Whats your favorite brand of tool? - bonsaiTALK Community

19-Apr-2006	#1
md4958 bonsaiTALK Master Join Date: Mar-2006 Location: Enfield, Connecticut Country: USA USDA Zone: 5 AHS Heat Zone: 5 Posts: 321	Whats your favorite brand of tool? I've been thinking of upgrading my toolbox and I was wondering what brand of bonsai tools most people favor. I've always bought Joshua Roth but what do you all use and/or recommend? Also, do you use stainless steel tools? I've heard they are a bear to sharpen and that a quality carbon piece would be just as good. I apprecaite your input. -Moe __________________ "Bonsai do not belong to us; it is our responsibility to care for them and pass them on to future generations" -Mitsuya Yasuo Bonsai Today Master Series: Pines

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19-Apr-2006	#2
Alasdair bonsaiTALK Master Chief Join Date: Aug-2004 Location: Aberystwyth Uni Country: Wales USDA Zone: 8 AHS Heat Zone: 0-1 Posts: 1,101	At the moment my favourite brand on toll is "cheap and cheerful". They're shiny, made of stainless and the cutting surfaces don't always match up, but they do the job. I'll get something better in future. Al __________________ I can feel another "I wish that was my tree" moment coming on... Currently studying BSc Plant Biology at the Universty of Wales, Aberystwyth

19-Apr-2006	#3
rockm bonsaiTALK ArchMaster Join Date: Oct-2003 Location: Fairfax, Va Country: USA USDA Zone: 7 AHS Heat Zone: ? Posts: 4,561	Tools that work, feel good when you're using them and that don't screw up trees. That usually means anything Japanese and nothing Chinese. Brands really have no bearing as Japanese makers have several levels of tools from beginner to expert. They aren't labeled as such though. Masakuni, Kiku, etc all make pretty good tools. Any English language "label" is probably produced by a Japanese producer and licensed out to the American/European label. Don't be fooled. They aren't any better than Japanese tools. For the most part, good tools aren't inexpensive, however, you usually get what you pay for. A $40 pair of concave cutters will outlast and outbut a $25 pair. The cheap pair will also most likely screw up your trees because blades become easily misaligned and dull quickly. Cheap isn't better.

19-Apr-2006	#4
md4958 bonsaiTALK Master Join Date: Mar-2006 Location: Enfield, Connecticut Country: USA USDA Zone: 5 AHS Heat Zone: 5 Posts: 321	Al, you usually dont see the words stainless and cheap in the same sentance when youre talking about bonsai tools. Ususally the stainless variety are on the pricey side. What brand are you using? __________________ "Bonsai do not belong to us; it is our responsibility to care for them and pass them on to future generations" -Mitsuya Yasuo Bonsai Today Master Series: Pines

19-Apr-2006	#5
rockm bonsaiTALK ArchMaster Join Date: Oct-2003 Location: Fairfax, Va Country: USA USDA Zone: 7 AHS Heat Zone: ? Posts: 4,561	"outlast and outbut" Oy Should be outlast and out CUT"

19-Apr-2006	#6
md4958 bonsaiTALK Master Join Date: Mar-2006 Location: Enfield, Connecticut Country: USA USDA Zone: 5 AHS Heat Zone: 5 Posts: 321	So Rock, in your opinion Kiku, Masakuni, Yoshiaki all the same? __________________ "Bonsai do not belong to us; it is our responsibility to care for them and pass them on to future generations" -Mitsuya Yasuo Bonsai Today Master Series: Pines

19-Apr-2006	#7
lordy611 bonsaiTALK Artisan Join Date: Feb-2005 Location: Monrovia, MD Country: USA Posts: 143	I think my first concave cutter was a Roth beginner or novice, not sure what they called it. Probably in the $40 range, and inside 2 years became loose and misaligned to the point they would not cut cleanly. Now I have the Roth pro grade cutter, but it is "below" their master grade which are SS. I elected the black carbon-steel over the stainless for resharpening purposes. They were also about $30 less than stainless. Now the original pair cuts roots and rocks, etc, and the good ones stay "above grade", no pun intended. Those that sell Masakuni probably frown on Roth tools and routinely place their quality above that of the best Roth has to offer.

19-Apr-2006	#8
rockm bonsaiTALK ArchMaster Join Date: Oct-2003 Location: Fairfax, Va Country: USA USDA Zone: 7 AHS Heat Zone: ? Posts: 4,561	"So Rock, in your opinion Kiku, Masakuni, Yoshiaki all the same?" Uh, for most users, yeah. The differences between a $40 pair of jin pliers and a $99 pair of the same size is usually kind of slight for the average user. It is negligible for the beginner. How much better can a $100 top of the line Masakuni cut than a $50 pair of Kiku stainless. I'd bet the cut isn't $50 worth. I've owned Kiku, Masakuni and Yoshiaki. Liked em all. could only afford to buy one piece at a time for the last dozen years.

19-Apr-2006

md4958

bonsaiTALK Master

Join Date: Mar-2006

Location: Enfield, Connecticut

Country: USA

USDA Zone: 5

AHS Heat Zone: 5

Posts: 321

Quote:

Originally Posted by rockm

"So Rock, in your opinion Kiku, Masakuni, Yoshiaki all the same?"

Uh, for most users, yeah. The differences between a $40 pair of jin pliers and a $99 pair of the same size is usually kind of slight for the average user. It is negligible for the beginner. How much better can a $100 top of the line Masakuni cut than a $50 pair of Kiku stainless. I'd bet the cut isn't $50 worth.

I've owned Kiku, Masakuni and Yoshiaki. Liked em all. could only afford to buy one piece at a time for the last dozen years.

So no point then in upgrading my collection?

__________________
"Bonsai do not belong to us; it is our responsibility to care for them and pass them on to future generations"

-Mitsuya Yasuo

Bonsai Today Master Series: Pines

19-Apr-2006	#10
rockm bonsaiTALK ArchMaster Join Date: Oct-2003 Location: Fairfax, Va Country: USA USDA Zone: 7 AHS Heat Zone: ? Posts: 4,561	I don't know. Am I being lured into some sort of semantic trap? I'll take the bait...Do you think an upgrade would help? This isn't a cut and dried thing. If you know the differences involved in the tools, what they can do and have the bucks and the inclination--then go for it. What I'm saying is that an expensive tool ain't gonna turn you into Masahiko Kimura. It may help you in small increments, but it's the person using the tool that makes the most difference, unless you're using really cheap Chinese crap tools that can actually make you worse. I'd agree that a $40 tool is vastly better than a $25 one that breaks or is ill-made. CHEAP AIN'T BETTER. However, there is a threshold where the money you spend on a more expensive tool is worth it. Past that threshold, the returns diminish somewhat.

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