The Osciblade sharpener does two pretty nifty things. It provides the efficiency of an electric sharpener without really using electricity, and it brings a new, fun interaction to the oldest technique of sharpening a pencil or a crayon with a knife or cutting blade.

Based off the classic technique of taking a knife or cutting blade to your pencil tip and whittling away at it till you’re left with a pointed edge (still preferred by artists over sharpeners), the Osciblade is a tabletop product that takes a good practice and introduces good product design to it. The Osciblade works like a regular sharpener in the sense that you put the pencil/crayon into its slot. Things get different when you have to use a pivoted handle (with a blade under it) to carve the tip of your pencil to make the nib sharper. What’s great about the Osciblade is that it makes the practice of using a cutting blade a whole lot safer, as well as keeps your table clean by collecting all the shavings in its lower chamber. Boy, we’d love to see a prototype!

Designer: Nirmayee Rode