3 Vintage Panasonic Pencil Sharpeners, Plus Repair
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- Опубліковано 28 вер 2024
- Originally recorded October 29, 2013.
I show the 3 electric pencil sharpeners I have. I have a 1980's KP-110, a 2004-or-so KP-310, and a vintage avocado green, 1960's to 1970's NEW IN BOX KP-8A.
The KP-110 was in rough shape after being stored, unused, in a damp basement for the last 8 years. Later in the video I open it up and lubricate the motor. I also open the KP-8A (green one) just to show the difference in 20-some-odd years.
I have been a full time color pencil artist for over 50 years. I always choose Panasonic pencil sharpeners. I keep them clean and they have kept me in sharp points forever!
+Diane Yannich Great to hear! Thanks!
I have revisited this video to see why my KP-310 was not working and the cleaning tutorial worked!! I have my pencil sharpener in working order now. Thanks!!!
Great to hear! Thanks for watching!
I enjoyed your video. I just purchased a KP-310 ( because I donated my KP-110) and it sounds loud but sharpens great. I will oil it in hopes it minimizes the loudness. Great video!!
+Pooks Thanks, hope the oil will quiet it up for you!
That last ones my favorite the older ones are so much cooler that newer ones
Agreed!
I have a Panasonic for 1980s with is slimmer to the old one but the "point o matic" light is in the top corner but renamed "lite o point". The Panasonic pencil sharpeners are the best ones ever.
That's exactly why I own them!
Man these are great pencil sharpeners. When I was in school they had these very crappy pencil sharpeners that would never sharpen no matter what and it would eat the whole pencil, hated those things.
Ha, when I was a kid all of the pencil sharpeners were manual with a crank!
just got a park sherman electric sharpener works, but squeaks like crazy any suggestions? also I cant seem to get the front face plate open.
.
Not directly related to this as it's not Panasonic, but inside, the mechanism is mostly similar. As the saying goes, "squeaky wheel gets the grease". Since you don't know what's squeaking, and due to the age of it, grease everything, it probably needs it. As for getting the front face plate open, that's half the fun.
The "jumper" that you thought might be a diode is actually a fusible link that disintegrates upon overheating. I have a PK-310 and would love to know the rating of the fuse so I can fix it. The kids sharpened about 40 pencils one after another and it had a meltdown (literally).
Larry Myers I as well have the KP-310 and the fusible link just melted on mine too. The little motherboard says 90 degrees C, and I see a 90 and a 6A on the little link. I'm not sure where to buy such link to rreplace it, although I've only been looking for about 10 minutes now.
Thanks. I'll give it a try.
ha, thanks for bringing up old memories
No problem. Pencils were created by great minds that realize we make mistakes, and had a built-in way of fixing them. Can't say that about pens, nor sharpen them either!
I have a KP-33. Kid put a woodless color pencil in there, and it broke off. Any ideas on how to get the thing out?
First thing to remember is what this actually is, is a wood grinder. So it should be able to chew up anything in there. Whatever "lead" they use in that colored pencil is likely softer than wood.
I'd open the unit up (unplug it of course), and manually run the grinder backwards. Might loosen it or even spit it out. Otherwise you can employ other small instruments such as a thin screwdriver, might be able to lodge it to one side and then get it out. Or perhaps needlenose pliers. You might even be able to get to the center of it to help push it out.
Like I said, it's a wood grinder, pretty robust, it'll probably hurt you before you hurt it. Hope is not lost.
I almost bought one of the KP-110's. i left it due to just not having room. LOL and i used those same exact pencils back in elementary school days. LOL that 1970's one is really cool.
+ToryTheFanMan The 110s were pretty common, you'll probably come across one again!
I dont doubt that. if i do. and if the price is right. it might come back with me. LOL i tend to bring home stray appliances.
What grease & lubricant do you use in these? Have a KP-33 point o’matic that quit working & when took apart not sure the wiring diagrams etc... if bridge the 2 back soldered connections from where power is & the one to right, the u it works....
