— One of only two known DUPLEX / Babcock Pencil Sharpeners patented in 1900. Sold!
The DUPLEX pencil sharpener invented by Charles Babcock and patented on October 2, 1900, was definitely destined to fail.
While it is not known to me what the price of a DUPLEX was, it is clear that Babcock’s DUPLEX pencil sharpener was awkward, if not impossible, to operate with only two hands!
The instructions of the DUPLEX actually do not even suggests to tighten the chuck while sharpening the pencil, as the two hands of the operator are busy cranking the handle to turn the six knifes and holding the pencil sharpener with the other while pushing a rod to feed the pencil to the knifes!
The insert holding the six rotating knifes was made of pot-metal, which was a novelty casting technology at the time, of which was little know how durable it would be. The only other DUPLEX is already missing one of the six knifes and the entire pot-metal insert is falling apart, read more>>
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