by George Buehler

This is the last in this series of bonsai tools. In the first part, we listed what I considered the 'must have' tools. In the second part, we listed the 'nice to have' and what I call the miscellaneous tools. If you have followed this series, and if you purchased all the tools I listed, you would have any where from $200 to over $500+ invested in all the tools depending on the quality of tools purchased. As I have mentioned several times, all the tools listed are not needed. My preference is to spend my money on trees, not on the tools, but some tools are necessary. Before we cover the care and sharpening of tools, I thought I would give you an idea of alternate tools – those that can be purchased from a hardware or big box store at substantially cheaper prices.

ALERNATE TOOLS

Some of the tools listed in the first two parts of this series can be substituted by tools found at other sources. These generally will be substantially cheaper and will serve the purpose plus they can be used for other applications also. For some, you may need a little construction skill.

• Tweezers – As an alternate, a pair of needle nose pliers will serve most applications. In additions, they can be used to manipulate wire when applying or removing it. I purchased a set of "miniature" needle nose pliers at Sears. There were three pliers – a thin needle nose, a regular needle nose and a wire cutter. There are also sets at Sears that contain 4 or 5 different types of needle noses – straight, bent, etc. In most situations, the set of pliers work almost as well as the bonsai tweezers. Don't however, use the wire cutters for removing wire from trees. They can be used for cutting wire from the roll but can do real damage to a branch if they are used to remove wire so caution must be used.
• Soil Screens – Many bonsai artists make their own soil sifting screens. A method of cutting wood and nailing it together will be required. A 1 x 2 board can be purchased at a lumber yard, sawed into 10 to 12 inch portions, and then nailed together to form a square. The sides and edges should be sanded slightly to round the sharp edges of the boards. For the screen, hardware stores can supply wire mesh with 1/16, 1/8, 3/16, and ¼ openings. Each individual screen is nailed or stapled to the wood square previously made. This works just a well as the purchased bonsai soil screens. A distinct advantage of making your own screens is that they can be made any size that is desired.
• Shears – As previously mentioned, a bonsai shear has a tapered cutting edge and a normal scissors shouldn't be used. I found a very useful replacement for the bonsai shears at a big box store in their garden section. This tool is manufactured by Fiskars and is a floral snip (Softouch Micro Tip Pruning Snip). It has a length of about 6 inches with the cutting blade about 1.5 inches long. It cost $9.99 when I bought it and it was the same price during a recent visit to the same store. This tool can be used as a replacement for most shears. I have used it on rather large branches and get clean cuts. The only problem with this alternate tool is that it is difficult to get into the tree canopy to trim out growth. This is due to the floral snip size. For some of these trimming tasks, I use my regular bonsai trimming shears.
• Root Hook – One fellow workshop participant pulled a mean looking tool from his tool box that caught my eye. He had taken a large awl purchased at a hardware store and bent the shaft making his own root hook. He said he purchased it on sale for $3.00. Of course, you have to have the ability to bend it at a 90 degree angle, which most of us don't have the capability to do. It does show you that a little inventiveness can save a lot of money on tools.

The above is just to illustrate that there are some ways to save on tools. As you attend workshops, watch what other participants are using. There is a lot of creativeness out there.

CARE

One of the keys to keeping your tools in top notch working order is the normal care you give them both in use and in storage. It's quite easy to finish a tool task and to throw it back into your tool box. If you give your tools a little TLC after a session of use, they can last a lifetime. Probably the most important factor in tool upkeep is cleaning. As you cut branches or roots, the tool edge is coated with the sap/resin from the tree. If this is allowed to remain on the tool, it hardens over time or it picks up dust and grime making a sticky mess. In addition, the sap can get into the hinge making the tool hard to open of close. Actually, if the sap does get into the hinge and it is allowed to 'set up' the hinge can be frozen so that the tool doesn't work properly.

If you purchased the Lysol liquid disinfectant and use it between trees as mentioned last month, the cleaning job will be shortened. When all bonsai tasks are done for the day, the tool should be dipped in the liquid disinfectant, swirled around, opened and closed while the cutting edge and the pivot joint is under the solution and then carefully wiped with a cloth or paper towel. Special attention should be given to the cutting edge of the tool. Also make sure to remove all the liquid from the hinge or it may rust shut.

Some hobbyist use turpentine or mineral spirits at the end of the day to remove the sap. Unless you are working on a very resinous tree, like a pine, this is probably unnecessary. Even working on a resinous tree, if you use the liquid cleaner routinely during the trimming process, most if not all of the sap can be removed from the tool. If you do use a hydrocarbon cleaner, the tool should be cleaned with a good cleaning solution after the hydrocarbon is used.

