Buying Wire

[JoeR]

I am in need of wire, mine is all very cheap, over/undersized and stiff. I mostly have aluminum but am looking for just copper. I'm more involved in this hobby and need better utensils.

I always hear they have the best wire So I am likely going to buy from them:

http://www.jimgremel.com/copperwire2106.html

I was looking at buying 12, 18, and 20. I want sizes that are most often used; I don't want to buy a roll that I'm never going to use.

Does this sound good or not?

What sizes do you guys use most?

Does he have the best wire for a good price or is there someone better in your opinion?

I have a feeling this will be like the whole "organic vs cheap chemical fertilizer" debate.


Thanks, Joe.

Dang it, wrong section. Meant to put it in the tools section....

 

[Adair M]

20 is really thin. I would only use it to detail out a shimpaku.

The smart thing is to get a roll of every size between 6 and 18. ( I have some 4 that I have never used, but I have it just in case...)

It will keep in it's annealed condition until you use it.

Jim's price is competitive with other vendors, but his quality is better. He makes the best wire available. Even better than the Japanese wire.

I wire JBP, and I find I use a lot of 10, 12, 14, and 16.

For JBP, the smallest I'd ever use is 16. For wiring JWP, the smallest I'd use is 18.

When you are wiring a tree, you need every size wire.

 

[jk_lewis]

He makes the best wire available.

Unless has has an entire factory, I doubt he "makes" the wire.

 

[JoeR]

Yeah I had the shimp in mind when I said 20, it would be mostly for foliage pad development on my junipers.

Its hard to gauge the sizes, because 20 and 22 both are supposedly near 1mm in aluminum. I bet 18 would be better.

 

[Nybonsai12]

Gremel or julian adams are the go to guys for copper wire. Some folks say gremel's is softer, but I can't comment as I've only used Julian adams wire. I've never heard anything bad about Gremel. Adams is closer to me, so for shipping costs it's cheaper than going across the country.

Adams is a class act, you can call with an order, he'll ship it out to you the next day with an invoice and ask you to send a check back when you get it. He also recently had a deal on a pack of a variety of sizes.

 

[steve27]

do you have a website for Julian Adams wire?

 

[Nybonsai12]

www.adamsbonsai.com

 

[steve27]

thank you!

 

[Adair M]

Uh, Gremel and Adams are friends. Adams asked for Gremel's help on how to make the wire soft when he first started selling wire.

Adams wire got a little better, but still isn't as soft as Gremel's. I have both.

Jkl, no smartass, Gremel doesn't make the wire, he buys it. But then he anneals it in his own special way. Each size wire is annealed a little differently to make it as soft as possible.

Both vendors sell good wire. Gremel's is better.

 

[JoeR]

Adam has a good introductory special.
May be another option.

 

[jhonfadricc001]

I also want to buy good quality wire and looking for useful suggestion and recommendations.

 

[f1pt4]

I've used aluminum wire since I started (which isn't that long). The bonsai club here uses aluminum wire, and whatever local (200km radius) nurseries and suppliers there are, they all sell aluminum wire. Please excuse the noob question, but what are the benefits of using copper wire vs. aluminum. All I know is that copper is harder to bend, so I'm assuming it holds the shape better once applied.

 

[Adair M]

Properly annealed copper is easy to bend. Yes, the thicker wire is stiffer, but annealing makes it workable.

Copper "work hardens" as it's bent. Which means that as it's bent it gets stiffer. So, when you cut it off the roll, it bends easily. As you coil it around the branches, it gets stiffer. So it holds. Then once applied to the tree, when you bend the branch, it gets stiffer still. Which means it will hold the branch in the position you set it in.

Aluminum doesn't work harden. You have to use thicker wire to hold the tree in position. It hoes on easy, but often the tree will straighten back out, which defeats the purpose of waiting in the first place.

Also, copper over time will turn brown, do it becomes nearly invisible. Aluminum wire is painted black. Over time, that paint wears off, and the wire starts to look silver again.

Properly annealed copper can be unwound, for the small gauges. The large gauges have to be cut off. You generally cannot reuse copper. I take my used copper to the recycler. Aluminum can in some instances be reused. I don't bother.

Jim Geremel has a good write up about the benefits of copper on his website. Www.jimgremel.vom.