Hello I was looking to buy my first tool set for bonsai and wanted to know if anyone has experience with Stone Lantern, in particular this tool set:
https://stonelantern.com/collection.../beginners-7-piece-bonsai-aesthetics-tool-set
It appears to have all the basic tools at a pretty reasonable price. Please let me know if any of you have reviews! Thanks!
Do yourself a favor, instead of buying a cheap "beginner set" that you will most likely have to replace in a couple of years because they are cheap and not well made, start with buying a tool or two of decent quality and add to that when you need to. There are some tools that you dont need "bonsai tools" per se and can substitute some regular tools for.
A first must have for a beginner IMO is a concave branch cutter
This is a good brand at a decent price:
https://www.superflybonsai.com/collections/concave-cutters/products/kiku-classic-8-concave-cutter
Kiku is a good quality brand. It isn't top of the line like Kanishin or Masakumi but they are better quality than the set you posted.
The second must have is a wire cutter for when you cant unwind the wire off the tree. This tool allows you to cut it with minimal to no damage to the branch
KIKU™ Silver 7" Bonsai Wire Cutter KIKU™ Series: Silver Material: Japanese Black Alloy Steel Length: 7" Warranty: YES - Limited Lifetime - click here for more information The KIKU™ Silver 7" Bonsai Wire Cutters are made from Japanese Black Alloy Steel which is easy to sharpen. The KIKU™ SILVER...
www.superflybonsai.com
And this tool mainly for the spade end to help get trees out of pots:
https://www.superflybonsai.com/collections/repotting-supplies/products/10-rake-with-spade-ss
However I found a curved hook thing in our garage that is something like this:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Roberts-Vinyl-Flooring-Knife-with-Curved-Blade-10-931/100146673 that I find to be really good at getting root bound trees out of pots so I commandeered it to my bonsai tools
You can use inexpensive garden shears for trimming fine branches, candle cutting, Etc
I use these a lot:
https://www.amazon.com/Fiskars-Soft...iskars+garden+scissors&qid=1611465522&sr=8-11 and get them at Home Depot or Lowes :
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Fiskars...nless-Steel-Micro-Tip-Pruner-399242/307818019
The angled bonsai pliers help with tightening the wire when you wire trees into pots but regular pliers do work almost as good
You can add more tools as you can afford them. I have done this, added a tool or two a year to expand my tool collection until I had most things covered.
I eventually replaced the Friskars scissors with more traditional bonsai scissors but I still do use the Friskars some times.
I use needle nose pliers for a lot of stuff too.
You'll be much happier buying good quality tools the first time and not having to replace them within a few years because what you bought was crap.
These are not long term tools by all means but I'm ready to go outside and work on a few trees today.
