Apologies for the lapse in posts these past few days, and many thanks for those who sent well wishes. Today, we have the Ratchetta sharpener, sent to us for free from the fine folks at Jet Pens. Sonic makes an entire line of these sharpeners, including three colors that have an adjustable point dial, which would be fun to test as well. We are reviewing here the orange model with an auto-stop feature built in.
This is a pretty…fancy pocket sharpener; so I’ll quote from Jet Pens:
“The innovative ratchet mechanism in Sonic’s Ratchetta pencil sharpener makes hand-sharpening your pencils quick and easy. You no longer need to repeatedly let go and re-grip the pencil while sharpening! Simply rotating the pencil back and forth does the job. The mechanism is similar to that of a ratcheting screwdriver. The Ratchetta also has a compartment for shavings, and a lid for covering the pencil hole when not in use.
This Notification sharpener has a button that you press down before sharpening. As you sharpen, when your pencil point is sharp and ready, the button pops up with a click sound, notifying you that you are done sharpening. Thus your pencils are saved from over-sharpening.”
Honestly, I forgot about the ratcheting action for the first few rounds with this sharpener, and I was already impressed. The points produced are of a nice angle (think KUM wedge), but they even resemble those excellent points produced by a brass bullet sharpener. The blade is sharp and stable. I’m not sure if it is replaceable, but it would surprise me if there is nowhere on earth to get them. The ratcheting mechanism is pretty neat, and it caught Pencil Revolution Contributor Dan‘s attention for a long while the last time we went for a night bike ride and chai tea on the stoop. It’s smooth and quiet, and I could definitely stand for it to be louder, just for kicks.
The compartment door and the pencil-hole-cover close tightly and open smoothly. Honestly, this sharpener feels like it costs a lot more than $3.30. I’d venture to say that only a Seriously Sharpening Comrade without access to a trashcan, tinderbox or compost pile would need to store more shavings than this little guy can hold. Still, it remains very pocket-friendly.
Another interesting part of this sharpener is its “Notification.” There is a little button you press (the green one, pictured above) in. It stays in. When your pencil is sharp, it pops out with a nicely audible notification. It’s not often that a nice feature like this is included in a pocket sharpener, and less often that it actually works.
The pin is pushed by the sharp pencil point until it nudges the button.
It pops up, and you have a lovely, sharp point.
(Faber-Castell Bonanza and Palomino Blackwing 602, auto-pointed with a ratcheting flavor.)
This is definitely a sharpener for The People. It’s inexpensive, unique, and it even has an auto-stop. My daughter might find that Santa picks up the pink one for Christmas. Above all, it sharpens well! And it holds enough shavings to smell wonderfully after a few days. We held off publishing this review for a week or two until they were back in stock, and I don’t expect them to be for long. The orange one is perfect for autumn, but there are a few other colors as well.
