I was told the sharpener sharpens all pencils. It doesn't. It does work well on Caran D'Ache pencils so that's good. But on Pitt and Carbothello, it is not good. Oh well, back to the knife for those.

I'm pleasantly surprised at how well this sharpener works on my pastel pencils. Many artists will only use a knife making the pastel pencil uneven (which I dislike), and taking a lot of time & effort to sharpen. This Dahle is fast, clean, and even. You can chose whether you want a blunt end or pointed. It fits fat conte and thin pencils. Sharpening is a breeze now.

After struggling with other sharpeners, I really hoped this one would give me a point. It was exactly what I was looking for.

I had bought a similar product and a store near me and it just didn’t perform like this one does. This one works great!

Works well for sharpening pastel pencils. Like the ability to adjust the angle of the point and that it stops automatically. Using it is not obvious and no real instructions are included. (pulling out front. To set the angle of point rotate back knob) Suggest people watch the Dakota Art Pastels Youtube video on the sharpener since it covers all of this.

GREAT sharpener for pastel pencils. Easy to use. Best results.

This is your best bet for trying to sharpen your pastel pencils. It is not infallible but it is by far and away the best thing I have found.

The sharpener is terrific

By far the best pastel pencil sharpener I have used. Best for Pitt pastel pencils, CarbOthello, and Gioconda. Because the Caran d'Ache is a geometric shape and not barrel shaped, it will not produce a respectable point. Also, a replacement blade is available with added purchase from the Dahle.

I recently started using pastel pencils along with my other soft pastels, but was about to give up on them when I couldn’t find a good way to sharpen them. I had tried those little hand sharpeners and another manual crank sharpener, as well as a knife and sandpaper. . This one works! I sharpened all my pastel pencils and none of them broke. They all got nice and pointy and perfect for the detail areas of my work. I like that it’s not electric too- not noisy and more portable. The adjustment for how pointy you want the pencil works a little differently than I expected. It doesn’t change the angle of the whole sharpened end, giving it a blunter point, but rather it just leaves the very end of the point a little more rounded, taking off a little less overall. I would heartily recommend this sharpener to other pastel pencil artists, and of course it works just as well on any other type pencil. Dakota Pastel sells only quality stuff so I figured this would be a good sharpener and it is.

The absolute best sharpener for pastels! Easy to clean and creates an excellent point. I hope it holds!

This sharpener is amazing

I was surprised that it looks really well.

You can tell by the sound the pencil sharpener makes, whether the blades are sharp. I’ve tried a number of sharpeners of this style, as this seems to be the best style for sharpening pastel pencils, and this one doesn’t have the high pitched whirring sound that the Dahle 155 has in the beginning. As the blade gets duller, the sound gets lower, and the pastel pencil blades start breaking. Therefore this sharpener doesn’t last very long- about 1 month, rather than the 3 months that the Dahle 155 lasts. I wish someone would make a sharpener that lasts!

I started using my new sharpener and could stop sharpening all of my pencils, its amazing, I'm in love with this gadget.

Sharpens pastel pencils without breaking or crumbling. After the first pencil I giddily sharpened all my pencils that looked remotely dull.

I waited to review this until I could fasten the sharpener properly in my studio area and test it out. I use a rolling metal table, and alas, the sharpener cannot be securely fastened there. It works well when it is securely held. I will need to keep looking for a place to put it.

I’ve previously purchased several expensive electric pencil sharpeners to use with my pastel pencils from other on line stores only to be completely frustrated with the results. This little gadget, however, really works!

Best on the market for pastel pencils.