Wiring, what's right and wrong.

[joe44]

I've been doing bonsai for over 20 years. I started courses at my bonsai center following courses from beginner basics upward to advanced courses over many years. I ended up specializing in learning and developing one certain type of tree. No matter that, what I realized was attending special guest presenters was they all had slightly different techniques with wiring.

Basically, I've sat in lectures where the teacher simply picked up coated aluminum wire, showed how to figure, by branch, what wire size to use. I've also had some use copper wire coated and anodised and do the same branch analysis for size. I remember one guest instructor who used both copper and aluminum wire, un-coated so you can see what effect wire has on the branch. He stated that it didn't matter what you use as long as it bends the branch. Most would talk about wrapping the branch at a 45 degree angle. Many would show how to start with thicker wire and how to progress to thinner.

I went to a few courses with one guest instructor that spent two weekends using weights, clamps and turnbuckles. Putting that aside, I've seen instructors say wrap tightly around branch, others say wrap loosely. What would be the difference to wrapping loose or tight. What are your opinions on wiring branches.

 

[garywood]

Joe, 20 years should give you a representative response. What is your response to your query? As Always curious ;-)

 

[Vance Wood]

What works is right and what does not work is wrong. There may be a couple of different ways to get there, some better than others, and others not so good. Art will always win out and art will always find a way. Someone may show you an easier way to accomplish what it is you want to do and others may tell you what you want to do can't be done. I catch a lot of flack because I tend to use a lot of Aluminum wire. I use Aluminum for two reasons: My hands are not what they once were and Aluminum is much easier for me to use, and second, it is cheaper than Copper. I know there are more than a few on this site that find the out put of large sums of money is for them not a large sum of money, for me it is a problem. I am on a fixed income and I need to be careful of the amount of money I spend. If you can afford copper and can get it annealed as well then do so. Copper is a better option but you will have problems with it if you decide to change your mind about a bend on a branch that you want to change.

 

[joe44]

Well, I've wired both ways, tight and loose, didn't see a difference. As far as using coated or uncoated wire, if your not showing a tree, so what. We had an electrician in our club who only used leftover or salvaged wire. He was a commercial electrician and would bring in wire to the meetings and give away aluminum wire that at one time was being used in commercial buildings and being replaced with copper. I just feel that what is taught isn't necessarily written in stone as to being the only way to accomplish the end result.

Listen, I agree that in the end it comes down to esthetics. The better the technique, the better the tree will look. Even if your the only one looking at it, but more so if your showing the tree. In any artistic endeavor, you have learned from others how to do whatever it is, ie; painting sculpture, etc. I'm simply asking is there really an absolute with wiring techniques.

 

[Eric Group]

Well, I've wired both ways, tight and loose, didn't see a difference. As far as using coated or uncoated wire, if your not showing a tree, so what. We had an electrician in our club who only used leftover or salvaged wire. He was a commercial electrician and would bring in wire to the meetings and give away aluminum wire that at one time was being used in commercial buildings and being replaced with copper. I just feel that what is taught isn't necessarily written in stone as to being the only way to accomplish the end result.

Listen, I agree that in the end it comes down to esthetics. The better the technique, the better the tree will look. Even if your the only one looking at it, but more so if your showing the tree. In any artistic endeavor, you have learned from others how to do whatever it is, ie; painting sculpture, etc. I'm simply asking is there really an absolute with wiring techniques.

Clearly there is not... Unless you were taught by Boone apparently!
JK Adair...

