Wire Question

susieq

I used to anneal my own copper wire..... I would strip the plastic first. (it is illegal and dangerous to burn it with the plastic on) Then coil it, throw it into the bottom of a metal garbage can, pile some scrap wood on top and start a fire. After the fire went out, I put the lid on so it would cool slowly and the next day, I pulled out the wire and dusted off the ash.

My bonsai teacher assured me that I didn't need to go to all that trouble. He always stripped the wire and used it just like that. I didn't believe him until I tried it. The wire is soft to start, but as you wire the branch it toughens up and holds the shape. I haven't annealed wire in quite a while now and have been having no problems using it that way.

As far as scarring, you can only leave the wire on for a few months or so, depending on how fast the plant grows. It needs to be checked regulary or it will swell up and grow tight. If heavy branches or trunks need some reshaping, I run a heavy guage wire lengthwise along the branch and down the trunk, and then wire with some slightly smaller wire around the trunk/branch and the heavy wire together.

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TreeBay

>The wire is soft to start but as you wire the branch it toughens up and holds the shape

You must be using very fine gauges, maybe 14 or 16 or something. Bright copper wire in the larger sizes, 8, 6, 4 would snap limbs off if you didn't anneal it first and tried to bend it to a radius of 1/2 inch or so.

Bright copper wire isn't nearly as soft as it would be if it were annealed. It doesn't harden nearly so much either. I hate to say it, Susieq, but you were doing things the right way before. One of my first "teachers" would save every scrap of aluminum wire he removed from trees, straighten them as much as he could and keep them in coffee cans. I guess he grew up during the war, when wire was hard to come by. Anyway, old habits are hard to break, and I am very careful of the ones that seem to be rooted in frugality or laziness (for lack of a better word). They often seem to the opposite - false economy and lack of efficiencies.

Regards,

Matt

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BonsaiBen

Haha. I wish I had the time. I may give it a try anyway if they can take a limited commitment. As far as the spider, it may be good for the tree but it is a bit odd to see a spider web at such a renowned public exhibition. Anyway, it wasnt spiders that I saw on the maple grove--they looked more like aphids.

susieq

Greetings Matt, You are right about using smaller wire than 4,6 or 8. I do use really big wire only as a "runner" lengthwise along the branch or trunk, and smaller wire to wire around both big wire and branch. When I do wire, I use the tension of the wire itself, to bend the wire around the branch. I was taught never to use the branch to bend the wire. Most of my material is small to medium and I don't need to use really big wire. In fact, with the malpigghias, you have to wire when things are small and pliable. If you wait until they get woody, they are too brittle and snap, no matter what kind of wire you use. Although, I have wired the main trunks of large San Jose junipers when I first get them, if they need to be more vertical than horizontal. All I can tell you is that for the wiring I have been doing, it works out ok. Of course, if I get a nice load of scrap wood, who knows, maybe I will toss all of my wire into the garbage can and have a good fire.......
Regards.
Susieq

Treebeard

Hi All,

I have only ever used aluminium wire or very thin (0.5mm) copper.

I work in engineering, I know a bit about hardness of metals... but I was interested to know just how much softer annealed copper is. So I did a very rough and ready experiment.

This first picture is plain electrical wire with the plastic sheath removed. The wire is about 1.5mm thick. I bent each strand round into a very tall 'n' shape and hung a weight on one side. You can see how much it pulled the wire down. Never mind the blurred picture, you can still see the droop.

Attached Images

coolpix 518.jpg (35.6 KB, 143 views)

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Treebeard

This second picture is another piece of the same wire, but annealed. As soon as I hung the weight on it - whoomp, down if went.

May or may not be of any interest to anybody...

Regards,

Chris.

Attached Images

coolpix 519.jpg (32.9 KB, 102 views)

__________________
"Do not be hasty, that is my motto"
-JRR Tolkien, The Two Towers.
-----------------------------------
christopherguise.co.uk

Bonsainut

Trbrd,
Yeah interesting, uh huh. Just keep watching over your shoulder for your boss or he's gonna wonder about you...

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Lethal Use of Farce

BonsaiBen

But how did the wire react after it had set in its droopy place?

Adam_MA

Yeah,
I would be interested in seeing how it reacts to the weight after it has been bent a couple of times like if it were wrapped around a branch..

Adam