Reinventing the Pencil Sharpener [video] | Hacker News Reader

Reinventing the Pencil Sharpener [video]

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86 pointssurprisetalk16 comments

The embedded advertisement at the end was most enjoyable (a first for me)

Thank you for that comment. I had initially skipped that section and went back and watched it after reading this.

I just did the same. It was a good ad :)

That's the most steam punk sharpener I've seen. Looks like one of those obviously too expensive items people put on their fancy desks.

"How to Sharpen Pencils" (2012 article about David Rees)

https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/29/books/review/how-to-sharp...

The part where he's testing the blade motion and you see the bandages on his fingers I found a bit… disturbing.

He even called out the unintended contact!

Another take on the subject https://youtu.be/wh8ij9NnLIQ (Stuff Made Here)

Shut up and take my money!

amazing to watch this! one idea, like japanese swordsmen, how about not pushing the blade straigt but in a angle, or in a curve? i mean sideways also. will give much finer and stronger cut the tested this 2 times in mythbusters and still could not figure it out, just tried to swing the sword in pure simple rotating movement, which isn't anything you see swirdmasters do

that's an excellent idea.

I'm sorry but if a work of art like Carl Angel isn't "cutting" it you really should be doing it by hand and not emulating it with a machine.

Such a weird way of flexing "I have workshop worth hundreds thousands of pounds and have all the time I need for vanity projects".

He has over quarter of a million subscribers so presumably it's his full time job?

Although now for all technical blog posts to HN I feel I should respond: such a weird way of flexing "I have a 6 figure tech job".

Plenty of people have the resources to set up a workshop, but they don't bother. We should celebrate these weirdos (positively valenced) who make the world a little better.

If you work a good 9-5 you've got several hours each day to tinker. Also, nothing in that video was 100k+. A nice watchmaker's lathe is ~10k. A full CNC enabled Bridgeport mill is 12k. That shop could be assembled with care for ~20k, or carelessly for ~50k. It's not nothing, but it's less than a boat. It's less than a country club membership. It's less than a few trips to Disney World.

Even if your assertion is true (it isn't as accurately described by the sibling poster), this would neither be a weird way of "flexing" it, and does not at all come across as 'showing off' wealth and idleness as you assert.

The post says far more about your envy than anything about the video. Nothing there is out of reach of some years of hard and smart work, and if you adjust your attitude you'll likely find yourself enjoying a similar position in some years. (NB: most tools are available in very good condition at machinery auctions and re-sellers for far less than original price, and his machines are clearly well-cared-for older examples; and he mentioned some donated/loaned from a sponsor.)

Edit: augment the NB

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