AusBonsai

Hi all. About to try and use guywire to put some big bends in the trunk of a lilly pilly I have and was wondering if I should be using any special type of screws to attach my guywire.

Some suggest using Stainless Steel or brass but if it is only going to be in for a few months I am not sure it makes any difference.

Phillips heads are my choice.

I know Colin Lewis drills a small hole through the whole branch. Then he threads the looped wire through and anchor's it with a tiny piece of thicker wire.

Thoughts on this method?

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Reece wrote:I know Colin Lewis drills a small hole through the whole branch. Then he threads the looped wire through and anchor's it with a tiny piece of thicker wire.

Thoughts on this method?

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Leaves two holes/scars as opposed to one with a screw, weakens a branch if you drill too thick, leaves gaps in the wound that will impair healing as you're not likely to get the hole the exact same size as a doubled up piece of wire... Better to err on the side of safety and just use a screw IMO.

Mo


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The material the screws are made of won't matter but you can get power coated screws for use on treated timber. These would be good but as you figured the screws won't be in long enough to be much of a problem. Brass is weaker than steel so I wouldn't use brass. The most important issue is that the chosen screw type/guage is strong enough to take the load while you bend the trunk. Use a self-tapping screw but pre-drill using a drill smaller than the screw to avoid splitting the branch/trunk. Hex head roofing screws would be worth checking out as these are strong and are easy to drive in without the driver bit slipping and possibly damaging the tree.

MoGanic wrote:

Reece wrote:I know Colin Lewis drills a small hole through the whole branch. Then he threads the looped wire through and anchor's it with a tiny piece of thicker wire.

Thoughts on this method?

Sent from my SM-G925I using Tapatalk

Leaves two holes/scars as opposed to one with a screw, weakens a branch if you drill too thick, leaves gaps in the wound that will impair healing as you're not likely to get the hole the exact same size as a doubled up piece of wire... Better to err on the side of safety and just use a screw IMO.

Mo


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Yeah fair call. I've yet to use either method....

Anything seems to work. The tree's don't appear to show a preference, but the one screw to NOT use is copper. If using mild steel, you don't even have to remove them - they'll just rust away.

Thanks for the advice. I'll try and get some photos up but my phone's telling me the files are too big.