A Deep Dive into Bonsai Tools

 Hello All!

This week I found a video by Peter Chan at the youtube channel Herons Bonsai. I like his videos because it really feels like a one on one even though it's on youtube and thousands of people are seeing it. The video in question is basically just peter going through all of the tools you could possibly use when working on Bonsai. 

He went through a lot of tools so I'm only going to go through the main ones. 

A link to the video can be found here.

To start we have the basic garden pruners. These are a tool that basically anyone doing garden work has and I have been using over the last few years. they are generally good but don't allow you to get a close cut when taking off major branches.

Root cutting shears area tool specifically for root pruning. This can be tough on the blades because of the soil that could be present when pruning the roots. Root pruning is almost as important as branch pruning when it comes to bonsai.

Twig cutting shears or Satsuki shears are a tool that is basically the same as the root shears but has a much more slender design. this allows it to get between the branches and be more precise with the cut. 

Wen cutters are for removing much larger branches and takes a bit of the trunk out when it cuts. This is to help with the healing process and makes it so that it heals flat rather than making a bump.

Concave cutters have the blades at an angle but the blades themselves are straight not curved. This is for when you want to take a branch off but want to have that bump when it heals for design purposes. Maybe you want a tree that looks old and aged so those bumps can help with that.  

Hybrid cutters are halfway between the wen cutters and the branch cutters. This is a newer design and is an auto-include in most kits.

The last tool I'm going to be looking at is the root rake. This is for when you are working through the roots. It helps you to untangle them and keep them all flowing in a radial pattern. 

There are a lot of tools that I've looked into this week and I don't own very many of them. I have been considering getting some and this research has inspired me to look into that. That is all for this week, until next time. 

Luke