So, curious if there is sacrificial small gauge wire that burns up as a “fuse” if over stressed maybe? Would live to find the wiring & schematics to the kp-33 so can’t fix the sharpener. Have had for 30 yrs & after someone went in a pencil sharpening bender (30 at once & to a needle point) it definitely smelled & was hot, & something “burnt” inside.....that “wire” maybe.
Any help would be awesome, & it’s the older model to the A8 you have, actually the first generation I believe.....
Have good one, thx✌🏼
I happened to use 3-in-1 oil, but really it's just for the gears, and on gears you should use grease. Any kind of light grease should do.
There may be a sacrificial wire for the motor, it would be low-tech, so we're talking a thin wire that would melt from the heat. The heat would be from the motor directly, so this wire should be attached to the motor to sense its heat. Where exactly, I don't know. Keep hunting. They're pretty simply wired.
I have the KP 110 and no idea why it isn’t running!
A screwdriver is the first step to success.
I have a KP-33N - similar to the KP-8A in this video. Plastic gears are stripping and I'm looking for replacements. Does anyone have a spec sheet on this or know if/where I can get replacements?
Chances are that's like searching for the proverbial "hen's teeth". You might be better off finding a suitably vintage replacement on ebay. Another option is if you know someone who has a 3d printer and knows how to use it to build replicas of things, they could likely print up a new set (or even several sets) of new gears.
Man those points on those pencils look mighty dangerous...I sure miss those, going to have to buy me a retro pencil sharpener the new ones in the store just look too damn crappy, like they won't last a month or two.
Yeah, you're right. Most of the ones they sell now are DC motors, and just don't have the "oomph" needed. In the time it takes one of them to sharpen 1 pencil, I can do 3.
You might check thrift/goodwill stores in your area, you never know what might show up.
I have the the vintage sharpener with the point-o-matic light but mine has no light bulb in it. Can you tell me what the bulb is that goes in that machine?
+RockNRollBen Mine has a neon bulb, I believe it would run off 120 volts. I'm not completely certain it's driven directly by line voltage however, just guessing. If there's a socket on yours it may use a different bulb entirely, I don't know for how long Panasonic used the Point-O-Matic light.
+jaykay18 MIne is a K-5 and under the rubber boot is a screw-in miniature light bulb. I wish I could find out what bulb it is so I could order one...
RockNRollBen If the bulb is in there (just burned out), there may be a number of some kind stamped onto the base of the bulb. It'll be small for sure, you may need a magnifying glass to read it. That'll be your start for what kind of bulb.
Look inside the glass envelope with the magnifier. Is there a standard filament, or two electrodes? If it's a filament, it's incandescent. Electrodes, it's neon.
Last thing to do is put a voltmeter on the connection on the socket and operate the sharpener and see the voltage. That'll tell you the operating voltage of the bulb. Good luck.
+jaykay18 There is no bulb so I put a meter on it and it reads around 9.43v and it is a miniature screw in bulb like the kinds that go in 6v lanterns.
RockNRollBen Now you have an idea of what to look for. A 12 volt bulb will work, but may be too dim. A 6 volt bulb may burn out immediately, or it may put enough load on the circuit that it'll be fine. I'm not aware of any 9 volt bulbs; as much as I'd hate to recommend a small resistor and an LED (if it's DC), that's an option as well.
Hi, I have KP-8A model (same like the "Avocado Green" and manage to overheat it - the thermal fuse melted. I was trying to read the values from the video to no avail. jaykay18 (or anybody else) would you know the value of that fuse? Thanks.
No clue offhand. I'd say jumper across it, but NEVER overheat it again. I didn't think it was even possible unless you were sharpening 20 boxes of pencils.
Thank you so much for quick response. I actually did about 50 pencils and crayons. (small kids at home. :-) ). In the video, there were some numbers on that fuse. One of them was 10 (maybe 110),, but I could not read out the rest. If you ever open it for cleaning, could you please kindly read them off and post them here if possible?
