Customer Reviews

Bonsai Tool 10-piece Set

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Bonsai Tool 10-piece Set

I have been practicing the art of bonsai for over 25 years and encouraged many to take up bonsai. This is an excellent starter tool set that will be useful for any beginner. It has everything they need to begin the great adventure.

Oriental touch LCC was quick and caring. I didn't open until a couple weeks after receiving the box. Noticed I only gotten 9 of 10 pieces. Contacted Oriental touch and was amazed at the quick response. No hassle or problems was sent the missing piece in a few days. The 10 piece set is great and affordable for beginners.

I knew when I ordered these that they were cheap knock offs of the really fancy, really expensive, Japanese tools. I figured for 60 bucks it was worth a shot, and I am glad I took the chance.

Pros:
1. Affordable for entry level into the hobby. Plant material can be costly, tools can be costly, etc. This affordable kit has enough in it to keep a beginner working for a long time. For less than the price of one tool from the high end. For bonsai you need 3 things: Concave cutters, Wire cutters, and scissors of some sort, a root rake/pick is nice but a chopstick or skewer will work for this in a pinch. And the concave cutters are semi negotiable depending on your tree. All 3 are here.
2. Relatively decent quality on the tools that are important (see above)
3. Ordered with super saver shipping and got it a day or two before earliest estimate.

Cons
1. The biggest set of scissors is very stiff. I tried lubrication and that didn't help, it's just a stiff joint.
2. 3 pairs of scissors seems a little extreme. I styled a new tree the day after I got these, and literally 2 of the 3 sets of scissors are unused.
3. This one is the biggest one, the wire cutter is almost worthless for bonsai. It is a scissor type wire cutter and for bonsai you really need a cutter that the blades butt into each other (think bolt cutters). The scissor style cutters have a tendency to bend wire as it cuts. When taking wire off of a tree that can lead to real bad scarring to your branches that will take well over a year to grow out.

Overall I'm giving these a 4/5. The tools I needed are in good working order but some of the other stuff is junky. The tools I didn't "need" are a nice addition. If I had purchaed (for example) a high end concave cutter it would in no way improve my tree or bonsai skills but I would have paid more for that 1 tool than for this whole set. If I had to go back and make the choice, I would definitely order again

I started this hobby last year and didn't want to spend $200+ on a nice set of tools until I had more experience (and some success!). These tools are inexpensive and work great. I am careful to clean them and give them a touch of oil after every use, and so far no rust problems. I may not upgrade for a long time.

For the money, you can't go wrong. I would highly recommend washing, sharpening and oiling after each use. I have had these for more than 2 months now and I use them heavily on a daily basis. With care, these are tools that I hope to pass on to generations to come. I would recommend getting the 10 piece tool bag as well.

The quality was notably less than I would have expected from a set of Japanese tools. Since I didn't pay much for them, I wasn't too upset about this. I tried using the concave cutters to remove a small branch (approximately 1/16th of an inch). Rather than cutting the branch, it just smashed the wood. The bark is torn and I had to attempt to repair the damage to the branch with tweezers and a knife. When I took a closer look at the cutters, I noticed that the blades didn't mesh properly. These tools aren't worth the savings. They'll just damage your trees. I'm definitely sending these back and paying the difference for a smaller set of Joshua Roth tools.

I only Bonsai occassionally, maintaining or creating 1 or 2 a year. This set is perfect for me.

All of the tools come individually wrapped in either a plastic bag or casing. They are unlabelled, but appear to be lubricated and well sharpened. They arrived quickly (within a week for me) and without any damage or other issues. I would order from this source again in the future.

I'd say is a good tool set for beginners before wasting a lot of money on professional tools. If you take care of them and oil properly on each use you will have a descent tools set for a long time. They are a good purchase for the low price.

Great, even more than I presently need but has given me the courage to try more than I was comfortable to try before. Very complete set for the price.