Panasonic(R) KP-4A Battery-Powered Sharpener, Black
Futures
Panasonic KP4ABK Battery Operated Pencil Sharpener, Black, 5-3/8''W x 1-3/4''D x 3-1/4''H;Black;Ships by UPS Ground, see seller's shipping rates and policies for more details.;Weight .44 pounds;Price per each SKU# PCEKP4ABK;
Customer Review:
Right to the point
I've run my Panasonic KP-4A sharpener for nearly a decade, with nary a hitch. It chisels keen points quickly, with a little accompanying noise that wouldn't be disturbing in most situations. In fact, the pitch tells you when the sharpening is achieved. Seems unbreakable to me, as long as one does not force pencils downward--just hold them steady and in 5 seconds, the job's done. Its sleek, compact, cordless design works on any desktop.
Great sharpening BUT broke after 10 pencils
I bought two sharpeners. I sharpened about ten pencils with the first one (excellent sharpening while it lasted), and something "let go" inside. The motor ran but the rotating blade had no more power - as soon as I pressed the pencil into the blade it would stop turning while the motor continued running freely.
I unwrapped the second sharpener to see if it would hold up better. Again, after about 10 pencils, exactly the same thing happened.
When I disassembled one of them to analyze the failure, I discovered that a crucial area of the plastic gear that drives the blade mechanism was stripped away so that the gear was spinning practically freely. It was unable to drive the blade mechanism with any significant strength.
Conclusion: This product is potentially an excellent pencil sharpener but it has a major design weakness in its drive train. I only put one star on this review because zero stars is not available.
Excellent sharpener
I use this on high-quality colored art pencils. They are very soft and shatter on ordinary pencil sharpeners with blades. This sharpener uses gears instead of a blade and sharpens at the same angle as other sharpeners that use gears (those with blades sharpen at a different angle). This is a replacement for my first one which lasted ~10 years and saved me ~$100 worth of pencils (these pencils are about a dollar each). I will not use another style.