I think your experiences of being shown a dozen different ways at different presentations from different accomplished Bonsai professionals over the years speaks to that as much as anything else- if ONE WAY was the right way, wouldn't these people who make a living from doing Bonsai all do it the same way? Or at least TRY to do it very similar? They do not. The only time aesthetics with wiring is truly important is if you are showing a tree with wire on it, but isn't the goal not to have to leave the wire on forever? Aren't most trees meant to be shown WITHOUT wire? Sure, especially with junipers it seems often they are shown with wire because they were recently styled and they need a bunch of wire to refine the image...but isn't the end goal to get the branches set so you won't have to show a tree with a bunch of metal on it? Check out what some of the trees that are "in training" under the care of some of the best Bonsai professionals in the world look like- guy wires all over the place, tied to screws at the base of the tree or around pieces of dead wood... Black rubber electrical tape protecting bark from harsh bends with rebar and all manner of tools implementing sharp curves... They were not wiring them to show them, they are shaping the trees. Wire is a tool to shape your tree, the TREE IS THE ART- NOT THE WIRE. JMHO. Sure, if you are showing a tree soon and wiring it in anticipation of that show, you would remove all the crazy branch levers and guy wires... Wire it with aesthetics in mind... Make it clean, use darker colored wire... but for most of us, who do this for our own enjoyment.. I don't give a rip if my wire is shiny or brown, I don't care if it is a little uneven in places (as it always will be AFTER you bend it regardless of how perfect the angles were when you applied it) I don't care if it is copper or aluminum... DOES IT HOLD THE DAMN BRANCH IN PLACE? Yes- good, then it is done right. Period.

I have worked on and drastically improved my wiring with some help over the last couple years, I have wired D trees, Juniper and Pine, I have used Guy wired, branch benders, metal bars, thick wire and skinny wire, copper and aluminum... Cannot say any one way or any one product is better than another as Each tree is different, each person is different and each species needs different care for different curves. The subject is too complicated to ever say "my way is right and yours is wrong".

 

[Adair M]

I'm not sure exactly what you are asking.

Wiring is essential to the modern art of bonsai. You want to use the minimum amount of wire to effectively do the job. A properly done wire job does not distract from the beauty of the tree.

Generally speaking, a larger single wire holds better than two smaller wires laid on side by side.

I do prefer to use copper for most trees, especially conifers. Some trees, most deciduous trees and azalea get wired with aluminum.

It takes practice and patience to become good at wiring. The key is always wire two branches with one wire. Set an anchor of one and a half turns along one branch, then wire the other. Then go back to complete the first branch.

How tight? The wire should "just touch" the branch before bending. You don't want to press the wire into the branch when making the spirals. You want it touching evenly. If wired too loose, then there is little holding power. And, since the wire isn't touching everywhere, where it does touch will be a "hot spot", and will cut in faster there. It's easier to break a branch when bending a loosely wired branch.

Sometimes, I find it easier to "Bend the wire" than it is to "bend the branch". Once the branch is wired, I can grab the wire with my Jin pliers, and twist the pliers. This action moves the wire. And since the branch is in the wire, it bends th branch. I find this particularly helpful when bending branches down Where they attach to the trunk. Too often branches are wired down in arcs. Using the pliers, you can make that bend happen right there at the trunk.

Of course, we try to avoid crossing wires, have no more than 3 parallel wires wrapped along a branch. Try not to have wires wrap across the front of the trunk if possible. Use guy wires as a last resort, and use small gauge wire.

 

[Adair M]

Eric: virtually all conifers will have wire on them virtually all the time. Even at shows. Not guy wires, though. And no raffia or black tape or rebar allowed at a show. Deciduous trees should not be shown with wire.

There is a difference between "show wiring" and "training wiring". But even training wiring should use the minimum amount of wire necessary to do the job.

You want the wire be anchored properly so that if you want to bend or set a branch in place, as you do that it doesn't accidently move the other branch the wire is attached to. If not, well, that's how branches get damaged.

 

[jk_lewis]

A properly done wire job does not distract from the beauty of the tree.

I suppose that is debatable.

 

[Eric Group]

I suppose that is debatable.

Isn't everything around here?

Hey, anybody want to start a new soil thread?

 

[M. Frary]

Isn't everything around here?

Hey, anybody want to start a new soil thread?

It can be done! We can argue about dirt again.

 

[Adair M]

I suppose that is debatable.

I have shown many trees where no one noticed the wire until I pointed it out.

