Kyleboldy2003
Mame
Where to get good copper wire for good price from?
Copper wire
- Thread starter Kyleboldy2003
- Start date
jimib
Shohin
I got mine from Julian Adams website. He has another guy doing the wire now though, however his name escapes me. Excellent prices and incredibly fast response time.
D
Deleted member 21616
Guest
@Kyleboldy2003 you should add your location to your profile - i think it's the most useful piece of information one can share with regards to both purchasing products and caring for plants 
rockm
Spuds Moyogi
Super Fly bonsai is pretty good. I bought from them at the Potomac Bonsai Society show at the beginning of the month.
https://www.superflybonsai.com/coll...ku-professionally-annealed-copper-bonsai-wire
https://www.superflybonsai.com/coll...ku-professionally-annealed-copper-bonsai-wire
Wires_Guy_wires
Imperial Masterpiece
For a good price? Recycling plants and thrift stores.
I pay for my copper by weight at the current metal price, and at our local recycling plant we can get a few miles of the stuff in every size and thickness available. It's even coated in plastic! Stripping and annealing it can be done in a few minutes with the right tools; a knife, some pliers and a torch.
For a ridiculously high price? Any bonsai store. Those people do marketing and they're running a business, they need that money. In all fairness, they're allowed to ask those prices and you're free to pay them what they're asking.
But most of that wire comes from the same source as the stuff in recycling plants and thrift stores. Except you pay four times as much in this part of the world if there's a bonsai label attached to it.
I pay for my copper by weight at the current metal price, and at our local recycling plant we can get a few miles of the stuff in every size and thickness available. It's even coated in plastic! Stripping and annealing it can be done in a few minutes with the right tools; a knife, some pliers and a torch.
For a ridiculously high price? Any bonsai store. Those people do marketing and they're running a business, they need that money. In all fairness, they're allowed to ask those prices and you're free to pay them what they're asking.
But most of that wire comes from the same source as the stuff in recycling plants and thrift stores. Except you pay four times as much in this part of the world if there's a bonsai label attached to it.
rockm
Spuds Moyogi
All this self-satisfaction is due if you've got the time and can afford the effort to go out to recycling plant, sort through appropriate wire. strip, yank or burn the coating off. make a fire. Anneal the wire...viola, bonsai wire.
You may think prices are ridiculously high, but have you valued the labor/time you're putting into this. Some of us don't want to do that we're too busy hunting, killing, skinning and cooking our own meat, tending our vegetable gardens, etc. Seriously, I don't want to put THAT much effort into getting bonsai wire....
Wires_Guy_wires
Imperial Masterpiece
If I didn't want to get my hands dirty, I would get a framed picture of a tree instead of a live one. It saves all the effort and if I don't like the design, I just print a new one. I mean, if it's only viewing pleasure you're after, why practice bonsai at all? More time to hunt and skin vegetables that way.
Honestly, I save roughly 100 bucks a year by walking 15 minutes, picking up pre-assorted wire and throwing it in an already burning fireplace. I don't think it's more of an effort than doing groceries.
rockm
Spuds Moyogi
Oh for crying out loud. Wow, walk 15 minutes to scrap heap?--sounds like you live in a wilderness--So if you're so "dirty hands," you know how to shoot a buck, skin it and butcher it? You know how to cook sour mash to make whiskey? I do. I mean if its all about the steak on your plate, and the whiskey in your glass, then I'd just BUY my dinner at the supermarket and stop at the liquor store...What load...
I have also saved more money knowing where to go to get rough stock, or collect my own, than you will EVER save on pulling plastic off old wire...so spare me the guilt trip if I want to actually buy my own wire and support LOCAL BONSAI suppliers, (many who I've known for a couple of decades)
smjmsy00
Yamadori
I anneal my own wire because it's kind of fun and satisfying and a good deal cheaper (you can get 1250 ft of 12/14 gauge solid grounding wire at home depot for ~185$), but my annealed wire is probably not as consistent or of the same quality as marketed products; but then again, neither are my trees. I don't understand why anyone should argue about this though.
leatherback
The Treedeemer
Wow, that was unexpected!
Wireguys, your recycling plant lets you take things? Need to get the address. Here they get very nervous if you ask for taking tuff.
Wireguys, your recycling plant lets you take things? Need to get the address. Here they get very nervous if you ask for taking tuff.
cheap_walmart_art
Omono
I second this option. I got my first set of copper from this website and it shipped out within a couple days of ordering. I also got some great tips for reading material from Mr. Adams!
smjmsy00
Yamadori
wow, his (adams bonsai ) prices are super good, even with the 25% surcharge.
jimib
Shohin
And quick. I emailed on a Sunday morning..not expecting a response until the weekday. Within 30 minutes the deal was done and I had wire in a few days.
I get mine from Jim Gremel. He used to supply Mirai until Mirai started processing their own.
Jimgremel@gmail.com
Jim is a retired Boeing engineer, annuals in a kiln where he can control temperatures, and he scientifically determined what temperatures and for what amount of time yields the softest wire.
Jimgremel@gmail.com
Jim is a retired Boeing engineer, annuals in a kiln where he can control temperatures, and he scientifically determined what temperatures and for what amount of time yields the softest wire.
PiñonJ
Omono
It’s hard to compare prices between Gremel and Adams (now Jeremiah McKinney, who took over the wire business) because the former sells by weight and the latter by length. But I think even for equivalent weight, Adams is a little cheaper. McKinney still provides excellent service, with rapid processing of orders. As far as quality is concerned, they are equivalent. I recently had the opportunity to compare them head-to-head, as I had recently ordered from both. I was applying 8 ga, which is a good gauge for comparison, because it is fairly thick. I used the two suppliers’ wire within seconds of each other and there was no clear winner, in terms of performance. Gremel supplies 4 ga, which Adams does not.
It’s just a little math to convert between wire weight and length. Charts that will tell you the diameter for a particular gauge wire are readily available on the internet. Divide the diameter by 2 to get the radius. Then the mass m=π*r^2*L*ρ, where r is the radius, L is the length of the wire, and ρ is the density of copper at room temperature (8.96 g/cm³). The rest is just unit conversions and a bit of algebra.
PiñonJ
Omono
Sure, but that would require effort!? OK, OK, I did the math. I figured most of Adams’s rolls were about half a kilo and 25’ of 8 gauge is actually 571 grams, for which they charge 12.50, including the surcharge. That works out to $21.88 per kilo, which is significantly cheaper than Gremel’s $33 per kilo. Actually, I think Gremel’s price might have included shipping on three rolls, but Adams still works out cheaper.
Last edited:
PiñonJ
Omono
Went back and checked. Gremel charged $96.58 for three rolls, including shipping.
Maloghurst
Chumono
Ho
How much weight? 500grams per roll?
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