One Art-is-Fun visitor wrote in to say that she tried putting a Crayola colored pencil in her microwave to repair the broken atomic number 82, and reported: "After 8 seconds I opened the door to cheque, and fume came pouring out of the microwave. The pencil had split up end to end, and the flake of atomic number 82 at one end was carbonized. At the other finish, it had bulged out. The pigment was blistered and missing in placed." This is clearly an example of the microwave technique non working, and information technology's lucky she checked on the colored pencil when she did. Information technology's upward to y'all whether you want to take the risk.

Another visitor wrote in to say that, "Microwaving of pencils tin work, but but if you put a container of h2o in with the pencil yous are trying to mend. Even then it isn't a 100% guarantee that it volition work or that your pencil won't suffer some harm, but your chances of success are much higher."

It's worth noting that the concept of microwaving cleaved colored pencils has become so widespread that Prismacolor answered a question near this in their website's FAQ. They advise against putting their colored pencils in the microwave and instead provide the suggestion of placing the pencil in a warm sunny spot for a few minutes, which is certainly the safer option.

More than tips for keeping your colored pencils in good, abrupt condition:

• Sharpen them equally soon as y'all get them. Keeping them sharp all the time may help reduce breakage, because it means less strength is needed to bring them to a sharp bespeak.

• Try using a sharpener with a larger opening, which will be more gentle on the pencil. This will brand a smaller bending on the pencil, making it less pointy. It also means that less of the atomic number 82 is exposed, and more than of it is protected past the wood.

• Whether you are using a handheld or electric sharpener, always clean out the shavings. Otherwise the shavings may cause bug when sharpening the pencil.

In the end, finding the best way to acuminate your Prismacolor colored pencils is an private quest. What works wonders for ane artist will mysteriously non work for another artist. A large role of the reason for this is that we don't know how the colored pencils were treated before we got them. But we can take control of how we treat them now that they are in our intendance! So try out a few of these ideas on how to sharpen a colored pencil and meet what works best for yous!

Stride-by-pace colored pencil coloring lesson by Thaneeya McArdle

How to Draw Course

If you want to learn more tips and tricks about drawing, check out my review of the Let's Draw Class .

In addition to the fundamentals of drawing, you'll larn all about different ways to sharpen your pencils, and how diverse fine art supplies tin can raise your abilities.

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