Faber-Catell Trio Sharpener Box Grip 2001 Silver

I've only had this pencil sharpener for a week, so I hope this thing lasts! I liked it so much I recommended it to my child's school teachers. What I love about this pencil sharpener:1. It's a good size. Small enough to fit in my supply drawer, but big enough it won't easily get lost.2. It's closes when not in use, but is easy to open so keeps working area clean, and is easy to empty.3. Shavings are minimal! So you can sharpen A LOT of pencils to a very sharp tip without having to empty it fifteen times!4. It has holes for standard pencil, larger pencils like Dixon Tri-Conderoga Triangular #2 Pencils, Wood-Cased, Black, Pack of 12 (22500) larger triangular pencils AND for colored pencils!***5. The blades are sharp enough to sharpen pencils in several seconds each (pencils that haven't been previously sharpened take longer) & with minimal effort! My four year old can sharpen a whole box of 12 colored pencils like LYRA Waldorf Selection Unlacquered Triangular Giant Colored Pencils, Set of 12 Super Ferby (3711121) in 5-7 minutes!6. They don't break my colored pencil lead as easily as other sharpeners!Update: One drawback, the hinge breaks easily, so it’s hard to keep the two sides (one built for oversized & irregular pencils, the other for colored pencils) together :(. But they are still functional &!very good at sharpening pencils!

Great sharpener

This sharpener was recommended to me while I was taking drawing and sequential art classes at art school. The one I bought then has lasted for at least 8 years and still works great. The plastic hinge eventually wore out over years of daily use, but the two compartments still lock closed, and it still sharpens very well. Now I have two - one for home and one for travel.It works well for a variety of pencils, charcoal pencils, and colored pencils. I use it most often to sharpen Prismacolor pencils with good results. Easy to use, and easy to clean out - just open the compartments where indicated and empty them. Sometimes pencil leads can break and get stuck, especially if the lead is fragile and the pencil has been dropped. But the design makes the pieces pretty easy to get out. This sharpener is the least wasteful one I have used, too - it seems consistently smooth. I love this sharpener and use it all the time.

This sharpener is great! Sharpens pencils fluidly and has become my favorite pencil sharpener. I also have another well known brand pencil sharpener and very much prefer using this one. I use this for my FC and prismacolors as well as for my kids' budget colored pencils and it performs excellent on all of them. It is well made, good feel in your hands. Not too large (about 2 1/2 inches tall), is triangular, and is comfortable to hold. It sharpens pencils without taking too much off so you get the most out of your pencils. There are 3 holes made up of 1 for thicker pencils, one for regular pencils and another for coloured pencils. I typically use the regular smaller hole to sharpen then follow up using the coloured pencil hole to get a very pointy lead. For some reason this works great without taking off too much of the pencil. I use my FC daily and some pencils more than others and all my pencils look almost the same length. Would highly recommend this sharpener over any other.

I have had a really bad relationship with pencil sharpeners - especially with Prismacolor Premier colored pencils. I've gone through almost an entire pencil on a number of occasions before I could get a point without breaking it. I know Prismacolor has a bad rep for this anyway but grinding up almost an entire pencil was starting to really tick me off - so, I've tried a variety of pencil sharpeners and while some of Prismacolor's bad rep is due, the sharpener does seem to make a difference. This Grip Trio thing is pretty good. For one, the blades are sharp. Doesn't take much twist to get a good point and you have two different tip shapes to choose from plus a hole for oversize pencils and I'm a big fan of variety. As of this writing, I haven't had to grind up 3/4 of a pencil which could be just luck of the draw in the pencil universe. You also have the covers which catch your shavings so you aren't hovering over your wastebasket or a paper plate while you sharpen. So, for now, it's my main squeeze in my pencil sharpener collection. If the blades retain their sharpness for a reasonable length of time, I'll probably get another to replace it. Okay, that's my review.Part II: It's been a few months now and still no problems and no ground up pencils which makes me a happy camper since the dang things aren't cheap. I've just ordered another of these since I like having a back up. Okay, later.Part III: I swear to you, people, I have not ground up a pencil since I started using this thing. They were sold out when I tried to reorder but tried again day before yesterday, they were back in stock, so I ordered two more. Gave them both a trial run and voila! Same beautiful sharpness. I'll keep one in the studio, one for back up and one in my travel pack. I love it when things work the way they should.

Good design

It is a GERMAN brand, but the product was made in China. I was very surprised to see "Made in China" as this is a German brand and other items that I have purchased were made in Germany. Nevertheless this harpener works great.

I have an electric sharpener. It works great on only certain pencils. I have tried about 4 other types, and none will sharpen my Polychromos pencils. This one has three different size openings. IT does a great job on the polys, the charcoal, and everything else I have tried. I have now retired all my other sharpeners. My opinion, I would have paid a lot more for this sharpener.