 

[Giga]

also wiring is not something you get on the first go-takes many pounds and blacken fingertips to get it down perfectly. So don't take to harshly if you get done and say, well, that's looks like crap. Just need to wire and wire and wire. Also I have to side with Adair for wire should not be distracting

 

[Paradox]

also wiring is not something you get on the first go-takes many pounds and blacken fingertips to get it down perfectly. So don't take to harshly if you get done and say, well, that's looks like crap. Just need to wire and wire and wire.

Practice makes perfect this is true. Copper is better for conifers and I am investing in copper for those times when it is needed.

My advice to someone new to wiring is to start practicing with aluminum to save the expense of the copper when you have to cut it all off and start again the first time or two.....or three.

 

[M. Frary]

only used leftover or salvaged wire.

Same here. I anneal it myself on a gutted out gas grill. Once the insulation is all burned away I toss it in the snow to quench it. It gives me something to do in winter. I pre coil it before barbecuing.
Cook outs at my house are a crap shoot for guests!

 

[M. Frary]

You don't want to press the wire into the branch when making the spirals

I actually have to watch that I don't do this. I have lost some branches on a couple junipers from this.I know this because I went out and wired a tree yesterday to see what the hell is going on. I've been cranking it on too tight. I caught myself in the act. Pinning the wire onto the branch with one hand,pulling on the wire with the other and cranking it on twisting the wire while I was doing it. I could see it squeezing into the bark right then. I never had this problem until I started trying to make the wiring perfect. Going to back off a little from now on.

 

[Adair M]

Lol, Mike! The temptation is to lay the wire on tight using your index finger. The proper technique is to use the index finger to guide the wire, but have it an inch or so off the branch. "Spin" the wire on from afar.

Boon says we should "be able to slip a piece of rice paper between the wire and the branch". I'm not that good. So, I settle for "just touching". Lol!

Do try to not leave big air gaps between the branch and wire.

 

[jk_lewis]

also wiring is not something you get on the first go-takes many pounds and blacken fingertips to get it down perfectly. So don't take to harshly if you get done and say, well, that's looks like crap. Just need to wire and wire and wire. Also I have to side with Adair for wire should not be distracting

Since I never show a tree with wire on it, I don't give a hoot if my wire looks bad -- as it increasingly does these days as my hands get shakier and shakier.

 

[Vance Wood]

Lol, Mike! The temptation is to lay the wire on tight using your index finger. The proper technique is to use the index finger to guide the wire, but have it an inch or so off the branch. "Spin" the wire on from afar.

Boon says we should "be able to slip a piece of rice paper between the wire and the branch". I'm not that good. So, I settle for "just touching". Lol!

Do try to not leave big air gaps between the branch and wire.

I don't wish to argue the issue but I have heard this a number of times, not only here; and I find it to be a specious statement. Unless we are talking about some sort of electrical field that gets set up by the process of wiring the tree I find it difficult to believe that the wire does not touch the branch. Think about this folks this is kind of King's New Clothes information. If the wire does not touch the branch how does the wire move the branch? It has to touch is somewhere and if it has to touch it somewhere does it not make sense that it must touch in many places in order to distribute the stress of the wire evenly over the entire branch? The above example is not clear enough to adequately describe what it really happening.

It is my belief that the wire must make contact evenly the entire length of the branch; other-wise you wind up slipping the bark and breaking the branch. Having done this, it is important that you almost daily observe what the wire is doing in order to prevent the wire from bitting into the branches and scaring the bark.

 

[Adair M]

Well, Vance, as you know, as soon as you bend the branch, the wire touches some parts of it. Even if it was "rice paper" away.

I watched Diasaku Nomoto do some wiring. He's exceptionally talented. Often, as he set his anchor, he would bend the branch down into his final position, and then he wired it. As opposed to wiring the branch, then bending it. It was a subtle technique, but when he did this, he was able to lay the wire on evenly all around, and there appeared to be no hot spots.

Another subtle technique he did was on a spot where he needed three parallel wires, instead of laying the third wire on the wood, he laid it in the groove created by the first two parallel wires. It was a thinner gauge than the first two, so it added little to the visual mass of the wire. If he had laid it along side the others, it would have been much more noticeable. I'll see if I can get a picture tomorrow.