School Smart Vertical Electric Pencil Sharpener, for Classroom, Home, and Office Use, Black and Grey

I am an elementary school art teacher and I have had the pleasure of being an Amazon Vine reviewer for several years, which means that they send me free stuff to review. Because of my browsing and purchase history, they have sent me many pencil sharpeners. Some have been fairly expensive, from well-known brands; a few of them were quite good, but none of them lasted a full year of the abuse that I put a pencil sharpener through. THIS ONE, however, does. Unfortunately, I have never been offered a School Smart sharpener from Vine, but even with my steady supply of freebies I still prefer to shell out 30 bucks to get one of these at the beginning of each year. Being quite familiar with the manufacturer, the high quality of this product is surprising. School Smart is a notoriously awful brand for just about everything--they make unusable paints, dried-out clay, junky pencils, and paper that falls apart. I avoid their products like the plague. Somehow though, they seem to have found the world's greatest pencil sharpener factory and contracted them to make these for them. It outperforms all of the many X-acto and Westcott models I have tested. The difference is the longevity--many sharpeners start off great, but deteriorate rapidly after a couple of months. This one starts off well, and stays that way for a very, very long time. The blades remain effective, pencils sharpen symmetrically even after many months of use, and the motor seems to hold out forever. After about a year, they are less effective for colored pencils--perhaps the blades have worn down somewhat by then--but they are still fine for regular pencils. Unlike most other sharpeners, it can also take a beating--if a point breaks off (which is rare but unavoidable, especially with colored pencils) and you have to bang it around a bit, it is not easily broken or misaligned. Great sharpener!

This is one of the best quality electric sharpeners out there for artists! Many of the reviews seems to revolve around preference of who's using it, space, and safety. This sharpener is ideal for those who wants crisp tips for their pencils that are efficient and won't break easily- most color artists are going to want this as you typically want fine tip points for accuracy and layering of colors. This means that you're pressing lightly while you color, which for me, the fine tip points help train me to do even more! PROS: - Quick & easy VERTICAL SHARPENING which lessens chance of breakage (in comparison to horizontal sharpeners) - STORAGE capacity for shavings is missive; shavings are broken down into bits to maximize storage capacity - AUTO-STOP feature to let you know when sharpening is done - SIZE of the unit is definitely on the bigger end (like a manual coffee grinder) but completely manageable for the features it comes with - SOUND of unit is not noticeably louder than any other electric sharpener I've come across - Solid, SHARP/CRISP TIPS made (used with #2's, Prismacolor, watercolor pencils, granite, drafting) for fine detailing - STABLE/STURDY BASE that you don't have to hold down with your other hand when you sharpen CONS: No complaints or issues for me personally. If any of the features above are things you're not personally looking for, that would be the difference. Only thing I can think of is NOT a MULTI-HOLE sharpener- not something I needed, so not a con for me. *Please let me know if this review was helpful by clicking "helpful" button below. Thanks!

08-28-2020 - Where I work we have a variety of pencil sharpers & all workers come to my desk to use this sharpener, it still gives you a long sharp point not a blunt small rounded point which other brands my co-workers have at there desks. Day shift & Night shift 60 workers all use this sharpener on my desk everyday & 4 years old still give me that sharp long point even sharpens color pencil, if you buy it you will love it, If mine brakes I will buy it again. I've been doing research for months, I wanted electric pencil sharpener that will sharpen a pencil with a long point, Where I work we have all brands X-Acto 1800 1818 - they worked but eats up the pencil & some pencils are sharpened one side. I love panasonic sharpeners but are discontinued, Bostitch didn't do a good job & motor didn't last for heavy use from day & night workers. For $15.00 more This School Smart pencil sharpener is well made stronger motor & sturdy its sharpens the pencil faster just by pushing pencil done to a long sharp point evenly, the other sharpens above will move when you push the pencil in to sharpen it. It comes with a bigger container that easy to remove & empty without no mess. I bought this because it has great reviews for lasting a long time without no problems this sharpener has Auto stop it detaches from pencil when the sharpener is done & all you hear is the motor with no more grinding the pencil without wasting the pencil. It even does red pencils with a longer point as no. 2 pencils - as for cheap pencils no. 2 may not sharp evenly but still comes to sharp point. This is a well made strong sturdy solid motor This School Smart Electric Vertical Pencil Sharpener is worth paying the extra money it will last longer. spending the 15.00 more & will last longer for heavy use then other brands. UPDATING REVIEW - 03-19-2016 I'm works better than all sharpeners stronger motor, long points, you see in staples, walmart, kmart, at my job co workers & bosses have all brands pencil sharpeners come to me sharpen there pencils to get the long sharp point - which other brands give small point, or sharpen only on 1 side of the pencil i have managers & co-workers who want know where i purchased this, They want if for work & for there children other brands don't last long for what i was told who have children, this is solid sturdy I have 50 people from day & night shift always using it & no problem still giving long even sharp points on all type pencils. Hackerr10

