Humming Pencil Sharpener

So my pencil sharpener stopped turning and went to only humming when I inserted a pencil.

This totally had the feel of clogging or dirt. I assumed I had not emptied it and all that was needed was to remove the shavings.
I have noticed that kids pencils these days are not painted, but instead there is a plastic wrap on the pencil. I assume the plastic shavings are more problematic.

Fixing The Sharpener

So I took out the tray and dumped the shavings, retried the sharpener and still was getting no movement.

Unplugging the sharpener and removing the screws that hold the case to to main part of the sharpener, I saw a mass of shavings, wood and plastic stuck in various parts of the sharpening heads.

A bit of removing of Dirt …. one of my core principles of problem solving did the trick and I have extended the life of my sharpener, not contributed to the throw away society and also make a microscopic dent in the consumerist society.