I don't have plans to open it anytime soon, sorry. Like I said, just jumper it, but don't do that many at a time again.
the thermal fuse is a 3 amp I'm trying to find where to get them
The first Panasonic is the best.
+Vince H I beg to differ. The green one, while it doesn't have auto-stop, it does have the point-o-matic light, which is a feature you simply cannot find today. Due to its rarity, I prefer that one. They are all good and all do an excellent job.
+jaykay18 Yeah you're right. I don't know what I was thinking. The third one is the best. I just liked the point that the first one put on the pencil. The third one is probably heavier too and won't get pushed around so easily.
Vince H That green one is a TANK! If the suction cup feet on it hadn't deteriorated over the years, you could stick it down to the desk. Not that you'd need to really, the weight of it will keep it there all by itself!
+jaykay18 I still like the point that the first one put on the pencil.
Vince H Yeah, I don't know what that's exactly due to, whether the "blades" are sharper, or the inside is more conical, the speed at which it runs, maybe a combination of all.
Cool
Thanks, I especially like the green one!
I still use that very exact pencil sharpener that was the first one you showed us to this day. It is way better than any of the pencil sharpeners of today.
Oh yeah, I know what you mean. Everything they make today is junk!
lol i remember these from my childhood..
Right, and who would have known they'd still be working today!
*I'm surprised that they didn't have dual-helical cutters. They still were designed to last decades.*
I remember the dual-helical cutters on the old Boston mechanical pencil sharpeners. I have one of those brand new in the box from probably the 1960s or 1970s.
@@jaykay18 oh lordy, how did you manage to NOT make good use of that one!!
@@raccoon874 Very simple, there was already one mounted to the wall in my garage when I bought my house!
Elementary school all over again
You must have gone to an upscale school, we had hand-crank ones when I was there.
I just found a KP-110. I chose it over two other Boston sharpeners. I think they were models 21 and 22.
It's a great unit.
These are absolute tanks. My Dad's got a KP-8a he's had since new and it works and still looks new basically. It's been in the basement for 40 years and has been used ALLOT! it still sharpens pencils perfectly everytime. I have a Panasonic KP-150 that's about 20 years old and it still works perfectly as well.
I'm not at all surprised.
@@jaykay18 Since I've watched this video I managed to score three KP-8a that are all in basically brand new condition. Ones Green like you have, the other is a light brown with a darker brown base and the last is a darker brown with a matching dark brown face plate. They all work absolutely perfect!
@@RobertNES816 I wouldn't expect anything less. They will last a lifetime.
I just replaced my kp-8a that my engineer father (I'm an artist) gave to me in the 80s- that he had probably a decade before that- with a nib kp-310 from ebay. definitely not the tank the kp-8a is and I doubt it'll last 40+ years like the kp-8a, but it does give a fantastically sharp point.
@@tt4284 I would've just found another kp8a. I have three that are like brand new. Like they were just pulled from the box. Got em for $25 each plus shipping. The suction cup feet are still soft and not dry rotted.
Are those blades "sharepenable" ?
A machinist might be able to sharpen them, but generally, they are on extremely intermittent duty. How long does it take to sharpen a pencil, 5 seconds? Then it's off for days and days at a time. It will take a very long time for the blades to get dull.
In a school it might be different where there are many sharpening pencils, but the manual ones we had when I was a kid looked like they had already been in service for 20 or 30 years and showed no signs of slowing down.
Good video man. I also have the Panasonic kp-8a (Yours is in incredible shape next to mine lol). I was just sharpening a pencil in it and I noticed the sharpener slowly starting to weaken and slow down a bit. Thats what brought me to youtube.
I felt the back where the motor was housed and it was pretty warm. I opened it up and cleaned it out carefully, but it's still not running up to snuff. The plastic gear in mine you mention at 11:05 is bone dry. Would you recommend some grease for it and if so what type would be best?