For standard-sized graphite and colored pencils, this is an outstanding product. It sharpens to not just a nice 'point," but does so while exposing a longer, thinner, length of the lead or color itself, which is perfect for professional artist or illustrator. The only downside, for an artist, is that the sharpener's opening won't take the slightly thicker European products, like Faber-Castell's Polychromos pencils. I use a small hand-held sharpener for these. While I don't use them on finer works, which require colorfastness, I do temporary illustrations (like those for children's books) with Prismacolor pencils. Prismacolor's quality control has drastically decreased since the factory moved to Mexico, and their wax (or lead) middle sections are infamous for breaking, or being installed "off center." With the School Smart Vertical Pencil Sharpener, I've gone through an entire 120 pencil set, and not broken a single point during the sharpening process. The sharpener works extremely quickly, is not taxing on hand muscles and tendons, and stops automatically when the pencil is sharpened. I've even knocked the unit off of my work table a few times, but it still runs perfectly. The "shavings" compartment is easily removed, emptied, and re-inserted with no problems. Finally, the price, too, is outstanding for a genuinely excellent product. I recommend it without reservations to every artist and teacher, and to others, for whom a quick, quality, and affordable product is important. FIVE STARS! Greg and Tammie Edmonds CrafTammie LLC

-My observations in no particular order: -The motor is sufficiently strong; unlike other inexpensive sharpeners that will slow if you press hard on the pencil, this one doesn't. -The casing seems pretty strong and doesn't feel cheaply constructed. -The cord is a few feet long to make placement easier. -It sharpens pencils to an almost exaggeratedly long taper resulting in a wicked sharp point that is easily broken off and could be a hazard for little ones. Great for precise work I guess. I'm no sharpener expert but I've never seen a sharpener make a point so long and fine. -Non adjustable for pencils larger than the typical standard pencil size. -Not particularly loud or quiet, kind of in the middle. -Sharpens fairly rapidly relative to others I have used. -The black thing on the front is the shavings holder. It does not have a back. Once you pull it off shavings fall out, so emptying requires you hold the whole device over the trash which may be problematic for people with small or weak hands. -Pencils are pressed down, not forward, which is as is should be... the device stays in place when you are pushing. You don't have to use your other hand to hold it from sliding across the table as you do on so many forward facing ones. This is a superior design IMO. -The ad claims the blades stop automatically when the sharpening is done. This is a half truth on mine... the blades don't stop, but they do stop sharpening. Once the pencil has a good point the blades are no longer in contact so you can push it to the end reasonably. It does not cut power to the cutters. Maybe mine is defective in that way. I'm honestly not sure what its supposed to do exactly but it works, so I don't care. I would have preferred clearer advertising about the auto stop, and that the shavings bin hold the shavings completely so you don't have to pick the device up to empty it. Other than that its perfect for my use.

I love this pencil sharpener. It is fast and durable. My seventh graders haven’t broken it yet and it will be on its second year in my classroom.

