If you’re looking for a way of sharpening your pencils throughout the school year — in a classroom, office, home, or studio — then you’ve come to the right place. This article will find the best manual pencil sharpener currently available. The difference between these sharpeners and other classroom sharpeners is that a manual pencil sharpener is designed to be used by the individual rather than an entire class. Each pencil sharpener on our list is perfect for individual use and offers you a manual and clean sharpener for your pencil.
The CARL Angel-5 Pencil Sharpener is our top choice of manual pencil sharpener. This pencil sharpener has the design of your typical classroom pencil sharpener but puts it in your hands for a quiet and classroom-friendly operation. Let’s watch this short review video before we dive into our detailed product review below.
Top 5 Manual Pencil Sharpeners at a Glance
- Our Choice: CARL Angel-5 Pencil Sharpener
- Vest Tub Pencil Sharpener – Staedtler Double-hole Tub Pencil Sharpener
- Best Value – Eagle Manual Pencil Sharpener
- Secure Screw Lid – Staedtler Pencil Sharpener
- Classic – Wekoil Manual Twin Metal Pencil Sharpener
1. CARL Angel-5 Pencil Sharpener
The internal gear mechanism of the CARL Angel-5 Pencil Sharpener is built to last by utilizing double steel thickness and an aluminum casing to prevent breaking down quickly. The design of the pencil chamber helps to avoid over-sharpening of your pencils and completes one healthy look for your pencil. The angel-5 design keeps your pencils at the optimal length after a sharpening.
Our Review
Our review of the best pencil sharpeners started with the CARL Angel-5 as the best manual sharpener. It brings the ease and simplicity of the hand crank and places it on your desk. It’s transportable and durable – though larger than most other manual sharpeners. The internal steel prevents it from wearing down quickly, so you can depend on the pencil sharpener for years.
One of the best features that place this device above the rest is the angel-5 design it offers. When it says this device won’t sharpen more than your pencils need, it means it. There’s nothing more annoying than over-sharpening your pencil. This manual sharpener will give your pencils the perfect cut in one go, so you don’t have to keep pulling the pencils back out.
One issue we encountered with this device was the annoyance of the tips of the pencils breaking off. It happens in every pencil sharpener, but many of them have a simple way of extracting the point after it breaks – this sharpener takes some work to get it to come out. Overall, this is a fantastic pencil sharpener for manual use. The CARL Angel 5 is the best manual pencil sharpener.
2. Staedtler Double-hole Tub Pencil Sharpener
The Staedtler Double-hole Tub Pencil Sharpener is a dependable option for a pencil sharpener. The design of the tub of this device is done to offer more usage between cleanings. Most similarly designed pencil sharpeners will provide you with a decent amount of space for pencil shavings, but this product emphasizes their catching tub. The double hole of this pencil sharpener allows you to sharpen your pencils with many different types of drawing tools, not just graphite pencils but also colored pencils.
Our Review
We loved this device for its simplicity of it. It’s a simple twist pencil sharpener that keeps your pencil sharp and ready to go whenever needed. The tool attempts to provide you with a slightly larger tub than most products of this size, which is appreciated. Having to empty your pencil sharpener is the issue many faces with these manual devices.
This sharpener works well on almost all types of drawing tools. Even softer pencils like charcoal pencils or Prisma colored pencils can be sharpened to a point with this device – something that many pencil sharpeners can’t achieve easily. It doesn’t take much for this pencil sharpener to properly sharpen your pencils either; less than ten cranks will provide you with the perfect point with little pressure.
An issue we encountered was how it handled specific brands of colored pencils. For most generic brand pencils, the sharpening works perfectly and provides the best cut to your point. Premium colored pencils tend to splinter the lead and cut down on the tips. We loved this pencil sharpener for your generic use but think it could be worthwhile to buy a more expensive pencil sharpener for premium brands.
3. Eagle Manual Pencil Sharpener
The Eagle Manual Pencil Sharpener was designed to be transportable and used throughout the school or workday, wherever you need to sharpen pencils. At only 2.5 inches in height, this is a much smaller pencil sharpener than the Angel-5 or the Staedtler sharpeners. Though it might lack in pencil shavings storage, it’s easily the most transportable of the three above. The plastic is built to be durable and resists breaking, and the pencil shavings are easy to remove.
