Kaneshin tweezers with too much resistance

Japonicus

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I bought these because the other pair I have in stainless are just as fatiguing to use.
Should I insert a spacer and force down to bend the metal closing the gap some to reduce
the energy required to operate these? I have an off brand carbon rake/tweezer combo that
has been nothing short of fantastic to use requiring little effort to operate. The resistance on these
will make pulling needles an even more fatiguing job.
 

Deep Sea Diver

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I would try it If yours are not easy to use.

Sometimes the tweezers need a little flexing to fit the users preferences. Those particular tweezers shown are all we use at the museum. They were a bit stiff-for me also. I bent one and it worked better, yet “my pair” go lost amongst the others and I didn’t want to keep bending all their equipment, so I bought my own pair. The first model I bought was an off brand and too bendly for the work we are doing.

So I broke down and bought a Kaneshin pair of my own, bent tip because those were the ones I learned and I’m faster with these some reason. Also they are more versatile for the varied work I do. Oddly these weren’t as stiff, so no modification was required.

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BonsaiDTLA

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I would try it If yours are not easy to use.

Sometimes the tweezers need a little flexing to fit the users preferences. Those particular tweezers shown are all we use at the museum. They were a bit stiff-for me also. I bent one and it worked better, yet “my pair” go lost amongst the others and I didn’t want to keep bending all their equipment, so I bought my own pair. The first model I bought was an off brand and too bendly for the work we are doing.

So I broke down and bought a Kaneshin pair of my own, bent tip because those were the ones I learned and I’m faster with these some reason. Also they are more versatile for the varied work I do. Oddly these weren’t as stiff, so no modification was required.

View attachment 363294
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I like these alot! I have a pair I use for repotting
 

Japonicus

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I would try it If yours are not easy to use.

Sometimes the tweezers need a little flexing to fit the users preferences. Those particular tweezers shown are all we use at the museum. They were a bit stiff-for me also. I bent one and it worked better, yet “my pair” go lost amongst the others and I didn’t want to keep bending all their equipment, so I bought my own pair. The first model I bought was an off brand and too bendly for the work we are doing.

So I broke down and bought a Kaneshin pair of my own, bent tip because those were the ones I learned and I’m faster with these some reason. Also they are more versatile for the varied work I do. Oddly these weren’t as stiff, so no modification was required.

View attachment 363294
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I forced a wooden down rod well into the mouth of these, bent down, and it helped a lot.
I don't care for the black paint at all. I have no idea where I got my 1st pair with the rake it's been so long.
They've lost grip in the teeth so I wanted to replace with a better pair. I will probably still use household
cosmetic tweezers for needle pulling though. These are good for deep reaches into the foliage.
 

Wires_Guy_wires

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Quality laboratory tweezers beat all and any.
Yes, they might cost an arm and a leg. But they're stainless, heat proof, water proof, ergonomic, built to last.
My oldest pair is hitting 10 years soon, and it's been outdoors for that long. Still shines.
 

Adair M

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For needle pulling, I like this style better:

8485E713-0D4A-4088-8D1E-ADBDC15F2C6B.jpeg

There’s more mass to the tines which makes it easier to pull the needles. They’re still slim and pointed, so I can get into small, tight areas.

I use tweezers more than any other bonsai tool. I have several pairs of these, as I use them often.
 

Adair M

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I would try it If yours are not easy to use.

Sometimes the tweezers need a little flexing to fit the users preferences. Those particular tweezers shown are all we use at the museum. They were a bit stiff-for me also. I bent one and it worked better, yet “my pair” go lost amongst the others and I didn’t want to keep bending all their equipment, so I bought my own pair. The first model I bought was an off brand and too bendly for the work we are doing.

So I broke down and bought a Kaneshin pair of my own, bent tip because those were the ones I learned and I’m faster with these some reason. Also they are more versatile for the varied work I do. Oddly these weren’t as stiff, so no modification was required.

View attachment 363294
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The bent tip tweezers are made for repotting, not needle pulling.

When repotting you drag the tips from the trunk out radially to the edge of the root ball. This gently untangles roots so that they do t cross.
 

Deep Sea Diver

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The bent tip tweezers are made for repotting, not needle pulling.

When repotting you drag the tips from the trunk out radially to the edge of the root ball. This gently untangles roots so that they do t cross.
For sure, you are totally correct, that’s exactly what the literature says and I use the bent tip tweezers for these functions too.

However these tweezers feel really nice to me, can get into hard to reach areas, are faster and work amazingly well compared to the straight tweezers for me. I‘ve tried both multiple times where I volunteer weekly. Some days all I do is needle pull, especially during my first year there. We do much more needle pulling than most people do at home as all 180 trees have to be show quality unless they are being redeveloped.

I certainly wouldn’t advocate using the wrong tool for the right job if there was a health or safety implication. And I certainly would use the straight tweezers if I found a specialized need for these. Yet since my speed is better and they work for me, that’s my go to tool.

Its likely because my wife says, ‘I’m blind in one eye and can’t see out of the other!’

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Adair M

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What do you use them for? The most common bonsai tool I use is a reciprocating saw..... I'm just not as refined!
I have a lot of pines. So, obviously I pull needles. But, I use them for wiring, too. When I’m manipulating branches to get my hands in the tree, sometimes twigs, or needle bundles are in the way, and I need to gently push them aside. I can reach inside the canopy with the tweezers since they’re long and slim, and wont do any accidental damage to the tree or needles.

Also, when wiring, er... actually, when bending after the wire is placed, on small twigs, I find i can make a more precise bend using the tweezers as leverage than I can with fingers. I’ll slip the open tweezer over the wired twig, and leaving them open, I put one tine where i want the outside of the curve to be, and use the other tine to push the twig. To do this, I “spin” (apply a twisting motion) to the tweezers. I do this a lot when wiring JWP. Especially when setting the bottoms of the pads. I can set it so that when seen from the front, the viewer can just barely see the brown twigs supporting the green foliage above. It’s easy to sit back, slip the tweezers in, and give them a slight twist, and position those branches.

Other uses for tweezers include removing excess buds off Japanese Maples and Dawn Redwoods. When pulling needles on JBP, and doing fall clean up, sometimes where the new summer shoots have grown in and produced more than two new shoots. Sometimes those excess shoots are weak enough you can eliminate them by breaking them off with the tweezers, and not have to cut them off with scissors.

I use them to pull weeds.

Just, all kinds of things.
 

Japonicus

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It appears you pictured the 7" surgical, which would be my preference.
Was wanting a "softer" closure for less fatigue.
So would you say the surgical ones have a bit of resistance or easy closure?
A note from their website...

  • "The 9.25" models are similar in shape.
  • The primary difference is that the professional model closes softly whereas the basic model requires more pressure to close."
 

Adair M

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It appears you pictured the 7" surgical, which would be my preference.
Was wanting a "softer" closure for less fatigue.
So would you say the surgical ones have a bit of resistance or easy closure?
A note from their website...

  • "The 9.25" models are similar in shape.
  • The primary difference is that the professional model closes softly whereas the basic model requires more pressure to close."
The ones I use are 9 inches long.
 
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