I’ve taught for over 15 years, and this is by far the absolute best classroom pencil sharpener I’ve ever had. I’ve purchased a few replacements over the years, and with heavy classroom use, they’ve each lasted for at least two school years before they slow down and become dull. It loves all pencil brands equally, and it is easy to feel when it is finished sharpening. The ultra fine sharp tips of the freshly sharpened pencils brings joy to my heart. For some extra fun, pop some self adhesive googly eyes to the top. Go for it, you won’t be disappointed.

The reason I'm giving this sharpener five stars is because of one thing: it creates long, SHARP, pointy pencil tips. I do a lot of work in colored pencil and have been struggling to find a sharpener (manual or electric or battery- anything is fine) that creates long, sharp pencil points. I have tried several- the best results were with an old-school "crank" style sharpener but finding a place to mount it near my desk was tough, and results were always sort of a crapshoot- 9 out of ten times, I'd get a great, sharp pencil, but every so often it would just grind a pencil down, crack the lead, or destroy the pencil, so I sort of gave up. I have been using two different Kum sharpeners (the manual, "hold it in your hand" style) for a while, and while they give a longer point, the pencil points themselves are not perfectly sharp. I use my pencils to get into a lot of tiny areas, so I really want that super-sharp, needle-fine tip. And I was tired of using two hand-held sharpeners to get a decent tip after just a few strokes of the pencil. I finally decided to go ahead and get this sharpener after reading the positive reviews. It's a bit of a beast- it makes a lot of noise, and you really have to smash the pencil down in there and hold on for dear life because it rattles around quite a bit. But it does a great job of creating long, super-pointy tips on my color pencils (even the oil-based ones, which are fairly soft and tend to bother other sharpeners) and does an even better job on regular No. 2 pencils. I have to be honest- I don't love the way this pencil sharpener feels and sounds- because the pencil disappears inside and there's no sense of where the blades are (the minute the sharpener senses anything inside it, it starts), it really feels as if the pencil might be sucked from your hand and ground into a fine dust. I don't know why I get this more with this sharpener than others- I think other sharpeners get quieter or have a different "feel" when the pencil is sharp (that's what I remember the old Panasonic workhorse in my mom's office doing), and this sharpener doesn't have that. It's just a really disconcerting grinding feeling and sound. I wish they had made the sharpener body transparent, or horizontal, so it was easier to figure out where the blades were or how much has been sharpened off. There's supposedly an "auto-off" feature that is supposed to shut the sharpener down when the pencil is sharp, but that doesn't appear to be working on mine. I just stick the pencil in, hold my breath, and pull it out a few seconds later, positive my pencil will be ground up, but always happy to see a long, sharp tip. Also, the hole for the pencil is "one size fits all" and some of my colored pencils are a little tight, but they still fit. Despite the disconcerting noises and vibrating and grinding, this sharpener continues to produce super long and sharp pencil points. So I may not enjoy using it, but it works. Really well. We'll see how it holds up with repeated use, over time. But for now this is the only sharpener I have found- electric, manual, or otherwise, that produces the kind of long, super-sharp pencil points I really need for my work.

This blew up my fuse multiple times and started to smell like the burnt wire on second use, Amazon shouldn't show this product for sale in the UK

I gave this three stars because you can't leave the stars empty. I don't know, how this works. It doesn't work in Finnish electrical grid and it burned a fuse. I had to return it and I had huge problems with incompetent officer and the seller started to hint that I try to get both the item and the refund (ie. accusing me to be a thief).

This is a fantastic machine for pencil sharping and me and my daughter use it every day for her pencil. make life easy. if you have kids you should definitely invest in this electric sharpener. still going strong. thanks

I have been a teacher for 5 years, and every year I end up buying at least 2 electric sharpeners. This one is by far the best. It sharpens perfectly every time. It's a little loud, but since it works I don't care. Will try and remember to update this after a few months of daily use.

This sharpener was recommended by a colored pencil artist and it works excellently producing a long and extremely sharp point.