Remember the drafting pencils? They were sharpened via a contraption that looked like an old-fashioned inkwell and had a sandpaper ring inside that put a point on the lead and you turned the top around. I think they were made by Staedtler like the pencils/lead were.

Come to think of it, remember inkwells in school? We had those pens with replacable nibs/points and had to write our penmanship papers with them. Ballpoints were a major no no in school back then.