Trunk Bend and Twist using Grant Bowies Drill out technique

[Andrew F]

Drew, ,

Firstly nice job mate, the trunk line has an appeal about it that i seem to like , i realise it's not what u want yet but it's a great start. I'm so glad you didn't cut all the branches off aswell, think new leaders/jins. Could you please expain what you did here? What did you drill out ? If you don't mind me saying, your wiring needs some practise and you should of used wires twice as thick as you did, none the less good job

Thanks Craig,

Yer i too was glad that i didnt lose any branches although i lost a load of dead needles

I used the drill out technique, drilling on the inside of the curves [some of the area around the top i managed to punch straight thru ] after i had done that and had it visualised i went about wrapping the tree in Raffia in a criss cross fashion, then a second and third layer

I then went to work with what i thought would be thick enough wire [3mm] it wasnt lol ever bend i made just unfolded it self much to my displeasure [I need aloooootttttt more practice which means alot more trees ]

Not being discourage i grabbed a ball of yarn i bought on a whim and set about tying trunk to trunk, trunk to pot then going back and tightening it and then repeat that process till i felt it was tight enough, i thought about thinning the foliage out maybe tomorrow afternoon.

Hope i covered everything, just wanna thank Grant, Sid and everyone else who is awesome enough to share their tips and tricks.

Cheers Drew

[Craig]

some of the area around the top i managed to punch straight thru

Easy to do when you get near the top thinner trunk section, I went thru a couple of times aswell mate,

i thought about thinning the foliage out

Personally i wouldn't worry too much just yet, the more needles there are, the more energy there is for it's recovery ,

[Andrew F]

some of the area around the top i managed to punch straight thru

Easy to do when you get near the top thinner trunk section, I went thru a couple of times aswell mate,

i thought about thinning the foliage out

Personally i wouldn't worry too much just yet, the more needles there are, the more energy there is for it's recovery ,

Thanks again craig.

I felt abit artistic tonight so i'll submit some overall designs tomorrow at some point

Cheers Drew

[Bretts]

Hi Drew
Think 45°angle when applying wire. It gives the most strength

[siddhar]

G'day Drew, Bretts, Craig and all other Ausbonsai members. I used the same drill out method today on this Cedar I had sitting around. I drilled out only the inside of the bends this time and got alot more movement out of this tree. Im pretty happy with the result but think I could remove the first lefthand branch. What do you think, remove or keep The tree looks much better in the flesh, the pics really don't do it justice.

bon2.jpg

bon1.jpg

[Craig]

Sidd, great work mate, i for one would not cut the first left branch off yet if at all.

[Andrew F]

X2 i'd leave it indefinitely.

I love that last little snaking S bend

[bonsaiarmy]

I find these threads/pictures amazing. Great work!
I'm just curious as to why trunk drill/bending is only recommended for pines? Why can't I do it on somethig like a maple?
Thanks,
Steve.

[Pup]

I find these threads/pictures amazing. Great work!
I'm just curious as to why trunk drill/bending is only recommended for pines? Why can't I do it on somethig like a maple?
Thanks,
Steve.

It can be used on any tree you wish, just be aware some trees take longer to heal than others. Also the bark on others such as Maple and Azaleas damage easily.

A friend did it on a Ficus with Hirotoshi Saitoh, who said it can be done on any thick trunk or branch you want to move.

Cheers Pup

[alpineart]

Hi Siddhar , well exicuted if a say so myself .Just remember any damaged bark on a cedar enhances or increases with age , even a simple wire mark/cut can end up as large as 15mm x30mm ugly scar 10-15 years down he track

Hi Bonsaiarmy , Bodhidharma used this method on a big maple over the last 12 months , cant remember the name of the topic , hopefully someone can chime in with the topic name for you .

Cheers Alpine

[kcpoole]

I have done so on a maple and worked well. The problem with them is the Heartwood is very brittle and even with drilled out relief is very easy to break
see this thread here, I drilled out the side of the bend on this one and did another test on the inside of a cut off branch. viewtopic.php?f=7&t=8745&p=95996&hilit= ... ple#p99285
Even with this mild bend, I still cracked the trunk but it looks to have recovered OK since then

Azaleas / Rhododendron are even worse for breaking so be very careful with them

Ken

[bonsaiarmy]

Thanks guys,
I picked up a couple of very cheap Japanese. maples from a local market, their trunks are dead straight....wish me luck! haha
Steve.

[kcpoole]

Thanks guys,
I picked up a couple of very cheap Japanese. maples from a local market, their trunks are dead straight....wish me luck! haha
Steve.

How thick are they?
Take before and after pics please.

the advantage is with Maples, If you break them, they will shoot out below the break so not all is lost, Just a redesign opportunity

Ken