Gustavo Martins
Omono
I suppose it could matter if you strive for perfection. I couldn’t care less about my chopsticks. I re use the ones I get everytime I go to the sushi restaurant.
Making chopsticks
- Thread starter rockm
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Bonsaidoorguy
Chumono
I've been making my own for years. Even give them out at our club meetings. It's not rocket science.
Thank you. His name is Tiger and he is the size of ottoman.
Taste
Mame
i bought the "last one".
damn fomo marketing, but good looking out thats a nice deal for those, the ones i linked are the R series, which have a slightly different cutting edge and are hardened more according to jonas d.
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vp999
Omono
So after been using and keep breaking Chinese take out chop sticks I went ahead and ordered these metal chop stick, $5 for 6 pairs will probably last me a long time as they are stainless steel.
Metal Chopsticks Reusable Stainless Steel Chopsticks Dishwasher Safe Square Non-slip Chop Sticks Laser Etching Patterns Korean Japanese Chinese Chopsticks 5 Pair Gift Set https://a.co/d/buchMXQ
Metal Chopsticks Reusable Stainless Steel Chopsticks Dishwasher Safe Square Non-slip Chop Sticks Laser Etching Patterns Korean Japanese Chinese Chopsticks 5 Pair Gift Set https://a.co/d/buchMXQ
BrightsideB
Omono
I’m going to make some ceramic chop sticks for the hell of it. Seems cool. I’ll do the drop test as I’ve done with some pots. I am thinking they will be fine.
badatusernames
Omono
Taste
Mame
hahah
Paradox
Imperial Masterpiece
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
If I had to make my own, I'd buy 3/16 " dowels and cut them down to 8 or 10 inches and use those. No sanding necessary.
Honestly I don't think metal chopsticks would work as well. The fact that wood absorbs water would seem a better indicator imo
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Emanon
Mame
To play devil's advocate (like he/she/it needs one...)
I'm sure people think the same thing every time they walk into Rockler and see that a whole section (most their store is seems like) is dedicated just to pen making or "turning" as they call it (because I guess pen "making" sounds too juvenile or something?). I never thought to think that they could just walk down to CVS and buy an already made pen for less than a dollar if they bought a multipack. Save a lot of time too. I just assume there's people out there (craftsmen I guess you call them, if that's still politically correct to say) who enjoy overmaking things that could just be mass produced because they enjoy the process and the neatness/quality of the finished product. Maybe the video was made for those types that also happen to do bonsai.
That pen turning section really is a lot though now that I think of it! They're freaking pens! Things people use to do something else and, let's get real, nobody cares when they're reading what you wrote, that you also made you the pen. I can't imagine that it makes your writing any better. At least if you're smithing your own tools, the better quality tools really are affecting the final outcome. Pens, not so much. But I majorly digress
Katie0317
Chumono
I'm all for ergonomic tools for people that feel they need them.
Think I started bonsai about a year and a half ago. I was slowly buying tools and trying to search for the 'perfect' one of whatever it was. Didn't think I wanted use any of my husbands old pliers so I decided to buy some from Mirai. They were only 6.00. When I went to check out the shipping was almost 3x the cost of the plier.
A while later I was looking at his website and noticed he'd raised the price of the exact same hardware store pliers to 13.00. Just now checked and they're up to 17.00. That's an almost 300% increase for a no-brand nothing special pair of cheap pliers.
Guess what the number one profit maker is in any of the Disney parks?
There's a guy who roams around with a giant green garbage can on wheels filled ice cold lemon-aid. Costs next to nothing and sells like crazy!
I'm still looking for pliers.
Think I started bonsai about a year and a half ago. I was slowly buying tools and trying to search for the 'perfect' one of whatever it was. Didn't think I wanted use any of my husbands old pliers so I decided to buy some from Mirai. They were only 6.00. When I went to check out the shipping was almost 3x the cost of the plier.
A while later I was looking at his website and noticed he'd raised the price of the exact same hardware store pliers to 13.00. Just now checked and they're up to 17.00. That's an almost 300% increase for a no-brand nothing special pair of cheap pliers.
Guess what the number one profit maker is in any of the Disney parks?
There's a guy who roams around with a giant green garbage can on wheels filled ice cold lemon-aid. Costs next to nothing and sells like crazy!
I'm still looking for pliers.
hemmy
Omono
3 Pc Slip Joint Pliers
Amazing deals on this 3Pc Slip Joint Pliers at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.
I’ve been using the small one a lot for repotting small trees.
19Mateo83
Masterpiece
Katie0317
Chumono
Thanks Hemmy! I'll get those just for the smallest pair. Appreciate you pointing me to those!
I'm also wanting a tool to cut wire. It seems like the jewelry making pointed wire cutters aren't tough enough for the job but I'd like to a smallish cutter that will let me reach into a plant and have enough leverage to cut wire. On my first trip to a bonsai store with my very first trees the owner sold me an awful pair of wire cutters! The have extremely short jaws that are completely rounded. You've seen them but I may not be explaining them well, but they're useless to me. Like these but even more blunt. I can't get leverage with these!
