AusBonsai

A tool is only as good as how you use it. The big problem for side cutters has getting them into tight spot, which is why I tried the medical cutters. I can't see any difference in the trees now but I only have trees in progress.

I am craving a good small pair of knob cutters.Maybe Christmas and santa will bring them.

I find knob cutters and concave cutters are only really useful for pines, they are no good for thin barked plants. I bought a pair of knob cutters about 28 years ago and still got them, while I'm up to my fourth pair of branch cutters. Branch cutters do the bulk of the work for me.

What I use most after branch cutters is a saw, a sharp knife, fine tipped tweezers, long handled, short bladed scissors and leaf cutting shears. I would use these for the bulk of my plant work.

For repotting I use a large pair of root cutters, a dedicated pair of branch cutters, chopsticks and a sharp knife. Every now and then the root cutters get used on thick branches, these things are excellent for getting through wood.

So if the majority of your plants are pines, then fine, get some knob cutters, if not, I wouldn't suggest buying them.

For wire work the Japanese cutters are excellent, I use a small electricians side cutter every now and then, and lately I have added a pair of surgical suture pliers to the tool kit, excellent for unwinding fine wire where you can't get a cutter into, just unwind slightly and then cut.

Paul

Just bought some new trimming scissors:


Next peice for me is some decent branch cutters. I'll be getting the one with a rounded edge though, that way I won't have to get knob cutters... well at least not for a while

Hey everyone
Can anyone recommend a good place to buy bonsai tools?
My brother lives in Brisbane near Surfers Paradise so I can send him shopping for me lol

Cheers Craig

I got my first set of tools from red dragon bonsai at currumbin. It cost about $50 for a 6 piece set in a case. Mia

Newbie.mia wrote:I got my first set of tools from red dragon bonsai at currumbin. It cost about $50 for a 6 piece set in a case. Mia

I Second Red Dragon Bonsai. You can see some of their products on the website as well. Good prices and better service. Pretty close to Surfers Paradise. There is also The Defined Garden at Chevron, but they don't have their products online so if you're sending a personal shopping assistant he's going to pick them out for you .

As on Topic; As a beginner; the items I've found invaluable are a branch cutter, good scissors and good trimmers. Good trimming scissors and good root scissors are different and I feel they're both as useful as each other. You'll find that out somewhere between root pruning and trying to trim back a little bit of foliage deep on a tree. Oh and, is this a tool? Some cutting powder and some propagation soil. Never hurts trying to propagate cuttings while you're pruning back some stock nursery plants!

Thanks guys I'll check it out