Long point - the best way how to sharp my - not only colored - pencils. Any tips for electronic sharpener with long point? This KUM is really good, but not enought, I need one that is as sharp as a razor, like from the factory (factory sharpened, but with long point).
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Oh what, first time seeing this… Now I really need one
The etched steel Newmans are just so overpriced… 
Yeah, they have gotten absurd. There was a time when they were really quite cheap. My gold etched one you see was one I’d gotten for less than ¥7,000. The exchange rate wasn’t so great back then… so it wasn’t like the kind of bargain you’d find today at that price. But I ended up paying over ¥20,000 for the silver one because of price spiking! I really wanted it and I just didn’t want to wait. Well, a whole year has passed and these Newman pencils are just not showing up… save for the sought-after drafter (absurdly going for Pilot Automatic prices) and the zigzag ones which are still going for reasonable market prices.
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Even after 40 years of being a fan of long point sharpeners, I have yet to find an electric sharpener that works reliably. I once had one from Dahle that looked promising, but even though the point was much longer than that of a standard sharpener, it was still shorter than that of the KUM Long Point 202, for example, and it couldn’t centre the pencil properly; I then threw it away.
The crank sharpener with the longest point is the Carl Angel-5 (the standard model). However, the clamp mechanism leaves bite marks on the pencil but it’s possible to swap the milling unit with the one in the Carl Angel-5 Royal or Premium models which have rubber-padded grips. However, these are not electrically operated.
For some time now, there have been crank sharpeners that cut a bizarrely long point, e. g. this AFMAT model; there’s even a similar one on AliExpress which bears the Faber-Castell name.
I have also moved away from most KUM sharpeners because their shavings are too thick for me – they “eat” the pencils. Besides the mentioned Carl I mainly use the Pollux and the Grenade (standard point) from M+R. The Pollux is a bit picky and doesn’t work well with many coloured pencils; for these I recommend the Castor (although it doesn’t produce the beautiful concave point like the Pollux does).
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All the sources on electric sharpeners I have perused over the years are consistent in stating that the best machines are the vintage, corded ones made in Japan — specifically Panasonic, I believe — but those are hard to find, sometimes even harder to repair, and the replacement burrs can be impossible to get. Not to mention the price points, which can skyrocket pretty quickly.
There should be around a Caran d’Ache electric sharpener with red body which may have incorporated some of those obscure technologies, but of course it is Caran d’Ache, so you pay even for looking at the thing. I have no experience with that.
I second Gunther’s opinion about the brass, hand-held pieces by M+R, specifically Castor and Pollux (if you have very large pencils, check as well their model No. 0802, round body), but to avoid lead breakage, I prefer having my coloured pencils sharpened with a very short tip, and for that I use a dedicated Faber-Castell sharpener which came in this set (Grip 2001). If you crave extra-long points, gift yourself a vintage Faber-Castell Janus (and look for NOS replacement blades), your world of tips will change like from night to day. 
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I too have often heard about these devices, but have not yet seen any comparison photos of the points; I am therefore not sure whether they really produce a long point.
Are you referrring to the one shown here? If yes: It’s impressive but It doesn’t produce a long point (I have the original model).
The Janus 4046 and is successor, the 4048, are nice shapeners but I have found them to be even fussier than the Pollux. The blade of the 4048 is more curved than that of the Pollux, which means that the force acting radially on the lead is even greater; this increases the risk of breakage. Besides that, its geometry is a little odd because it doesn’t produce a needle point like the Pollux but a small spigot (at least the ones I have).
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Precisely that. I had to know you knew the model already… 
As for the Janus, I have gathered two variants of the 4046 and two of the 4048 (one variant in aluminum, one in brass for each model); it is true that they can produce some weird result, but my trick is simply to start the sharpening process for an unsharpened pencil directly with that tool, and never change — this brings any issue to basically zero.
Also, having found a few pristine blades has greatly helped, as old blades can have dents and ruin a tip in matters of seconds.
Plus, I love that crazy geometry of the point.
For a previously-sharpened pencil, instead, the Pollux is my go-to: impressive results every time. What I found a bit underwhelming, instead, is the El Casco: it is true that it makes marvels, but the effort needed to achieve an almost-perfect tip is really too much, especially if one is in a bit of a hurry.
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Pilot Timeline mechanical pencil
uni MSE-1007GG
Platinum PRO-USE 171 0.5MM
Pilot G2-EX
Zebra airfit jjz49(after modification)
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These are fantastic!
Will someone explain the Pilot Timeline to me??
It appeared a couple of months back, but I had NEVER heard of it. ANY info will be greatly appreciated.
He and I have found an equilibrium…. We view fair as fair. We’ve both taken hits, but (I believe) they are fair.
PILOT TIMELINE is sold in Japan by PILOT AGELESS, and it is also sold to China and other countries. This one in my hand is the mechanical pencil of the TIMELINE, which was discontinued in early 2023. Its function is Twist & Double Knock, just like PILOT Protecs.When the pen is rotated for the first time, the nib will pop up; When the pen holder is rotated again, the pen holder will pop up for a certain distance. At this time, you can made the lead out by pressing the whole pen holder.
That point does indeed have its appeal!
As great as the Janus sharpeners are, they have design weaknesses. Some like the chatter marks in the blade bed are cosmetic but others like the blade position aren’t. If you look close you’ll notice that the blade at least of the 4048 can be rotated slightly but the one of the Pollux sits firmly on three point. This is achieved, among other things, by a small inward curvature on the blade edge opposite the cutting edge. And one more detail: The Pollux can even sharpen colour and soft pencils.
The El Casco machine mainly impresses with its price 
What is the silver above the 95?
I have a white and silver 2.00mm lead holder. I’m willing to let go of one of them. They are in great condition.
Thanks for the offer but since my post I have got one (well, in a Japanese warehouse at the moment) thanks to @drifand’s sleuthing.
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A successful trade with @DarkwingDuck - despite some shenanigans with our respective postal services.
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