Colored Pencil Extenders: Save Money and Use Every Last Inch

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Colored Pencil Extenders: Save Money and Use Every Last Inch

Every colored pencil ends up the same way. You sharpen it down to a stub that’s too short to grip comfortably but still has plenty of usable core inside. Throwing away a 2-inch stub feels wasteful, especially when it’s from a Prismacolor Premier set that costs 40 dollars for 72 pencils. Pencil extenders solve this problem.

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An extender is a simple metal or plastic holder that grips the stub end of your pencil and gives you back the length you need for a comfortable grip. They cost less than a single replacement pencil and can extend the life of your set by months.

How Pencil Extenders Work

The design is straightforward. A metal tube with a collet or clamp mechanism on one end holds the pencil stub. You insert the stub, tighten the clamp, and the extender becomes the new barrel of your pencil. Most extenders accept a range of pencil diameters, so they work with standard colored pencils, watercolor pencils, and graphite pencils.

The extender doesn’t affect how the pencil performs. The core is the same. You sharpen the exposed end as usual, and the grip feels like a full-length pencil once you get used to the slightly heavier weight.

Which Extenders Are Worth Buying

General’s The Miser (about 10 dollars)

General’s The Miser is the most well-known pencil extender. It’s made by General Pencil Company, a family-owned American manufacturer that’s been making pencils since 1889. The Miser is a single extender with a simple sliding clamp that accepts most standard pencil diameters. It comes with a soft drawing pencil included, so you can try it right away.

The build quality is solid. The metal body has a comfortable diameter, and the clamp holds securely without crushing the pencil. At about 10 dollars for a single extender, it’s more expensive per unit than the multi-pack options, but the quality justifies the price.

Emivery 8-Pack Metal Pencil Extenders (about 12 dollars)

If you have a large pencil set and multiple stubs accumulating, a single extender isn’t enough. The Emivery 8-pack gives you eight extenders for about 12 dollars. They have a dual-head design with two different opening sizes, so they work with both thin and thick pencils.

The quality is acceptable for the price. The clamps hold well, though they’re not as precisely machined as General’s. For colorists who accumulate many stubs across a 72-pencil set, having eight extenders means you can leave your most-used colors in their extenders permanently instead of swapping them in and out.

Harilla Adjustable Pencil Extenders (about 9 dollars)

The Harilla extenders are similar to the Emivery but sold in smaller quantities. They accept hexagonal, round, and triangular pencils. The adjustable mechanism is a twist-to-tighten collet that holds securely.

When to Start Using an Extender

Most people wait too long. You start contorting your grip to use a 3-inch stub, your hand cramps, and your coloring suffers. Start using an extender when your pencil reaches about 3.5 inches. At that length, the pencil is still usable but your grip has to adjust, and that adjustment causes hand fatigue over a long coloring session.

With an extender, a 3.5-inch stub feels like a brand-new pencil. You can keep using it until the core is genuinely gone, which means you get the full value out of every pencil you buy.

Are Extenders Worth It for Casual Colorists?

If you color occasionally with a Crayola Signature set that costs 15 dollars, an extender might not seem necessary. You can always buy a new set. But if you use Prismacolor Premier or Faber-Castell Polychromos, each pencil costs between 1 and 2 dollars. An extender that saves 10 stubs from the trash pays for itself.

Extenders also reduce waste, which matters if you’re buying art supplies regularly. A 72-pencil set typically generates 72 stubs over its lifetime. With extenders, you use the core from each one instead of throwing away the last inch. Over a year of regular coloring, that adds up to the equivalent of several free pencils.

Extenders work with most pencil types, but they’re especially useful for thick-barreled pencils like Arteza Expert pencils, which have a wider diameter than standard pencils. The dual-head extenders like the Emivery set accommodate both standard and thick barrels without issue.

Bottom Line

Pencil extenders are a small investment that pays off if you use quality pencils. The General’s Miser is the best single extender. The Emivery 8-pack is the best value for large sets. For more accessory recommendations, see our pencil accessory guide or our under 50 dollars guide.