Bonsai tools, like the tools for any craft, should help you accomplish your work in the quickest and easiest manner. In particular, cutting tools, which come in many styles and sizes, are instruments that allow you to make cuts that do not harm or disfigure the tree.
Choose tools that are well balanced and comfortable in your hand. Buy the best you can afford. With proper care, well-made tools last a lifetime. Keep them clean, free of rust and sharp. Quality tools stay sharp longer and are more easily sharpened than inexpensive tools.
Cutting tools are a must for bonsai growers. Bonsai scissors are designed to cut at all points, from the tips of the blade to the V. The tips let you get into a tree without having to open the blades wider than is necessary. This allows you to remove unwanted foliage with ease and at the same time avoids damaging foliage left on the tree. Many bonsai people like the larger butterfly-handle shears for cutting heavier branches.
Concave branch cutter
This tool, available in several sizes, is used to remove branches close to the trunk and limbs. When a branch is cut with concave cutter, the shape of the cut allows it to heal fast. One useful tool to start with is an eight-inch cutter, as it has a good-sized cutting surface.
Tweezers
Consider a pair of bonsai tweezers as an extension of your hand and fingers. Tweezers can easily remove a leaf, needle, or small twig without disturbing other foliage on the tree. Tweezers are also great for removing growing tips. The spatula end is useful for smoothing soil, scraping moss before applying it to the soil, and tamping moss onto the soil and firming it against the rim of the container. The tweezers end, held lightly, is used to rake down the loose soil of small plants.
Chopsticks that are slightly sharpened are used for tapping soil into, around, and under a root ball that has had excess soil removed, has been root pruned, and has been placed in a pot. Tapping the root ball’s soil helps stabilize the tree in the pot, remove air pockets, and smooth off the soil around the base of the tree.
Root rake
The root rake is used for loosening and removing soil from the root ball of the stock plant when you are preparing to put tree into a bonsai pot. By raking down the top, sides, and bottom of the firm root ball, you remove spent soil and expose the root to be cut.
Wire cutters
Bonsai wire cutters have a rounded head to prevent damaging the bark, therefore allowing you to get close to the branch or trunk to cut wire. Cutters come in various sizes. The thicker the wire to be cut, the larger the cutter needed.
Jin pliers
This tool is used to create special effect like jin and shari. Grip this tool as you would any pair of pliers and run it along the dead portion of the branch. The pliers will loosen the bark and allow you to peel it off easily.
Choose tools that are well balanced and comfortable in your hand. Buy the best you can afford. With proper care, well-made tools last a lifetime. Keep them clean, free of rust and sharp. Quality tools stay sharp longer and are more easily sharpened than inexpensive tools.
Shears and Scissors
Cutting tools are a must for bonsai growers. Bonsai scissors are designed to cut at all points, from the tips of the blade to the V. The tips let you get into a tree without having to open the blades wider than is necessary. This allows you to remove unwanted foliage with ease and at the same time avoids damaging foliage left on the tree. Many bonsai people like the larger butterfly-handle shears for cutting heavier branches.
Concave branch cutter
This tool, available in several sizes, is used to remove branches close to the trunk and limbs. When a branch is cut with concave cutter, the shape of the cut allows it to heal fast. One useful tool to start with is an eight-inch cutter, as it has a good-sized cutting surface.
Tweezers
Consider a pair of bonsai tweezers as an extension of your hand and fingers. Tweezers can easily remove a leaf, needle, or small twig without disturbing other foliage on the tree. Tweezers are also great for removing growing tips. The spatula end is useful for smoothing soil, scraping moss before applying it to the soil, and tamping moss onto the soil and firming it against the rim of the container. The tweezers end, held lightly, is used to rake down the loose soil of small plants.
Chopsticks
Chopsticks that are slightly sharpened are used for tapping soil into, around, and under a root ball that has had excess soil removed, has been root pruned, and has been placed in a pot. Tapping the root ball’s soil helps stabilize the tree in the pot, remove air pockets, and smooth off the soil around the base of the tree.
Root rake
The root rake is used for loosening and removing soil from the root ball of the stock plant when you are preparing to put tree into a bonsai pot. By raking down the top, sides, and bottom of the firm root ball, you remove spent soil and expose the root to be cut.
Wire cutters
Bonsai wire cutters have a rounded head to prevent damaging the bark, therefore allowing you to get close to the branch or trunk to cut wire. Cutters come in various sizes. The thicker the wire to be cut, the larger the cutter needed.
Jin pliers
This tool is used to create special effect like jin and shari. Grip this tool as you would any pair of pliers and run it along the dead portion of the branch. The pliers will loosen the bark and allow you to peel it off easily.
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