The application discloses a hand-operated pencil sharpener, which comprises a cutter holder
assembly and a
rocker arm assembly, and a gear reduction mechanism is arranged between the cutter holder
assembly and the
rocker arm assembly. The
rocker arm assembly drives the cutter holder assembly to rotate through the gear reduction mechanism. The gear reduction mechanism comprises an input gear, a speed change gear and an output gear which are sequentially connected. The input gear is connected with the rocker arm assembly, and the output gear is connected with the cutter holder assembly. When the rocker arm assembly is forced to drive the input gear to rotate, the input gear acts on the output gear through the speed change gear, so that the output gear drives the cutter holder assembly to rotate at a reduced speed. The gear reduction mechanism composed of the input gear, the speed change gear and the output gear is additionally arranged, the torque is increased, and the cutter holder assembly rotates more stably and labor-savingly.