David Combs wrote:
I have this old (good old) Hunt-Boston pencil sharpener,
in the old style (like the original panasonic ones of decades
or a half-century ago): 8" long, 3.5" wide and tall.

Usual mechanism: three spiral-grooved cutting cylinders,
the whole mechanism rotating (planetary gears?) when
sharpening.

Well, last night the thing stopped. I slip the pencil
into the hold, motor starts (somewhat higher pitched than
usual) but mechanism does not rotate. When pencil tip
reaches far end, it hits something spinning, and maybe
sharpens (that is what it sounds like) that tiny 1/8th
or 1/16th of the pencil. MAYBE. Or maybe I'm just
imagining it.

Anyway, I hit the thing (the sharpener) with the heel
of my hand, and it started working -- for two seconds,
then returned to the motor-going but no planetary rotation.

QUESTION: No, I do not want to throw it away. Especially
if it's just a broken pencil-lead stuck in the gears
somewhere.

Any ideas?


Take it apart and look at it. What's wrong?