STAEDTLER Mars Lead Pointer - Precision Mechanical Pencil Sharpener with Auto-Stop for 2mm Pencils - Rotary Action with Dust Wiper & Adjustable Cone

A very neat little gimzo that works great once you get the hang of it. Staedtler does not do a good job of putting instructions with their products -- perhaps this is because they make professional drafting gear and assume everyone already knows how to use their tools.However, it's easy to figure out. You release the lead into the little holes that match the angle of the tip you want (sharp for lines/writing, broad for drawing/shading), I assume these are traditional 23° and 30° tips. Then, you feed the pencil into the large hole, making sure the lead has threaded through the internal chute. Then you gently grip the pencil with two fingers and use it as a crank (like a ice cream maker or a kitchen mill) to engage the sharpening burr. Once you no longer feel the lead scraping the grinder, your lead is done.It is important to know that this is designed to fit the German Staedtler 780 and 788 Leadholders. Or, rather, it's a traditional design and as such they designed those pencils to be compatible -- these are designs from probably 50+ years ago, so it's hard to know which came first. That said, I imagine it is more-or-less compatible with most traditional slim leadholders.Regarding German/Japanese pencil compatibility: One of the things that has come up in the comments on this product as well as many of the Japanese Staedtler products is that this Staedtler 502 Lead Pointer is not compatible with anything wider than the 780 and that includes being "incompatible" with the popular Japanese 925 25-20 and 925 35-20... you will see that many people discuss how to sharpen those in the reviews. First, I will say, there are many stand-alone 2mm sharpeners. If you really want a standalone sharpener, the Staedtler "egg" or "oval"-shaped sharpener from Japan (513 85DS BK), which fits 2mm and 3mm leadsHowever, I can tell you, as I literally just used this 502 sharpener to sharpen my 925 25-20. The simple solution is to make the lead flush with the sleeve, then click the pencil 16-20 times, and then thread the pencil into the grinder, and go for it. You will have to experiment on the angle, the longer the lead the sharper the tip. Start at 16 and work to 20 clicks. If it is too long you will likely snap your lead. I can confirm that this works with HB leads; different degrees may have different results. If you want to be 100% certain, then buy a cheap 780 and use it as a sharpening body, or buy the egg sharpener.

Love it. I use it all the time and it works a treat. I usually use the longer sharper point (30 degrees) and it gets to a very fine point. It is so fine that it’s actually frigile so I typically break it on first application and wear it down to a useable point. Exactly what I want.

Compact, pocket sized, easy to use. Fits round-style pencils (not hex) with 2mm leads. Was wondering what the grinding material was. Looking inside you can see a metal ratchet-style gear on top. It appears that what you see is just the top gear of a whole stack of thin gears extending down about half an inch. This presents a grinding surface that is effective and durable. You rotate clockwise to sharpen, and some say run it reverse to polish the point. You can keep the shavings for a nice graphite powder that can be used for shading in drawings, rather than having to purchase any. Follow the directions for using the two point length gauges built into the cap. You get two extra point cleaners in the package.

It's a good sharpener, maybe even very good. However, I found that Uni (DPS601P) is smaller (really fits in your pocket) and for some reason easier to use. But this Staedtler is also pretty good, just not excellent, IMO. Almost forgot to mention, avoid Rotring 2mm holder -- it just a bit too wide to fit.

I've been using this sharpener for over 2 and a half years now and it is awesome!It works best work a clutch pencil rather than a click one because you use the 2 depth holes to bottom out the lead and then sharpen and you'll never get the right depth with a click pencil!I use 2H, 2B and 4B 2mm leads and it works very easy on the first 2 but the 4B needs a little finesse (light pressure) to not break the lead a lot! What i do is if the lead breaks i put it in the the wider depth hole and slowly lower the lead in the sharpener hole until it bottoms out, then back off the pressure until it's barely touching the sharpening blade then i start my circles to sharpen the lead but I'm putting more pressure on the outside of the circle (not strait down or toward the center) until it feels like it's not sharpening anymore and then i push a little harder and repeat that until it is sharp!This is nothing like the pencil sharpeners at grade school so don't approach it that way and you will get good results almost every time!

I didn't realize how much this would change things up. I've been using the built in sharpener on my 780 for years. I was satisfied enough with the point but hated having to clean it all the time. I bit the bullet on this and it produces a MUCH better quality tip - see pics for a before and after with the tip. It's easy to use, quick, convenient. The sharpener also has a "tip clean" which is a small cotton (or similar) tube that is similar to a cigarette filter that you can poke the tip into and clean off any dust. It comes with two replacement tip filters. If you order the 12 lead replacement packs that have the section for replacement toppers, you can take out the topper and put the spare tip cleaners in there.

I decided the try 2mm lead holders, and realized I needed a sharpener. The lead holders I purchased included a mini sharpener, but when over the decades I saw people using lead holders, they were always using what appeared to be a rotary sharpener. A small amount of research showed me that they were using the Staedtler 502 lead pointer. This is the standard sharpener of the industry, and when I tried it I found out why. It's simple to use, does an excellent job, and is reasonably priced. I am glad I purchased it.