After the tool is clean, it should be thoroughly dried to remove all traces of water, and it should be wiped with an oily rag to deposit a light coating of oil over the entire tool. Once again the cutting part of the tool should be given special attention to ensure that there is a light film of oil on it. Sewing machine oil which is a general purpose oil should be used. Heavier grades oil, such as motor oil is not generally used, since it is harder to uniformly distribute the oil and it leaves a thicker layer of oil on the tool. I know of several hobbyists who use WD40 or similar penetrating oil to spray on their tools. Since I have not tried this, I only offer it as an option.

Normally, a lot of bonsai tools are used throughout the growing season. There are some, such at the root cutter that are used in the spring and not used until the next transplanting session. There are some that are used once a month or so, others every week. The storage of these tools is handled differently.

For those tools used only in the spring, after it is cleaned, dried, oiled and wiped down, I add an additional drop of machine oil to the pivot. I then wrap the tool in a thin cotton cloth and store it in its original box. Over the years, the cotton cloth has become covered with oil, which also protects the tool from rust during its storage.

For those tools used monthly, they are cleaned and oiled, then either wrapped with a paper towel or simply stored in a tool pouch. The tools used routinely, are cleaned and usually oiled after use. Because these tools are used so often, I don't always oil them after every use – but they are cleaned after each use. I do try to make it a point to oil the pivot at least weekly.

For my tools that I use routinely – concave and wire cutter, trimming shears and knob cutter, I store them in a tool roll. These tool rolls come in a number of designs and are made of polyethylene, leather, or cotton. Mine is a polyethylene material with individual compartments to slip the tools in. For the less used tools, I store them in a different tool roll. The seldom used tools, I store on a shelf in my basement in their original boxes. If I will be attending a workshop, I pack the tools I think I need in the polyethylene tool roll for easy transporting

Some thought should be given to how the tools are transported to workshops. There are a number of options to consider. Some hobbyists use a normal fixed sided tool box, others use a soft tool bag, and some use a 5-gallon bucket equipped with a holding mechanism on the outside, while others simply use the tool roll. There are advantages and disadvantages to each. The fixed sided tool box is of course not expandable; therefore it is important to find the right size. Dimensions of about 12" by 5" by 6" will hold a lot of tools. The 5 gallon bucket, although I haven't used it, seems to be rather awkward. Transporting the tools in the storage tool roll works well as long as the tool roll has a 'flap' to keep the tools from sliding out. The soft sided tool bag is what I use since it is "slightly" expandable, it is light weight, and holds a lot of tools. Mine was purchased at a big box store and cost about $15. It has side pouches both on the inside and outside, making it convenient to hold last minute supplies, keys, etc.

Probably the most important thing in tool storage or transportation is to ensure that the tools don't hit each other, especially the blades or tips of the blades. If the blades hit, the can knick or even break. Depending on the tool quality or supplier, some are supplied with a plastic cover which goes over the blades. If this is the case, always put the cover back on the tool to help prevent damage.

Bonsai tools are often used out of door and are subjected to large amounts of moisture, and often perspiration. Under these conditions, they are therefore prone to rusting. The stainless tools will not rust unless they are exposed to a moist acid environment which is a definite positive for their purchase. The tools that are plated also have a good corrosion resistance.

There will be times, no matter how careful, when a tool will start to rust. Because bonsai tools are used often, rusting normally is slight. When there is rust, the tool often can be cleaned of the rust by simply rubbing with a tooth brush or other stiff bristled brush dipped in a dish detergent, dried thoroughly, and then wiped down with an oily rag.

If the tool has major rusting from being left outdoors or by other abuse, 4 aught steel wool or a fine synthetic steel wool may be used to rub off the rust. A gentle pressure should be used to prevent scarring the metal of the tool. Although I have not had this problem with my bonsai tools, I have had an occasion when another tool was left outside by mistake. When I found the tool, it had a good layer of rust on it. I used synthetic steel wool moistened with machine oil to clean it off, thoroughly washed it with mild soap, dried it and then oiled it down and thought nothing more about it. I did find that this tool had to be routinely treated because it had a propensity to again rust even stored in my 'real' tool box. The key here is to make sure the tool is dried and oiled before storage.

SHARPENING

If bonsai tools are used properly, the cutting surfaces will last for years without the need for sharpening (grinding an edge). Concave cutters and knob cutters have a fairly complex blade geometry which makes proper sharpening beyond the scope of this article. You can 'touch up' the edge of your tools if you do it on a routine basis. If you wait for the tool to get completely dull, this method will not work. If the tool is dulled by abuse such as cutting wire with a concave cutter, it may be better to simply purchase a new tool. Professional sharpening, if you can find a sharpening shop to do it, will be expensive. They may charge more to sharpen the tool than the cost of a new one. If you purchased stainless tools, then by all means look for a local sharpening shop that will work on them. For straight edge blades, like a shear, professional sharpening shops will generally sharpen the tool while you wait.

