The father in law is a farrier. The tool he uses for trimming hooves looks just like a trunk splitter. Almost as expensive new but he has one he will give me.
Yep, pretty much the same tool!
Oh yeah! You have horses. So you've seen the nippers.
I think if my horses saw me with a farriers apron, they'd fall down laughing!
Aprons don't preclude the necessity of wearing pants.
Yeah, that's it, my hands are just too big for that tool, (able to palm a basketball - can't shoot for s##t though), the exorbitant price has, uhhh, nothing whatsoever to do with not buying it. I'm always amazed and fascinated at the true art of metalurgy and for that matter am impressed with tools that good research and development was completed prior to selling to the customer. That seems to be rare these days, and maybe that's why Japanese were used for Ichiban, hmmm. But, have my recently purchased spherical concave branch cutters, a couple pair of chopsticks (free form oriental restaurant) and a couple 1/4 inch dowels (mainly used stiring fert and soil blend), pair of decades old, quality scientific tweezers, (scrounged back out of one of my toolboxes). Can hardly wait for bud break to be able to test their mini rip and tear capabilty. And as for larger rip and tear tools like knob cutters, I've got a few alternates, including power ones, but the real knob cutters, yep that's still next on the list, (haven't lost my sphericals yet). Lets see, is this bonsai tool box gonna be eight or nine? Dang, am I really hedging into that golden mean of too many tool boxes/kits?
