Is it worth owning a set of concave cutters or other specialist cutters for pruning work on Japanese maples. I currently don't have any Bonsai, they would be used on garden planted and potted maples. If so, I would welcome recommendations on what people are using, hopefully tools available,here in the UK. John
Hiya John.. To be honest with you i had they same thought a few years ago and looked into buying a couple of specialist Bonsai cutters,soon changed my mind when i saw how much they would cost!!!! don't get me wrong the ones i looked at were real quality which you would automatically go for to give your JM the treatment they deserve , but over a £100 for two !! i don't think so,could buy a cracking new JM for that. Ended up buying a concave wire cutter and a pair of nail pincers ,honed the edges down for a better cutting area and these suffice for what i need to trim on my JM. Mark
Thanks Mark. I never thought of wire cutters. I use Felco 8's for pruning, but sometimes end up with stubs on the trunk where I can't get in close. As you say, they are not cheap, I had been looking at the Bonsai dealers in terms of sourcing. John
Hi John, I got a pair for around 30 Euro on the net, might have been ebay (it's been a while). Main usage is removing dead tops of understock once the graft has healed completely. I usually buy 1-2 year grafts, so especially with a side graft this needs to be done. I tried using these for close cutting with pruning, but actually found the concave cut to be a disadvantage to healing over. So not really recommended for this purpose. Like you I use Felco #8, which usually gets be close enough. I sometimes shave off a little with a sharp cutter, but it's a rare thing. -E
Thanks Emery. At that sort of price i will probably go ahead and buy a pair. I guess there will always be occasions when they become useful. I want to try grafting next year, I have a lot of seed in the fridge at the moment having followed the advice on this site so sounds like they may be of use when the time comes. John
I have a concave cutter and don't use it frequently; but sometimes. I agree with emery. Other: I would recommand this italian made pruning-scissors with two schapened blades; no crushing .
Those pruners look like a good idea, I use felcos but still at times suffer from stem crushing. Any idea on the manufacturer and model? John
I got it on this french site : http://www.triangle-outillage.fr/taille-coupe/3227-secateur-lady-ii.html Lady II is by Barnel (as said on primeminister but temporary out sold ). Mine is made in Italy (as ingraved on it) I am not sure... Very clean cut !
I decided to spend the money on one and have never regretted it. It is like a surgeon's tool and even though I do have some container maples, I use it more training young trees in my garden. I also have a bigger one for larger branches, like pre-sawing size.
Thanks for all the advice, I am going to bite the bullet and purchase a pair. I'd like to be able to neaten up some of the more visible pruning cuts, I know about not going past the branch collar, but just want a neater healed cut. John
I got a cheap pair from B&Q when they used to do a bonsai set,certainly nothing particularly quality looking about them but have used them 100's of times,so I don't think there's any need to spend a fortune on a pair.Anything above say 1/4" I'd use a normal pruner as I think the cut is better but if like me most of your pruning is small twigs&branches,I've found them invaluable as they can get right in there up close.For the JM's I rarely use anything else.
I bought a pair of these fujiyama concave cutters for $80 and really like them for trimming the rootstock from my grafts. I've had them for 4-5 years and them seem to be well built. http://www.dallasbonsai.com/product-p/bm59.htm