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The Gripsharp

Posted by 141drew Posted onDec 8, 2009 at 11:44 AM and filed under Reviews & Features
Updated onUpdated on May 28, 2021 at 11:37 AM


A buddy of mine is in the middle of a construction project and I went over last night to check out the progress. While there, I noticed the architect was using the strange looking device above on his pencil. I inquired and was told it was “the best thing since sliced bread.”

“What, you’ve never heard of a Gripsharp?”

I hadn’t, but Google showed me the error of my ways. Essentially, the Gripsharp is a small device that fits over the end of your pencil. Once installed, it becomes not only a comfortable grip, but a pencil sharpener as well. Pretty ingenious… And it must be handy as just about everyone on the job site made fun of me for not having ever used one.

I ordered one for a hair under $3.


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J

jmack

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Oct 21, 2008
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Cool idea for sure. But for $3 plus shipping, couldn't i just get a whole bag of mechanical pencils from the local office supply store?

They need to find a better manufacturing supply and get the price point on these things below $1. Then I can see it taking off. Right now, it's just not worth it.
 
K

Kevin54

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jmack said:
Cool idea for sure. But for $3 plus shipping, couldn't i just get a whole bag of mechanical pencils from the local office supply store?

They need to find a better manufacturing supply and get the price point on these things below $1. Then I can see it taking off. Right now, it's just not worth it.
Click to expand...

Mechanical pencils aren't a good choice for marking and cutting lumber though as it seems the lead always gets broke. I always use a #2 when outside cutting lumber and I see a place for one or two of these. And the fact is that while it's on the pencil, it will keep the pencil from rolling and dropping on the floor.
 
OP
R

Ryan

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I dunno... $3 is $3 to me... Not really all that high of a price considering the convenience... If it is as convenient as it seems. We shall see...
 
A

arizonaadam

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Seems if you're essentially sharpening backwards, you could never have a point sharper than the thickness of the lead. But hey, maybe that's the kind of engineering genius that's worth 3 bucks.
30 seconds later ...
Nope, a quick review of the website shows that marketing, not engineering solved this problem: "This produces a stronger thicker point and greatly extends pencil life"
Still a cool idea.
 
T

timberseal

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Nov 6, 2009
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bought some for the kids and myself :) Pretty ingenious idea if I do say so myself

BTW theres a few coupon codes online that will get you a 10- 20% discount. TWITTER is one that I used. There's one from a blog site too but I cant recall what the code was.
 
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M

Moon

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Dec 7, 2009
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Location
Louisiana
arizonaadam said:
Seems if you're essentially sharpening backwards, you could never have a point sharper than the thickness of the lead. But hey, maybe that's the kind of engineering genius that's worth 3 bucks.
30 seconds later ...
Nope, a quick review of the website shows that marketing, not engineering solved this problem: "This produces a stronger thicker point and greatly extends pencil life"
Still a cool idea.
Click to expand...



yeh, I think leaving the lead thicker is one of the benefits of it... would be good for marking stuff like wood, where (as mentioned earlier) typical mechanical pencils with very thin lead break easily.
 
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J

jmack

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Oct 21, 2008
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timberseal said:
bought some for the kids and myself :) Pretty ingenious idea if I do say so myself

BTW theres a few coupon codes online that will get you a 10- 20% discount. TWITTER is one that I used. There's one from a blog site too but I cant recall what the code was.
Click to expand...

Code "twitter" will get you 20% off.
Code "facebook" will get you 25% off. That makes it just $2.25 per.

Shipping is $1.50 for up to 5, so if you really like these, get 5 for $15 - 3.75 = 11.25 + 1.50 = $12.75 shipped / 5 = 2.55 each.

At least they have a smart makreting dept who understands the value of tracking the sources of customers (uinique codes)
 
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P

pirate

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Mar 8, 2006
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Alabama
Pretty slick idea. I just ordered a half a dozen to give to my friends as a little Christmas present when we get together for a beer on Thursday evenings.
 
D

diggertodd

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Apr 4, 2009
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Athens, Illinois
Step1 - WalMart will see it
Step2 - WalMart will send the idea to China
Step3 - It will be for sale at WalMart for 29cents in a few months

there is no use inventing anything worthwhile anymore :willy_nil
 
M

mad57

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3 bucks is nothing i spend that at the go-go bar in 2 sec:)
 
M

mikeyr

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Santa Barbara, CA
I find it breaks the lead while sharpening, I tried using it after xmas and just as the lead was showing up out of the sharpener it would break a 1/4" in the pencil and I could pull out a 1/4" to 3/8" of lead and start over... its scoring the lead as it comes out...

tried a other one since I bought a few and it works fine, of the 2 I gave away for xmas one breaks the lead and one does not, so I am 50-50, you have to fine tune the blade to make it work.

I gave the rest away, back to a real pencil sharpener for me, not satisfied with this thing at all.
 
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