+Anthony Davis Grease is best, any kind is probably fine. Probably even vaseline. I used 3-in-1 oil because I had it on hand, and with any luck it moistened up the old grease. You use grease because of its thick, gooey nature, it sticks and stays stuck to the gears to keep it lubricated. The motor itself might also use a few drops of oil, can't hurt. I use 3-in-1 for everything, never ever WD-40.
+jaykay18 Thank you very much. I will try and hunt some up. As for oiling the motor though, Im not too sure where exactly to apply the oil. Would I apply it to the motor shaft or the fly wheel?
Anthony Davis I kinda did both. The flywheel doesn't really need it. You want to hit the bearings, so that's where the motor shaft goes through something. Usually there are 2, a front and a back one.
+jaykay18 Cool. Much appreciated. Thx for the help man
Anthony Davis Anytime! Let me know if you have any other questions.
What would be a good thing to address if the pencil sharpener spins super slow as it's sharpening? thanks for the video
Could be a number of things. Depends how old it is. If it's like these, which use AC motors, I'd imagine it's likely due to a lack of lubrication. The wood shavings also create dust, which gets inside and "gums up" the works. So a good cleaning and lubrication job may fix it up. Otherwise, if the motor uses a capacitor, perhaps that is failing.
@@jaykay18 thanks I'll try cleaning and adding lube? Do you use silicon base grease?
@@lupegalvan9993 That wouldn't be a bad choice.
I've got a kp4a that I am attempting to repair. What oil and grease did you use for the motor and gears?
I like 3-in-one oil. For grease, I just had some old stuff I had laying around, virtually anything will work, it's just to prevent premature wear on the gear teeth.
@@jaykay18 I appreciate the reply. Thanks!
@@rgdickenson Sure, no problem!
I have the Panasonic auto stop and when i opened it up a little black plastic T shaped piece fell out. Its the thing that triggers the sharpener to turn. Any idea how to get the pin back in? Every time i put the lid on it knocks the pin out of place
Perhaps a tiny dot of Krazy Glue will hold it for you.
Great video! I have a Panasonic KP-350 and it was also made in Japan. It vibrates a lot and pauses at times while sharpening. I opened it up to determine if anything was loose but the gears were okay but the blade assembly has lots of play and I don’t see a way to tighten it. Any thoughts?
My mom has an older Panasonic like yours but it’s yellow/gold vs green. It must be from the 1980s at least and I love it. I will take it home one of these days! I’m also considering buying one of them off eBay. Is the blade assembly replaceable? I did a quick search but do not see any.
I don't think the blade assembly is really replaceable. Of course, if you can find a donor machine of the same model, then yes, anything is possible. I'd recommend lubricating everything REALLY well with a light oil like 3-in-one. You can do the blades as well, blades generally cut even better when lubricated.
Thanks for the video. Quick question and hopefully you can answer this. I have the KP-110, have had it since I was a child and it finally gave out. The Thermal fuse broke apart. It's a 110C but the fuse also says 3A. I Can't find a 3A 110C anywhere but I can find 2A 110C, 10A 110C, and 5A 110C. Which one should I get?
Joy Watkins I would err on the side of being conservative, and go for both the 2A and the 5A. I'd start with the 2, if it blows that just sharpening a standard pencil, you'll have to put the 5 in. I would expect the rest of the wiring could probably handle 5A without much trouble, they used to build these things like tanks.
My wife is an illustrator and we usually have at least 3 electric pencil sharpeners scattered around the house so she is never far from a sharpener. Her newest Panasonic is the same model you described and it is much better quality than the competition. However, I now purchase vintage Panasonic sharpeners on Ebay for her. You just can't beat the quality.
Kenneth Robinson Thanks, that's great to hear. I can always have a sharp pencil, but the cats always chew off the erasers!
I just bought a KP-100 off eBay. I usually use a cheap electric sharpener. I wanted something better that would last longer.
