This is my current toolbox for manual sharpening of pencils and lead cores…
As you can probably see, the left column is devoted mostly to pencil sharpeners; top to bottom you can see:
• FC Janus 4048 in aluminum (straight blade which gets curved by the pressure of the screw);
• FC Janus 4048 in brass (same solution for curving the blade);
• three FC Minfix 50/65, but only the last two on the left have two holes on the same side of the brass slate; the on on the rightmost position in the cell has two separate holes, one on each side of the slate;
• FC Janus 4046 in aluminum (curved blade sitting on a curved bed, and tightened from below with a screw);
• FC Janus 4046 in brass (same solution with a curved blade)
The right column, instead, hosts more modern items, with some notable exceptions; top to bottom, you can spot:
• A trio of models, namely: •• El Casco manual sharpener, probably with dull blade which I am trying to replace; •• M+R “Minofix”, in solid brass with two blades for both 2.00 and 3.15mm lead cores; •• A unusual M+R “No.215” in aluminum, which seemed a pencil sharpener at first glance, but turned out to be a lead pointer (sharp as a tack)
• M+R Pollux, one of the greatest manual sharpeners, thanks to @Gunther who talked about this in his blog and made me aware of its existence;
• A trio of lesser known FC Minfix: 50/61 (two holes, one on each side, for 2.00 and 3.15 mm); 50/63 (four holes, two on each side, two 2.00mm holes on one side, two 3.15mm on the other, probably for left-handed draughtsmen); 50/64 (two holes, one on each side, one for 2.00 mm and the other one for smaller lead, probably 1.5mm — a companion to the DS 9450 lead holders?);
• M+R Castor, another excellent modern sharpener for pencils;
• KUM Masterpiece, which in light of the other specimens in the box is not that great, and can harm some fine tips (I’d rather use the brass, round M+R 0802, or the DUX with tip lenghth adjuster).
And now, let me get my Citomin…