Have you ever sharpened your colored pencil just to have the lead break and then when you sharpen it again the pencil lead break again and again and again until the pencil is almost gone? That usually means that lead in the the pencil barrel is broken but you can fix it, here's how:
1) Prepare baking pan and cover it with any baking paper or aluminium surface
2) Line up the colored pencils on the baking pan
3) Insert the baking pan into an unheated oven and set it to around 250 degrees F
4) Let it run for 2.5-7.5 minutes. The duration will vary from oven to oven, how close you put the tray to the heating strips, and how damaged the pencils leads are.
5) After the 2.5-7.5 minutes have passed, turn off the heat in the oven but leave the colored pencils in until it has cooled back down to about 70 degrees F (about room temperature).
6) Test the pencil by sharpening it to see if the lead is healthy again.
7) If the pencils haven't completely healed after the first bake, go back to step 1 and do it again the process
These steps will fix all types of colored pencils, just remember that pencils with soft leads will melt faster than pencils with harder leads so they will require less time in the oven.
Apart from being blunt, what other problems can cause the contents of a pencil to break easily when sharpened?
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So maybe a gas oven gets too hot too fast… I tried it and the outsides look browned now… I took them out instead of leaving them in to cool. Fingers crossed they are ok.
I have also heard you can microwave them for 5 to 10 seconds. These heat methods work for pencils that are wax based as they melt the wax binder to repair the break. So it will not work on watercolor/water soluble colored pencils. Dropping your pencils will often result in broken leads. Some new pencils arrive with broken leads, perhaps due to rough handling in transit.
If you live in a hot climate you can just leave them in the boot of your car for a while – ether in the sun, or in a hot garage or carport. Leave them there for an hour or so, then take them out and cool them in the house. I’d check on them after 15 mins, to make sure it’s not melting, lol. I do this in Australia, no problems, no wastage of power, no forgetting the oven is on and accidentally leaving them. It ends up like cooking – low and slow gives you a really even result.
I would buy a Dahle 133 Pencil Sharpener as this pencil sharpener is well known for being one of the best for most coloured pencils if your having trouble with pencils leads breaking, lots of colourists that use prisma’s, lumernance, polycromos or even less expensive brands told me about this sharpener and I have had No trouble since buying one, Yes the odd one will get broken in transit but other than that mine have been great. hope this helps, you can look on YouTube for reviews about the Dahle 133 sharpener please take a look for yourselves I know how frustrating it can be.
is that 2.5 minutes to 7.5 minutes?
Ugh! I see I am not the only one struggling with this. I shall try the tip. I love to color, but my Crayola color pencils break all the time! I’m thinking 2.5 might do the trick. 😁 I love coloring. I am one who believes there are some things you never get too old to do. Happy coloring people!
Thank you for the information, will for sure try it.
Pam W.,why impractical???
I have heard other Artists say the same thing. I personally think the Crayola, kid’s colored pencils are the driest and maybe the hardest to restore. But they are cheaper. I collect the best to the worst and test them out. 1000s
Please let me know if anyone else has solutions to this problem. Remember to sharpen just the tip and use a very shallow sharpener,General’s,red. And I use the larger sharpener hole because it’s shallower,and I center it.
Thanks. Teresa
My pencil leas keeps breaking no matter what I do.
I am no artist by any means, but I love my adult coloring books. I just use budget pencils, Crayola, and Cra-Z-Arts. but I am getting exceedingly frustrated with them breaking when I try to sharpen them, I just chalked it up to them being old. Glad to see I’m not alone in the Great Pencil Breakage Wars! Any definite time frame for budget pencils?
Good to know !! Thanks for the really great tip !
Cordelia- so happy to hear you found it helpful!
Cathy- yes, 2.5- 7.5. It depends on the hardness of the lead! It will work on all types of pencils, a harder lead like oil will need closer to 7.5 minutes and softer, wax-based pencils will need much less time.
So simple, quick, and easy to do! Who knew? (Well, obviously YOU did).😊
Does this work for all pencils ? Oil or wax? and is it 2.5-7.5? Can’t tell. Thanks
Hi Annie,
Yes, it should work on the Caran d’Ache pencils as well!
-Liz @ Art-n-Fly
will this work on D’Arche Luminance pencils? They’re so darned expensive, I hate to ruin one.
completely impractical
I’d love to put this on my website…it’s great! email me if it’s OK. Credit to You, of course…Kate www.adultcoloringhotspot.com
Teknik Informatika
July 18, 2024
Is sharpening colored pencils by burning them in the oven effective for dealing with broken pencils?
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