Bonsai Tool sharpening

[Rltga47]

what's the best way to sharpen old bonsai tools that needs sharpening ?

 

[justBonsai]

Most bonsai tools have convex faces so careless abrasion could flatten the ends and result in a gap between the cutting ends. If you are confident enough in your freehand sharpening skills you can use a good waterstone or some wet/dry silicon carbide sandpaper and sharpen the beveled side down. After sufficient sharpening you can remove the wire edge or burr. It would be imperative that you sharpen each cutting end evenly though, otherwise they may not meet up when closing the cutter. In any case sharpening concave cutters or similar tools are not easy. If the tools are really worn down I probably would just not put in the effort. What kind of sharpening tools do you have?

Also here is an article I found on sharpening bonsai tools:
https://www.evergreengardenworks.com/sharpen.htm

 

[sorce]

Welcome to Crazy!

Sorce

 

[Rltga47]

Most bonsai tools have convex faces so careless abrasion could flatten the ends and result in a gap between the cutting ends. If you are confident enough in your freehand sharpening skills you can use a good waterstone or some wet/dry silicon carbide sandpaper and sharpen the beveled side down. After sufficient sharpening you can remove the wire edge or burr. It would be imperative that you sharpen each cutting end evenly though, otherwise they may not meet up when closing the cutter. In any case sharpening concave cutters or similar tools are not easy. If the tools are really worn down I probably would just not put in the effort. What kind of sharpening tools do you have?

Also here is an article I found on sharpening bonsai tools:
https://www.evergreengardenworks.com/sharpen.htm

 

[Rltga47]

Thanks for the info and excellent link on the subject. I have a dremel tool with sharpening bits and sandpaper that fits the tool, but have been hesitant to try it. I also have 2 files and a whetstone I use for knives but have not tried either on the tools yet. I guess I'll go slowly and do one first. There is a shop in town here that sharpens knives so I may go that route if I can't do it properly. Thanks for your advice and link on sharpening the tools.

 

[justBonsai]

Thanks for the info and excellent link on the subject. I have a dremel tool with sharpening bits and sandpaper that fits the tool, but have been hesitant to try it. I also have 2 files and a whetstone I use for knives but have not tried either on the tools yet. I guess I'll go slowly and do one first. There is a shop in town here that sharpens knives so I may go that route if I can't do it properly. Thanks for your advice and link on sharpening the tools.

Yeah no problem! I'd be hesitant to use a dremel in the inside arch of the tool. Typically concave cutters and the like are only single beveled meaning only sharpened from one side. Doing the interior face would be risky and a slip up with the dremel would remove away a lot of material. Here is a video I just found of someone using a carbide file to sharpen concave cutters:

Notice that the tool is in relatively good shape--what he does in the video would work fine for touch ups. Now if you're taking about chips or dents in the cutting bit what you see in the video will not work. Do you have any pictures of the tools in particular you want to sharpen?

 

[eferguson1974]

Thanks for the link on sharpening. Very usefull info. And I had never been to the site, so I can go and read a lot, and hopefully learn too. Thanks again!