Panasonic KP4A-BK Kp-4a battery pencil sharpener, black, 1 Unit

by Panasonic

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 5.6 x 3.4 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00006IEIF
• Item model number: KP4ABK
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (84 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #35,079 in Office Products (See Top 100 in Office Products)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: December 2, 2004

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

The Panasonic KP4A battery-powered pencil sharpener is a sleek, compact unit that's at home in a wide variety of settings. Whether you're a contractor on the go, an artist that moves around a studio, or a student of any age, this slim, mobile sharpener is a great addition to your tool kit. And with its hardened steel blades, it's easy to keep a perfect point on all your pencils.

The Panasonic KP4A battery-powered pencil sharpener offers: A slim, portable design A perfect 16-degree point every time An auto shutter that prevents shavings spillage

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Trim, Portable, and Reliable
This battery-powered sharpener offers a thin profile that's easy to tuck in your bag on the way to class or the office, so you never get held up in the middle of a task by a broken or dull pencil. Dependable, hardened steel blades ensure a perfect 16-degree point on each pencil you sharpen. And a heavy-duty, gear-driven motor provides reliable performance over time.

An auto shutter prevents shavings spillage, so you don't have to waste time cleaning up messes. A semi-transparent shavings receptacle makes it easy to tell when your sharpener needs to be emptied, and a safety switch prevents the unit from operating when the shaving receptacle has been removed. This sharpener uses four AA batteries (not included).

What's in the Box
Battery powered pencil sharpener.

Product Description

Compact and portable--great for home, school and office. Hardened steel blades ensure a 16-degree point. Semi-transparent shavings receptacle. Powered by a heavy duty motor. Safety switch.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

52 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Great sharpening BUT broke after 10 pencils, August 20, 2004

By 

Global Frog (France) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Panasonic KP4A-BK Kp-4a battery pencil sharpener, black, 1 Unit (Office Product)

I bought two sharpeners. I sharpened about ten pencils with the first one (excellent sharpening while it lasted), and something "let go" inside. The motor ran but the rotating blade had no more power - as soon as I pressed the pencil into the blade it would stop turning while the motor continued running freely.

I unwrapped the second sharpener to see if it would hold up better. Again, after about 10 pencils, exactly the same thing happened.

When I disassembled one of them to analyze the failure, I discovered that a crucial area of the plastic gear that drives the blade mechanism was stripped away so that the gear was spinning practically freely. It was unable to drive the blade mechanism with any significant strength.

Conclusion: This product is potentially an excellent pencil sharpener but it has a major design weakness in its drive train. I only put one star on this review because zero stars is not available.

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent sharpener, August 3, 2004

By 

C. Keener (Hollywood Park, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Panasonic KP4A-BK Kp-4a battery pencil sharpener, black, 1 Unit (Office Product)

I use this on high-quality colored art pencils. They are very soft and shatter in ordinary pencil sharpeners with blades. This sharpener uses gears instead of a blade and sharpens at the same angle as other sharpeners that use gears (those with blades sharpen at a different angle). This is a replacement for my first one which lasted ~10 years and saved me ~$100 worth of pencils (these pencils are about a dollar each). I will not use another style.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Works well, but didn't last, February 28, 2008

By 

David Schmidt "An Engineer's World" (Ventura, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Panasonic KP4A-BK Kp-4a battery pencil sharpener, black, 1 Unit (Office Product)

My daughter needed a pencil sharpener for when we're on vacation. I bought this after reading all the comments on how well it works and before it broke, it worked great! Sharpened pencils to a needle sharp point. Problem is that it's easy to bog it down when moderate downward pressure on the pencil is applied. Kids don't have the finesse to lightly press down on the pencil and after a hundred or so sharpens the cutter assembly no longer rotates.
I disassembled the unit and found that the square post on the white drive gear that drives the cutter assembly was rounded off, likewise for the receptacle on the cutter assembly. It appears the square post is a bit short making matters worse. Once it become rounded off, the cutter no longer sharpens since it is easily stopped by the pencil.

So, I cannot recommend this for a kid, even a careful one. For an adult I think this would be fine.

If Panasonic could redesign the drive coupling mechanism by adding about 1/10" to the height of the square post, this sharpener would last much longer.

Edit: Being the geek that I am, I made a new aluminum drive axle and post for this weak gear, extended the length of the driving post and now this sharpener is fixed and working well! The rest of it will wear out before this drive gear/shaft will. This confirms that Panasonic could make an easy improvement to this product - not necessarily out of metal, but just extend that driving post!