When clutch pencils first came along in the 1930's there was a requirement for a device that could sharpen the lead on these pencils, without damaging the metal casing or the clutch jaws of the pencil. It was with this in mind that the Swiss Georges Dessonnanz developed a lead sharpener that did just that.
First patented in 1939, this sharpener took on the first letters of its inventor's names: GEDESS. In the intervening years the design has changed slightly from the original but the basic idea remains:
- Project a small amount of lead from your pencil (also works with ordinary woodcase pencils, though you will need to cut the wood back first!)
- Insert pencil into guide hole
- With a light downward pressure on your pencil, rotate it 4 or 5 times
- Remove pencil from hole and inspect your handiwork - be careful though, the point will be incredibly sharp!
With only one moving part, the design is delightfully simple: a guide hole for the pencil, a grinding disc and the outer casing. Rotating the guide hole when a pencil is installed rubs the lead against the grinding disc, which, in a few short turns, puts an alarmingly sharp point on the lead.
Additional Information
DUX have been making pencil sharpeners in Germany for a long time - some of their designs go back to the 1930s. The times may have changed, but pencils still need sharpening, and good old-fashioned engineering is just as satisfying today as it was then.
They use traditional materials like aluminium, brass and bakelite, as well as more modern plastics, to make simple block sharpeners, tub sharpeners, sharpeners with tape dispensers and lead pointers for clutch pencils.
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