Making chopsticks

[rockm]

I got a FB post from Mirai recently that literally made my day for its deadpan humor (?) A complete, serious-as-a-heart attack article on how to make your own chopsticks for repotting season. So, seriously Who in the TF has time to make chopsticks during repotting season? My source of chopsticks is grabbing a handful of them at the take-out Chinese joint up the street...much easier and a damn sight cheaper than finding bamboo, splitting it and sanding it down...I also don't forge my own iron for tools...Oh BTW, Mirai sells raw bamboo rounds for $25 a pop...go figure.

Chopstick Creation

A step-by-step guide on how to make chopsticks for repotting seasonWithin the practice of bonsai, bamboo is an incredibly durable and functional material. Of its many uses, making customized bamboo chopsticks for the repotting operation allows us to have total control of the contact between the...

bonsaimirai.com

 

[Maiden69]

I agree... I buy them from Amazon. Ryan is a little OCD, and the take away I got from some of the video was just the way he sets up the tip of the chop stick to help "push" the soil into pockets, instead of a flat tip that could crush akadama. I hate working with raw bamboo, we used it during my childhood to make custom oversized kites for it's strength and light weight, fences, and some furniture... sucks ass trying to get the splinters out of your skin as the fibers will grip as you pull them out.

 

[ABCarve]

I call it “being starved for new content”.

 

[Cajunrider]

I got a FB post from Mirai recently that literally made my day for its deadpan humor (?) A complete, serious-as-a-heart attack article on how to make your own chopsticks for repotting season. So, seriously Who in the TF has time to make chopsticks during repotting season? My source of chopsticks is grabbing a handful of them at the take-out Chinese joint up the street...much easier and a damn sight cheaper than finding bamboo, splitting it and sanding it down...I also don't forge my own iron for tools...Oh BTW, Mirai sells raw bamboo rounds for $25 a pop...go figure.

Chopstick Creation

A step-by-step guide on how to make chopsticks for repotting seasonWithin the practice of bonsai, bamboo is an incredibly durable and functional material. Of its many uses, making customized bamboo chopsticks for the repotting operation allows us to have total control of the contact between the...

bonsaimirai.com

I have a thousand chopsticks in my house. If I need one, I go to the kitchen. Don't need to make no chopsticks.

 

[Cajunrider]

I call it “being starved for new content”.

Nope. I call it "Revenue stream seeking"

 

[KateM]

Too new to comment, but I thought it was hillarious if a bit annoying... Well, could not help myself and commented. Agree with all of the above.

 

[Maiden69]

Nope. I call it "Revenue stream seeking"

They wouldn't be running a successful business if he wouldn't be doing so... and any business owner not doing so is nothing but a .

 

[rockm]

I don't fault him for looking for new revenue, but this is a little too much...

 

[Cajunrider]

They wouldn't be running a successful business if he wouldn't be doing so... and any business owner not doing so is nothing but a .

I don't mind revenue seeking. In the wood working world, chop-stick making is a revenue stream for some people I know. I know people who don't mind spending $200 for a set of chopsticks for 6 people. However for bonsai chopsticks where all we try to do is to jam soil into roots, it is a bit much for me.

 

[Underdog]

Oh BTW, Mirai sells raw bamboo rounds for $25 a pop...go figure.

That's just silly. What was it P.T. Barnum used to say?

 

[Maiden69]

However for bonsai chopsticks where all we try to do is to jam soil into roots, it is a bit much for me.

Yes, but for those using pure akadama as their substrate, the selling point of a chopstick that won't crush the particle as you "jam" it into the root zone is a big selling point. Besides, in reality you could do the same with any chopstick... just shape it the same way. If I recall correctly, @Smoke makes his own as well, and I think he even carried extra and gave away at the meets. Ultimately, I am glad he is pushing streams out. The amount of effort and work it takes to do a Mirai video like this is way more than the revenue he will probably get for the bamboo sales, but surely worth it for a few people that will actually set out to do their own sticks.

 

[Cajunrider]

Yes, but for those using pure akadama as their substrate, the selling point of a chopstick that won't crush the particle as you "jam" it into the root zone is a big selling point. Besides, in reality you could do the same with any chopstick... just shape it the same way. If I recall correctly, @Smoke makes his own as well, and I think he even carried extra and gave away at the meets. Ultimately, I am glad he is pushing streams out. The amount of effort and work it takes to do a Mirai video like this is way more than the revenue he will probably get for the bamboo sales, but surely worth it for a few people that will actually set out to do their own sticks.

I guess when I have refined trees, which feels like forever for me, I will worry about it. And then I will make sure to only use the soft side of the bamboo stick @namnhi

 

[Maiden69]

Oh BTW, Mirai sells raw bamboo rounds for $25 a pop...go figure.

