A knife sharpened pencil has a certain panache. But people may look askance at you if you have a Bowie knife lying around your desk.
The Flat plane pencil sharpener contains an angled vibrating lathe like blade contained in a little box. Insert, pull back, rotate and reinsert. Conical pencil tips begone! The new pencil has flat planes - the fewer the better.-- bungston, Oct 08 2007 Carpenter's pencils http://www.pencilpa...ticles/carpentr.htmFlat pencils [csea, Oct 09 2007] Carpenter Pencil Sharpener http://www.toolbarn.../product/keson/CP2/ [jhomrighaus, Oct 09 2007] Flat plane pencil sharpener http://www.artifolk...ner_and_pointer.htmBaked, for a quid and a half [lurch, Oct 10 2007] triangular prism moebius http://usera.imagec...z/moebius_triangle/For david scothern [xaviergisz, Oct 10 2007] Neat idea. I wonder if it's been done already? (Sounds like the kind of thing an engineer would cook up just for the fun of it.)-- DrCurry, Oct 08 2007 I think it's quite nice to be looked askance at now and again.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Oct 08 2007 One could use a springloaded standard razor blade and eliminate the vibration. On inserting the pencil the razor would be pushed down. On drawing back it would shave the pencil. This would be cheaper.-- bungston, Oct 08 2007 I'm not sure if price is the driving factor here.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Oct 08 2007 A belt sander, built into the surface of the desk and with the sanding surface facing up, would do this too. Turn it on and you can sand your pencil to a fine point. Also, if you're very careful, you can use it to peel your apple at lunchtime.-- hippo, Oct 09 2007 <sound of in-built desk-sander> brrrrrr!brrrrrrrr!brrr!
Also handy if you want to fling items at Bill sitting opposite.
What is the fewest number of flat planes a pencil can have before distorting the fabric of space and time?
My guess is three, but two (or at least approaching two) is intriguing as it is dangerous. [+]-- zen_tom, Oct 09 2007 I had a Tobleronicly shaped pencil once, it fitted so snuggly between 3 fingers. A hexagoid is a very poor option by comparison.
[hippo] I've often wondered why people would have a sander just for their belts, I've never found that mine get particularly rough. I think it's great that you've found a better use for them.-- marklar, Oct 09 2007 I *love* sanding and grinding things - it's so unbelievably satisfying, it could be one of those things all humans are naturally inclined to enjoy, like eating, knives, fire, comfort and the seaside.-- zen_tom, Oct 09 2007 I like the idea of an in-built desk-sander. I could take my shoes and socks off, put my feet up, and get rid of all that hard skin on my heels.-- jtp, Oct 09 2007 "eating knives"?-- hippo, Oct 09 2007 If there were ever any sentence in desperate need of a semi-colon, it's probably that one.
Perhaps, "it could be one of those things that all humans are naturally inclined to enjoy, like; eating, knives, fire, comfort, the seaside, gravy, custard, and chips."
Also, anno-bun for "tobleronicly". I think that could catch on.-- zen_tom, Oct 09 2007 I can see how to do this, and it isn't that hard.
The easiest way to put it together would be to have a single head that brings a blade down at an angle through the pencil space. Remove the pencil, turn it 120 degrees or less, shave, repeat. Voila, three faces.
It would be bulkier than a conventional sharpener; if it were designed to sharpen several faces simultaneously, very convenient but much larger.
The upside of the single-head model would be: randomness of faces. Having to turn it for yourself and reinsert the pencil keeps the human element in play.-- elhigh, Oct 09 2007 I imagined this to be (flat plane pencil) sharpener, rather than (flat plane) (pencil sharpener), which seems a bit redundant (aren't all planes flat?)
Which put to mind the type of pencil used by carpenters, which is flat so it is less likely to roll when put down, and is rather easier to sharpen with a knife. [link]-- csea, Oct 09 2007 I like the whole idea of desktop engineering. +-- xenzag, Oct 09 2007 See sharpener link for a different style of sharpener for carpenter pencils which replicates the sort of tip you would get using a knife. I'm not sure if this was the typeing of thing you were going for or not but i really like mine(when I can find it that is) when I'm woodworking.-- jhomrighaus, Oct 09 2007 Two mini-drum sanders (think Dremmel, but smaller) The two grinding drums(perhaps 10mm wide) are positioned about 1mm apart within the sharpener housing. Inserting the pencil turns the USB powered motors on. A catch bin at the bottom of the housing would collect the graphite and wood stuff. Available in 5 great colors.-- tossthedog, Oct 09 2007 [zen_tom] If you made a moebius pencil that was triangular in cross-section and one third of a twist round its full path, I think it would be single-sided.
The lead would be utterly inaccessible, and its size would have to be infinite for it to be flat, but I'd buy it just for the novelty value.-- david_scothern, Oct 09 2007 //Perhaps, "it could be one of those things that all humans are naturally inclined to enjoy, like; eating, knives, fire, comfort, the seaside, gravy, custard, and chips."// No. Not unless you are using "like" in a chirpy sort of Cockney way, like.
It should be "...inclined to enjoy, like eating, knives..."
You might get away with a colon, but a semi-colon would be preposterous.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Oct 09 2007 Somewhere here I have a flat sharpener. Stick of wood, probably five inches long and an inch wide; clip on the front holds a sticky-note-pad-like pad of sandpaper. Off to Google I go... <edit>Found. Linked. Baked.</edit>-- lurch, Oct 10 2007 //unless you are using "like" in a chirpy sort of Cockney way// - Scouse, surely?-- hippo, Oct 10 2007 [lurch] It's not only a sharpener, it's a pointer too. [Bungston] I bet you're kicking yourself that you invented a sharpener that you can't point at things.-- marklar, Oct 10 2007 This, and nearly every single one of my other inventions can be mounted on the end of a flexible cane, then used not only to point, but also to whack, and as an aid for wild gesticulations.
Suitable hardwood canes are available from BUNGCO at $10 for 3, and come with mounted wingnuts and winged mountnuts to facilitate their use.-- bungston, Oct 10 2007 random, halfbakery