Saving a Broken Bonsai Tool & a Proper Understanding of Overlapping Blades 10/25/15

adams

The header from Adam Lavigne's Adam's Art and Bonsai Blog.

We almost always lean towards the art part of bonsai, but this time we’re breaking with tradition and going with a practical post on repairing a broken bonsai tool.

The four photos shown here are lifted from Adam’s Art and Bonsai Blog. They exist to encourage you to visit Adam’s blog. Even if you never repair your own tools, if you take a moment to see the whole process, chances are you’ll know more about tools and tool repair than you did when you woke up this morning.

And if you only learn one thing about cutting tools, let it be (in Adam’s own words)“…one cutting edge should overlap the other. No, really, they shouldn’t meet but one slides over the other. If they didn’t, the first time you used it, and the edges met, they’d blunt themselves.”

Not only would the edges blunt themselves, but the cuts wouldn’t be complete. Think about how the blades pass on scissors. I mention this because about once a month someone complains that the blades don’t meet on their newly arrived concave cutters. Don’t be one of these people.

 

before

Take a close look at the mess Adam started with. Not only is one corner chipped off, but both edges have seen much better days.

 

img_6030

One of several photos on the tools used and the process. Here's Adam's caption: "This might be 150 grit. I’m not sure."

 

after

A job well done. If you look closely, you can see the slight overlap.

For the whole process, visit Adam’s blog.

Speaking of bonsai tools, I don’t think we’ll let this opportunity pass without mentioning our own bonsai tools and our current site wide sale.Tools

some of our Roshi Bonsai Tools
these and all the rest of our tools are now 20% to 30% off
as is everything at Stone Lantern


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One thought on “Saving a Broken Bonsai Tool & a Proper Understanding of Overlapping Blades

  1. I have a small branch cutter that’s less than a year old and hardly used but with blades that don’t even meet. Having looked at Adam’s blog I can now fix that. Thanks Wayne.

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