I'm also wanting a tool to cut wire. It seems like the jewelry making pointed wire cutters aren't tough enough for the job but I'd like to a smallish cutter that will let me reach into a plant and have enough leverage to cut wire. On my first trip to a bonsai store with my very first trees the owner sold me an awful pair of wire cutters! The have extremely short jaws that are completely rounded. You've seen them but I may not be explaining them well, but they're useless to me. Like these but even more blunt. I can't get leverage with these!
Attachments
Maiden69
Masterpiece
I guess you haven't watch the video or heard Ryan talk about chopstick use in any of his streams. There is a benefit of NOT using a flat face chopstick if you are using akadama as he does. I planted my first tree in akadama, and I can tell you that the flat tip of my metal chopstick was crushing the hell out of the small shohin size particles. I had to slow down... for the next I am just going to cut a slant and shape one the same he does.
I tried some in Korea, they could have a "cool" factor and work the same as anything the same shape and size... I don't think they will do well on a drop test.
I could say the same thing about almost anything... even bonsai. It's a craft, like making custom pool cues, motorcycles, etc... I used to build guitars, and the costs of materials well surpassed the price of any mid range instrument, yet it brought satisfaction to make them myself. same with the pens... the Rockler kits don't fetch a lot of money, but custom pens made from raw materials do. And it is called turning because that is what you do... you turn the wood in a lathe. The point of the class at Rockler is really not to "make" a pen, is to teach you the process of turning, so you spend your money into buying a small lathe and lots of woods making them a decent profit for exchange of self gratification into knowing (or thinking that you know) how to "make" a pen.That pen turning section really is a lot though now that I think of it! They're freaking pens! Things people use to do something else and, let's get real, nobody cares when they're reading what you wrote, that you also made you the pen. I can't imagine that it makes your writing any better. At least if you're smithing your own tools, the better quality tools really are affecting the final outcome. Pens, not so much. But I majorly digress
Katie0317
Chumono
We planted bamboo along one side of our pool and it grows like crazy.
My husband is never not doing something. He can build anything and does! I showed him a picture of the handmade sticks that are not chopsticks but flat as a knife life tools. Someone posted a small pic of them on this thread. Someone made them and passed them out to friends.
He never does nothing and sometimes when he's sitting and just looking at our hundreds of orchids, my roses, our bonsai and the birds we feed..He's also making things from bamboo. He's mostly fashioning the bamboo to plant orchids in. Orchids will grow anywhere. Most of them don't need a medium to grow in. They just need a secure place to glom onto and their roots will grow and just hang. No root rot that way...Orchid material tends to stay wet and causes root rot so they need a lot of repotting if you buy orchid medium. Not all orchids will grow this way, but many will.
Anyway, he's never made chopsticks but he's made beautiful spoons, fork like tools and the knife like tools, all for bonsai purposes. I use them when I repot and they're surprisingly useful. He just enjoys making things but he hasn't bothered with chopsticks. We use the metal one usually but the person who talked about chopsticks crushing roots made a lot of sense as did the person who explained that Ryan doesn't want to crush his akadama. I can't see someone as knowledgeable and experienced as Ryan Neil making a tool like a chopstick without a good reason. If restaurant sticks served his purpose I bet he's use them.
My husband is never not doing something. He can build anything and does! I showed him a picture of the handmade sticks that are not chopsticks but flat as a knife life tools. Someone posted a small pic of them on this thread. Someone made them and passed them out to friends.
He never does nothing and sometimes when he's sitting and just looking at our hundreds of orchids, my roses, our bonsai and the birds we feed..He's also making things from bamboo. He's mostly fashioning the bamboo to plant orchids in. Orchids will grow anywhere. Most of them don't need a medium to grow in. They just need a secure place to glom onto and their roots will grow and just hang. No root rot that way...Orchid material tends to stay wet and causes root rot so they need a lot of repotting if you buy orchid medium. Not all orchids will grow this way, but many will.
Anyway, he's never made chopsticks but he's made beautiful spoons, fork like tools and the knife like tools, all for bonsai purposes. I use them when I repot and they're surprisingly useful. He just enjoys making things but he hasn't bothered with chopsticks. We use the metal one usually but the person who talked about chopsticks crushing roots made a lot of sense as did the person who explained that Ryan doesn't want to crush his akadama. I can't see someone as knowledgeable and experienced as Ryan Neil making a tool like a chopstick without a good reason. If restaurant sticks served his purpose I bet he's use them.
Scorpius
Chumono
Trying to argue about Ryan Neil is akin to seeing that old guy in your neighborhood shaking his fist at the sky. All you can do is chuckle to yourself and move on with your day.
Scorpius
Chumono
Amazon sells titanium chopsticks. Those will be my next thing I try. I've been using the freebie chopstick with my Bonsai Jack orders lately and I love that thing.
badatusernames
Omono
These are on sale if in your budget: https://www.americanbonsai.com/American-Bonsai-Stainless-Steel-Multi-U-Shears-SI-p/ab160-09.htm
Maybe I missed them previously, but it seems like American Bonsai has released a couple more tools, short and long scissor wire cutters included. Just after I bought a pricy pair from another brand
. No regrets though, I love the tool.Similar threads
