How the fuck is this humanely possible ? Everytime I try to sharpen

Git gud.
What pencil are you trying to sharpen? Some can't be sharpened to a long taper.

File: 030311182.jpg (9KB, 555x555px) Image search: [Google]

9KB, 555x555px

>>3038702
a Conté

It would make sense. I'm going to see if I can buy another brand, and also a better blade and sandpaper

>>3038706
What hardness? B, 3B? Are you sure it's the Pierre Niore 1710? Also, some Contes are just faulty. It sucks, but sometimes you get one with harder wood and as you sharpen them, the charcoal just crumbles. They're still the best charcoal pencil I've used, though. I bought a 12 pack and 3 were like that.

>>3038700
I've been using the Watts meme Conte a Paris Pierre Noire 1710 B and 2B. No problems. Easy to sharpen to a long taper. I had a harder time sharpening the Wolff's Carbon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKJh3KAXWjQ

>>3038700
you have to remove the wood by cutting and then use sandpaper, Anon

>>3038700
Sometimes you just get a bad pencil that has been dropped. Sometimes dropped pencils have fractured leads all down the shaft. You can still use it as a stubby one for laying down some chunky lines or crushing it and putting some tones on paper with an stomp, but don't think you can get a long, beautifully sharpened lead. If you're being really, really careful sharpening and it seems to break by itself, that's probably what's going on there.

>>3038706
I can sharpen a Conté pencil lead really long... unless it was a dropped one. Bet ya $5 it's not you, it's the pencil. Get a fresh one. Be a nerd at the store and even ask them to withdraw a fresh one from an unopened carton for you. They're much more drop-resistant in the pack. Singles are shit. You never know who shoved it up his butt and pooped it across the store onto the floor.

well thanks for the advice guys. Haven't been on /ic for a long time and i'm glad to see that it's still a great board

>>3038742
I'll go to the store today. Thanks

>>3038700
I don't understand how can you break a pencil while sharpening. Get a cardboard cutter, rest the pencil firmly in your palm and gently chip away the wood by sliding against it with the blade by pushing your thumb.
Never broke a charcoal pencil in two years.

Also, the sandpaper is pretty useless imo. Charcoal only holds to textured paper, which also sharpens your lead. Just rotate the pencil to get a smooth taper all the way.

>>3038780
What is a cardboard cutter?

>>3038792

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=cardboard+cutter+knife

>>3038780
You have NEVER broken a pencil in 2 years of drawing? I call bullshit.

I would say every 1 out for 20 pencils I use break at some point while sharpening or falls off the table.
>>3038700
To break less pencils I would only use the knife to remove the wood and glue from the desired length of charcoal. Then you can roughly shape it with the knife or just get some coarse grit sand paper to give it the right shape and then switch to a high grid sand paper to refine and smooth it out.

Also make sure your not making the sharpened point to long. The whole point is to give your pencil a wider contact area, so if the length greatly exceeds that contact path it is kind of worthless.

>>3038700
Just use a razor by hand.

>>3038809
charcoal on a smooth surface is pretty neat, you should give it a go

>>3038792
It's a small retractable, disposable knife with a plastic handle that makes it easier to manipulate compared to razor blades. I have no idea why would anyone use a razor blade when these things exist.

That other anon wasn't me, I hate when people use lmgtfy.

>>3038809
During sharpening, never. Maybe once during drawing, but I don't recall that.
A couple times with regular pencils, but that's because the lead is super thin and the wood often cheap.
What do you guys do with your pencils, honestly? I use this >>3038706 , during sharpening I hold the pencil as if it was a fucking baby duckling, during drawing I rotate it to even out the stress, draw lightly, and when I need to apply more pressure, I slide my hand all the way to the exposed tip.
Shouldn't your hands be trained for delicate movement?

>>3038857
Really? Feels like drawing on a layer of wax to me and oh god the smudging... To each their own I guess.

>>3038700
That's a china marker, not a charcoal pencil. The ribbon that you see there isn't sharpened, but rather peeled.

>>3038706
Watts meme contes are best. Good and thicc. Tried primos but they broke too much. Just get the wood off with the blade.

>>3038700
sharpen your pencil sharpener blade with a whetstone or bottom of a cup or something.

>>3038751
Did the fresh pencil sharpen better?

I sharpened a bunch of pencils with an x-acto knife. It's pretty easy if you're not careless.

>>3038792
They're called boxcutters too

>>3038706
The fuck did you just call me

>>3039050
Are china markers worth using for drawing? I just discovered how useful they can be to have around the house, but how are they with drawing?

Use scalpel and sandpaper and don't be a faggot

>>3038700
I don't use charcoal as often as I used to, but I can sharpen extra-hard charcoal pencils in a cheap electric pencil sharpener just fine. Specifically, General's 2H Extra-Hard charcoal pencils sharpened in an X-Acto Mighty Mite plus assorted pieces of vine charcoal did everything I needed them to do when I was drawing with that medium. The Watt's method other anon's are mentioned is for Conte crayons, which aren't even charcoal at all.

>>3039050
General's "Peel & Sketch" are true charcoal pencils with a similar ribbon-and-string design, so the OP may well be referring to actual charcoal.

>>3040996
They worked well enough for Walt Disney, but he lived in a different time. The most value I've gotten out of mine for drawing was writing notes on my bathroom mirror while pretending I was a genius a la "A Beautiful Mind". If you've got paper on hand there are better tools, but it's really fun to be able to write shit on your bathroom mirror and easily scrape it off.

Get woodless charcoal pencils.

>>3041047
In any case, if he is using a peeling wood pencil, he shouldn't have problem with trying to sharpen pencils, unless he's having trouble in the filing process. From the OP message it is implied that he's working with wood pencils that are sharpened with knives.