X-Acto High-Volume Commercial Electric Pencil Sharpener, Beige, 1 Unit (1606)

by X-Acto

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 11.5 x 5.5 x 7.5 inches ; 4 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 7.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00006IEI3
• Item model number: 1606
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (56 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,989 in Office Products (See Top 100 in Office Products)
  • #39 in Office Products > Educational Supplies > Writing & Correction Supplies > Pencil Sharpeners
• Date first available at Amazon.com: December 2, 2004

Product Description

The X-ACTO Model 41 commercial grade heavy duty electric sharpener has a quiet powerful motor. Its receptacle can hold large shavings. Comes with X-ACTO dual hardened steel cutters.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

71 of 71 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Great Sharpener until the cheap plastic gears break!, March 17, 2009

By 

J. Foltz (Illinois) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: X-Acto High-Volume Commercial Electric Pencil Sharpener, Beige, 1 Unit (1606) (Office Product)

After going through many electric pencil sharpeners in my elementary classroom, I decided to bite the bullet and spend over $100 on this sharpener. I expected it to last several years. It worked very well for about 18 months. Then it just made a loud grinding noise when a pencil was inserted.
Because I am somewhat mechanically inclined, I opened up the sharpener to figure out how to fix it. To my dismay, I noticed that the plastic gear that was responsible for turning the cutter wheels was broken. The pencil sharpener isn't fixable. I'm just posting this so that anyone who purchases this pencil sharpener will know that it might not last as long as expected.

52 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars High volume pencil sharpener, September 29, 2008

By 

Victor H. Agresti "remodeling-guy" (Gaithersburg, MD United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: X-Acto High-Volume Commercial Electric Pencil Sharpener, Beige, 1 Unit (1606) (Office Product)

X-ACTO 1606 High-volume commercial electric pencil sharpener

Cons:

- Elmer's Products Inc. acquired X-ACTO, Hunt, and Boston, and this is now the only commercial pencil sharpener they offer. So, in that regard, we consumers have fewer choices. E.g., if you order a predecessor unit such as the Hunt model 1606 from a web store claiming to sell them (e.g., buy dot com), you'll receive this sharpener instead. It's now called a Model 41, which incorporates previous models 1604, 1606, and 1644. It's made in China, and it says "Elmer's Products Inc." on the bottom.

- No automatic stop when the pencil is sharp. If you keep pushing the pencil in, it will be a nub in no time flat.

- Expensive; but it's a much better sharpener than the cheap models.

Pros:

- Sharpens a new pencil in under 2 seconds, and re-sharpens it in well under a second. The only thing you have to do is to feed the pencil straight into the unit and pull it out when you sense it's sharpened. You'll quickly learn when to remove the pencil.

- Made for continuous use; can sharpen hundreds of pencils without waiting for the powerful motor to cool. I sharpened 100 pencils, one after the other, and the motor didn't even get warm. Motor is 3 amps (over 1/4 HP), which is huge for such a small device. A typical pencil sharpener's motor is about 1.4 amps.

- Sufficiently heavy so you don't have to hold it down while it's being used. The large rubber feet prevent the unit from slipping while in use.

- Rotating front dial accepts 6 pencil sizes, up to 3/8" diameter; keeps a pencil pointed toward the sharpener.

- We have four other brands of electric sharpeners, and none of them is very good. One takes nearly a minute to sharpen a new pencil. This X-ACTO is a revelation by comparison.

- My sharpener is gray, but otherwise is identical to the Amazon photo. Either color is attractive.

- Shavings container is large enough to sharpen dozens of new pencils.

- In a recent e-mail to X-Acto, I asked:

"Some customer reviews say that when the plastic gear wears out, there is no replacement part available. Is this correct and can a customer buy a replacement gear for a model 1606?"

X-Acto responded:

"Our X-Acto 1606 now has an 8 year warranty. There is a replacement cutter carrier for this sharpener along with the 8 year warranty, so if anything happens to the sharpener, it can be replaced. If you have any other questions please let us know. Thanks."


Summary:

If you're frustrated by poor-performing [inexpensive] electric pencil sharpeners, try this one. This unit is for anyone with a large number of pencils to sharpen, or if you finally want a decent sharpener.

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great!, October 11, 2003

By 

M. Culver (Merced, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: X-Acto High-Volume Commercial Electric Pencil Sharpener, Beige, 1 Unit (1606) (Office Product)

I have worked at three different schools in our school district and all three of them own this sharpener. We usually sharpen over 700 pencils at one sitting for state testing. It's super fast. It's awesome!