You can buy a "stick" of 6" diameter bamboo and 6-12' for about $125-$179 online... not cheap on this side of the pond.

Bamboo Poles - 1" to 6" Diameter (Choose Size & Quantity) - Decorate With Bamboo

NOTE: 8' tall poles are now cut to 7.5' to save on prohibitive shipping charges. Bamboo poles are a great building material and very eco-friendly. Bamboo is a rapidly renewable resource because it is the fastest growing plant on earth! Your role as a buyer and user of bamboo materials…

decoratewithbamboo.com

4" D x 72" L Bamboo Poles Half Rounds (6 Half Poles)

Formaldehyde and chemical free. Our poles are carefully picked and packaged. 4in D x 60in H. Order Today!

foreverbamboo.com

 

[Maiden69]

I guess when I have refined trees, which feels like forever for me, I will worry about it. And then I will make sure to only use the soft side of the bamboo stick @namnhi

He oversells this point... as pressing with the end grain of bamboo would probably exert the same mount of force any way. You could use any hard wood and get the same result. Ipe, Pau Ferro, etc... I think where bamboo excel is when using it inside the container as a means of anchoring a root ball. This is the only use I have for them right now. I am still using the stainless chopsticks that Bonsai Jack sends with his packages for soil duties.

 

[rockm]

You can buy a "stick" of 6" diameter bamboo and 6-12' for about $125-$179 online... not cheap on this side of the pond.

Bamboo Poles - 1" to 6" Diameter (Choose Size & Quantity) - Decorate With Bamboo

NOTE: 8' tall poles are now cut to 7.5' to save on prohibitive shipping charges. Bamboo poles are a great building material and very eco-friendly. Bamboo is a rapidly renewable resource because it is the fastest growing plant on earth! Your role as a buyer and user of bamboo materials…

decoratewithbamboo.com

4" D x 72" L Bamboo Poles Half Rounds (6 Half Poles)

Formaldehyde and chemical free. Our poles are carefully picked and packaged. 4in D x 60in H. Order Today!

foreverbamboo.com

Do a search on Etsy and you can find numerous sellers with not expensive cut bamboo--like 2 1/2" diameter 8' long cut bamboo poles for $12-$20...enough to make about dozens of chopsticks...

 

[Maiden69]

Do a search on Etsy and you can find numerous sellers with not expensive cut bamboo--like 2 1/2" diameter 8' long cut bamboo poles for $12-$20...enough to make about dozens of chopsticks...

Yes, there are plenty of 2 1/2" bamboo out there, too thin for what he does. That's why he uses 4" and above... it is "construction building" standard size. Over engineered, I know... but it really makes sense. Let me see if I can dig smokes chopstick pictures, they are ginormous compared to bamboo chopsticks.

 

[BeepBeepBonsaiSheep]

As a fabricator, I’d prob find that interesting actually

Nigel Saunders had a video yesterday where at the end he showed off some American Bonsai stuff and a stainless “chopstick” was in it. I wish I still had access to a lathe as I’d make my own. (Actually made a pin pusher for conveyor belts for myself and a coworker and even used the kneeling tool. Mine was lost when my toolbox was stolen, but I’m sure my buddy still has his)

I’m sure if you can find a roll pin pusher, that’d prob work as well. McMaster Carr should have them, but it’s little pricey as it’s hardened steel. I got two different sizes of those

Some wooden dowel rods from Home Depot/ Lowes would prob be a cheaper option if you really wanted to make one

 

[Maiden69]

Is Bonsai Mirai Live Worth $300/year?

It just goes to show you: All that is necessary for the bonsai community to turn on it's own is for one of them approaching success above the level of everyone else. Just think; before there was Ryan there was ----- Books ? Really...? You living in a cave?

www.bonsainut.com

 

[rockm]

Yes, there are plenty of 2 1/2" bamboo out there, too thin for what he does. That's why he uses 4" and above... it is "construction building" standard size. Over engineered, I know... but it really makes sense. Let me see if I can dig smokes chopstick pictures, they are ginormous compared to bamboo chopsticks.

I don't know about that. Don't think you really need 4" construction grade to make splinters with a root splitter...anyway, if you dig through there you can come up with more reasonably priced big rounds and poles.

 

[Maiden69]

I wish I still had access to a lathe as I’d make my own.

Don't need a lathe... get a piece of 3/8" 304 and chuck it in a drill and use a grinder to shape it. If you want something easier and lighter to work with, do the same with 6061 0r 7075 aluminum. The stainless ones I have are hollow... I don't think I would want to work a rootball with a solid core stainless chopstick.