Pollux Arriving

I never thought a handheld sharpener would be able to create a point similar to those made by Carl crank-sharpeners. While current two-stage handheld sharpeners have a certain appeal, the points are usually so sharp that you can expect there to be a little breakage on first contact. None of this is the case with the M+R Pollux.

The cones are slightly concave, which adds to their strength. Worth noting are the incredibly tight tolerances too: a “standard” hex or round barrel fits snugly into the aperture, preventing any yaw from occurring (something that can lead to broken leads). And everything meets at the tip of the graphite perfectly—in other words, blades that are less accurately designed and fitted often leave odd bits at the end which need to be removed before you start writing.

It’s made of brass so it has a nice weight to it, but I hope to find a suitable case or pouch to keep it in—small items of this high quality tend to grow legs very quickly and disappear.

Thanks to Gunther at Lexikaliker for the Pollux!

For more about the Pollux, See Matthias’s post at Bleistift, and Gunther’s original post at Lexikaliker.