Another problem with bonsai tools is that they generally are riveted together, making sharpening more difficult. In addition to the complex geometry of some of the tools, the straight blade tools, like shears, are short bladed making getting a sharpening stone over the entire cutting length almost impossible.

My technique for touching up the edge of my tools starts with a set of diamond pocket stones. This is a real misnomer since they are similar to a fingernail file but are made of plastic and one side is coated with diamond grit. They come in coarse, medium, fine, and extra fine grades. They are manufactured to sharpen the edge of woodworking tools, and as such, they can remove a lot of metal quickly – especially the coarse one. If the tools are touched up routinely, the fine and extra fine stones are sufficient.

Since the straight blades are the easiest to touch up, you should start with one of these first. Open the blade to its fullest extent – remembering that even though the tool may be dull for cutting a branch, it probably is still sharp enough to cut skin – then using a black magic marker, color the cutting edges of the tool – this is the beveled portion of the blade. Using the fine stone, hold the stone firmly to the blade making sure that the stone is flat on the cutting edge angle. Make one or two passes from the pivot end to the tip of the blade holding the pocket stone firmly, but not with a great amount of pressure, against the blade. Look closely at the edge of the blade. If the stone is held at the correct angle, most if not all of the magic marker ink should be removed. If only part of the coloration is removed, the stone is not being held at the correct angle and more attention should be given to holding it flat against the blade. Make sure each blade receives the same number of 'strokes'.

Some people believe that they should touch up the back side of their shears – the flat portion of the blade. This is not generally recommended. If too much of the back side is taken off, the contact between the two halves will be reduced and the cutting ability will also be reduced.

For concave cutters the procedure is much more complicated and care has to be exercised. Describing the method to use is harder than the actual sharpening. Remember that the tool is only being touched up not really sharpened.

First look at how the blades close. They should just meet with the amount of closing being controlled by the "stop pin". This pin, which is in one handle, bumps up to and stops the other handle when the tool is closed. When the one handle just meets the stop pin, the blades should "just barely" touch. If the blades touch each other before the one handle meets the stop pin, the pin will have to be nudged over so that the moveable handle meets the pin before the blades touch. With a "small" hammer, gently tap the pin toward the opposite side. Tap the pin only once and check the closing. If the blades touch before the handle hits the pin, repeat the tapping until the handle hits the pin just as the blade touches. If the handle hits the pin before the blades close, either the pin has to be tapped the opposite way or the pin can be touched up. This is done by using the course diamond stone and grinding a little off the mating surface. I have only had to do this adjustment once and that was because the tool was dropped and apparently bent the pin slightly.

Now for the sharpening, hold the concave cutter with the blade CLOSED. Look at the tool carefully and notice that one of the blade halves just slightly (about one millimeter) overlaps the other. Carefully run an index finger over the mating surfaces and the slight overlap can be felt. The blade that crosses over is called the upper blade, and the one underneath is called the under blade. Remember, this crossing over is very slight.

Once again, mark both of the edges with a magic marker. The technique used is to ensure the diamond stone follows the outside contour of the blades. Open the cutter to its widest opening with the under blade away from you but the cutting edge facing you. Hold the fine diamond stone so that it will follow the blade opening. Check that the stone meets the blade uniformly, and then stroke the blade with the stone from one side of the blade to the other. Look at the magic marker ink left on the blade. Most if not all of the ink should be removed. Make four or five strokes across the blade.

Now close the cutter and hold the tool so that the upper blade is toward you with the cutting edge away from you. Keep the tool closed. Hold the diamond stone on the upper blade and push it away from you and going from one side of the cutter to the other. Make four or five strokes.

After I wrote the above, I followed the instructions and noticed that one of my concave cutters had a second bevel on it – a very thin angle where the blades met. This required running the diamond stone over this angle a couple of times.

If you 'touch up' your tools routinely they will make a very clean cut. Shears and concave cutters may need to be touched up once a month or even once a week depending on the amount of use. Unless you are extremely skilled at sharpening, you should not try to use an electric sharpening machine on your bonsai tools. They can be quickly ruined by taking too much off a blade. However, using the manual diamond stones can lengthen the life of those favorite pair of shears you use and give a very clean cut.

FINALLY

Over the last several months, we have gone over the tools a novice needs to be a successful bonsai artist. I have continually mentioned that all the tools listed will not be needed immediately and should be purchased as needed. As more skill is gained additional tools not covered in these articles will be needed but that is information left for another article.

Whether novice tools or stainless steel tools are purchased, protect your investment by taking proper care of the tools.