Our Review
Though this pencil sharpener might not have as many additional features as the Angel-5 and not as much storage as the Staedtler, it is one of the most transportable options on our list. The small, 2-inch size of this device makes it the best for work or school on the run, as you can toss it in any sized pencil pouch and move on to your next destination.
The plastic, though shatter-resistant, is still plastic and can be relatively easy to break. This is a common issue with most plastic sharpeners, as you’ll come to find. You’ll need to be careful when placing this pencil sharpener underneath other objects, as it can crack if enough pressure is placed on top. If you’re careful and keep the sharpener safe, it will last you for quite a while.
The coolest part of this deal is that you receive two sharpeners when you purchase the device. They are the same sharpener, but it’s always nice to have two on hand if you lose one or break the other. The sharpeners have two-hole sizes to allow for many different pencil sizing options.
4. Staedtler Pencil Sharpener
Compact, portable, and dependable are the three best features that make this great pencil sharpener. The design of the Staedtler Pencil Sharpener focuses on the simplicity of use and making a pencil sharpener that is transportable. The secure screw-on lid offers a layer of protection against the shavings spilling out, and the different color options keep the sharpeners fun for all ages. Perfect for school or work on the go.
Our Review
Staedtler is a pro at making transportable and durable personal pencil sharpeners. This device is what many people think of when they imagine their sharpener, and for a good reason. This product is the basis of what you need – it offers a pencil shavings tub, screw cap, and metal sharpener. The screw-on cap protects you from finding your pencil pouch filled with loose shavings, something we’ve all experienced.
The plastic tub isn’t the most durable, but it gets the job done. It can withstand more pressure than the Eagle manual sharpener and offers more space as well. Its body is a little thicker than the Eagle, which makes it less transportable, but the overall size allows you to store it in almost any pencil pouch without the worry of spilling.
We noticed that, on occasion, this pencil sharpener would take a chunk out of the wood. It doesn’t compromise the pencil, but it leaves the pencil with a dull point after that round of sharpening. Amazon also will send you a random color without the chance to choose which you’d like.
5. Wekoil Manual Twin Metal Pencil Sharpener
Classic and dependable in terms of sharpening with strong blades. This sharpener is lightweight and easy to use. Perfect for any pencil case. The Wekoil Manual Twin Metal Pencil Sharpener fits all the basics necessary for a personal pencil sharpener – though it does leave much to be wanted. The compact design of this pencil sharpener makes it the ultimate sharpener in terms of storage. It doesn’t come with a shavings tub as it is just a metal sharpener, but the simple twist and sharpen technique is dependable and effective. You will receive a four-pack with this offer.
Our Review
You can’t go wrong with a classic silver sharpener. Reverting to the basics may leave much to be wanted in terms of additional features, but the industry was built around this little device for a reason. It continues to offer you clean and sharp pencils after only a few cranks and hosts two different sizing options for any pencil.
It doesn’t come with a shavings tub, which can be annoying as you’ll either have to stand over the trashcan for each use or utilize one sheet of paper to throw the pencil shavings away. This does eliminate the threat of shavings spilling out into your pencils pouch as there is no tub for the shavings.
This is your classic sharpener and is super easy to use. The blade is the device’s focus, and the cuts it offers are clear and clean for graphite and colored pencils. Though there are no features like a shavings tub, it’s impossible to leave the classic off our list of pencil sharpeners.
Last Thoughts
While you cannot go wrong with any of the pencil sharpeners we reviewed here, you should be able to find one that is perfect for your needs. You may also be interested in using a wall-mount pencil sharpener, which is a little heavier; read our review of the best wall mount pencil sharpener. If an electric pencil sharpener is more your style, our list of the best electric pencil sharpeners for the classroom is perfect for you.
Fortunately, I also realized my fellow teachers likely have different sharpening needs than myself many of you might need a sharpener for artists while others only use mechanical sharpeners.