Hi Guys,

I am sure this is going to be a controversial topic so I apologise first for that but I would like some insight into which brand of tools I should look to purchase as I living in Cayman Islands and there is no store here that I can visit to look at tools so have to purchase online only. I have looked at the kits available on Amazon and the range is large (eg: the tianbonsai 7 Pcs Bonsai Tool Kit JTTK-05) but I have no way of knowing what the quality of these would be like.

Any advise willingly accepted!

Thanks,
Gerry

This is a tricky question.

There is Kaneshin from Japan which are very good tools, for an OK price I suppose.
Ryuga are a decent quality tool for a somewhat better price.

THen there will be better & more expensive brands. And cheaper tools (Often the offered kits). Some of the kits are OK. Many are poor quality..

Thanks, I thought it would be a tricky question but I am in a difficult spot as I am not able to do any hands on comparisons of these tools. I get from your comments that kits are generally a bad idea?

Gerry

I stay far away from no-name kits. But.. I do have alternatives.

As said, Ryuga is a decent brand for a decent price. But not cheap

Do you have an online shop I can get their products from that you trust by any chance?

As you mentioned, a tricky question.

There are many common tasks that can be done by almost any tool. I use an old pair of scissors for trimming roots, and old garden shears for cutting heavy roots. Old nail scissors are pretty good for cutting small twigs (small = a millimeter or less). I deadhead the azaleas using any cutting tool I can find.

There are some tasks that aren't common in other plant growing. Most of us try one thing after another taking wire off of trees, and then finally give up and buy the wire cutters built to cut flush. Nobody makes anything like that, except for bonsai tool makers.

I have a pretty expensive pair of scissors from some bonsai tool group, and I have an exact copy of them I bought in the gift store at Bent's Fort, Colorado, an historic site with a blacksmith demonstration area. The scissors were made there all day long, there was a big pile in the gift store, and they sold for $3.95. There is no direct relation between price and function.

Hi Ivan,

I am currently following your path with regard to my tools and they do the job for most of the things I need to do but I need to do some closer knob cutting than the tools allow and also would like to try trunk splitting to be able to bend bigger branches. These are very specific tools I think.

I agree. If you are to buy just one real bonsai tool, get a good branch cutter. Everything else is good to have, but a close cut on big branches is really hard to do without specific bonsai tools.

Thanks Topfrog, any advise on what would be a good one of these I can buy online? Amazon is a good option for online purchases for me but I don't know the brands. Ryuga has been suggested as a good cost/quality option but I am always interested in hearing opinions on this.

Sorry, I buy my tools at a local reputable bonsai shop. Dont know the brand, just that the seller is trained in Japan, have a fantastic collection of trees and know his stuff. I am lucky, dont need to think about brands.