That will probably last you forever.
Our KP-310 stopped working. No odd noises; it won't even try. Any thoughts on how I can repair it?
Time to break out the multimeter and screwdriver! You'll need to open the unit first, plug it in and meter the line cord to make sure you have 120 volts coming in. After that, unplug it.
You'd then meter the switch that is tripped when a pencil is inserted for continuity, and also measure the motor for continuity. I didn't take apart my KP-310 since it has very low "mileage", but I'm sure it looks similar in many ways to the KP-110 I showed in this video. Good luck!
Oh man I wish I could find one of the really old ones in such a nice condition for my teacher mom.
They're around, if you look hard enough.
I know that they used the point-o-matic system in at least up to the KP-33 model, not sure about others.
Thanks for the additional info!
I just repaired my vintage Hunt Boston electric pencil sharpener. The plastic gear broke, which is common on those. It is Made in U.S.A.
Those old pencil sharpeners are worth fixing, they're made better than anything u can buy now.
Oh yes, they are made better. Much better. Every time I have to buy something to replace something, the issue of poor quality comes up. The last one lasted say 10 years, this new one I'll get a year if I'm lucky. Shameful.
How did you repair the gear? Usually those gears are made out of nylon, which doesn't like to be glued.
There's a seller on ebay that sells replacement gears for old Boston sharpeners. The new gear is made out of a really tough plastic, the Boston sharpener's gear is clipped on by a metal clip.You just press the gear onto the motor shaft, then press on the metal clip into place with needle nose pliers.
Can you replace the suction cups on the bottom. If so, where can i find them.
Jay Scott They can be replaced indeed. Where to find them is going to be a search for the proverbial "hen's teeth", so chances are you'd have to conjure up a replacement yourself and modify them to fit properly.
do you think its a good idea to have your own store to repair a jammed sharpener?
No.
The 1st one is junk because at 4:23 it sounded like a junky motor or rusty
+Glenn Conklin Yes, that's exactly what I alluded to in the video description, and also why I serviced it later in the video.
I've gotten multiple pencil sharpeners new, and I think all three of the new ones broke within a few years, or didn't work very well.
Then one day, I was at the salvation army, and I found this older Boston electric pencil sharpener. It only cost me $2.00, and it's the best pencil sharpener I've ever owned. NO JOKE! It just shows how much lower the quality has gotten in new products these days.
Oh yeah, the pencil sharpeners they make today are a joke compared to the old ones. They do still make the old wall-mount hand-crank ones, you can't beat those.
Boston is a good brand as well, I've seen tons of Boston staplers over the years.
@@jaykay18 I think it's a model 19, and while I'm unsure of its age, it's old enough that it was made in the USA.
Also, it's rated for 2 amps, so you know it's good.
If the geartrain inside is all metal, that will last you a lifetime. If there's plastic involved, it may crack over the years as the plasticizers leach out and the plastic dries out. Chances are good if you'd know someone with a 3-D printer, they could print you a replacement gear in a matter of a couple hours.
I have that pencil sharpener and I love it so much
These are all nice.
I had a gold one
The styles have changed over the years, as you see. What model did you have?
@Gai Clark it was most likely the yellow KP-33A
also do you know which store i can find to fixed a jammed sharpener?
You won't find a store that can do it. Finding a handyman or someone who works on small appliances as a hobby might be your best bet. The problem is, these devices are so cheap they're disposable, so you'll have a hard time finding what you need.
@@jaykay18 oh i see. Thank you Jay.
Sure. You can also attempt to fix it yourself, they're not very complicated at all.
@@jaykay18 oh ok
at 2:35 this guy sticks up his middle finger. probably unintentional.
Yes, this guy did. Completely done in such a way as to not offend as no offense was meant to begin with. It just so happens that your middle finger happens to be the longest, and I was sitting far enough back from the sharpeners that the little extra reach was all I needed.
That's fine. No offense taken. :)