Bonsai wire? What to choose?

[TwilightTrees]

Hello,

I'm a beginner here. I want to order a bulk of bonsai wire.

I get a better discount ordering a lot, and safe the shipping instead of buying a bit all the time. Also is nice to be well equipped in my garden workshop

But im in doubt of the dimensions I need.

Which dimensions is the one you use most often?

Most of my trees is in Shohin size at the moment.

Another questions is there any difference in quality between the different aluminum wire? Or colors? What to choose?

Thanks for advice

 

[shimbrypaku]

Contact Jeremiah, he has a package of all the wire that he makes, called the special

Jeremiah McKinney

Adams-McKinney Bonsai Wire

ambonsaiwire@gmail.com

434-579-0150

 

[Shibui]

What you use depend entirely on the trees and branches you are wiring. Some species are stiffer than others and require thicker wires. Some branches are thicker and require thicker wire. Thinner twigs require thinner wire.
It depends entirely on how detailed the wiring is and what stage your trees are up to. I guess as a beginner your shohin trees will be pretty skinny so you will probably get away with relatively thin wires.
It is possible to bend a slightly thicker branch using two runs of thinner wire but real difficult and dangerous to try putting excessively thick wire on thin branches.
In your situation I'd leave out the larger sizes for now.
Different colored Al wires is based on preference. They all do the same thing. I'm not aware of any difference in quality between different Al wires but there can be differences in Copper.

 

[Shibui]

Double post - apologies

 

[River's Edge]

Hello,

I'm a beginner here. I want to order a bulk of bonsai wire.

I get a better discount ordering a lot, and safe the shipping instead of buying a bit all the time. Also is nice to be well equipped in my garden workshop

But im in doubt of the dimensions I need.

Which dimensions is the one you use most often?

Most of my trees is in Shohin size at the moment.

Another questions is there any difference in quality between the different aluminum wire? Or colors? What to choose?

Thanks for advice

The type and size of wire will be dependant on the species and developmental stage of the tree's in your collection. Aluminum wire is often the best for deciduous trees and copper is often more effective for conifers. If you fill in your location it will aid those suggesting a source ( possibly save shipping distance).
A couple of pictures showing your typical trees at this point would aid direct answers in wire sizing and type!

 

[LeftHandLuke]

Just in case someone else comes upon this post, actual helpful information can be found here:

 

[pandacular]

The size of wire you need is always the one you don’t have on hand.

 

[ShimpakuBonsai]

If you are a beginner I would start with aluminium wire in every size available from 1.0mm to 5.0mm.
You can buy these rolls of wire at Ibuki in Poland for a good price (500gram rolls).

Link: https://ibuki-shop.com/kategoria-produktu/wire/aluminium/

 

[Shogun610]

Copper wire for conifers i get copper at the studio but there are also larger outfits that selll as well , and aluminum for deciduous. I’ve used bonsai tonight for aluminum. I’ve also gotten plain aluminum wire from a arts store at varying gauges.. and much cheaper and just as effective

 

[LeftHandLuke]

Come on. That copper wire for conifers BS cost me a ton of money when I was starting out. What effing benefit is copper over black aluminum? Aesthetics? It's in my freaking backyard and I'm trying to bend a branch, not seduce Bjorn Bjorholm. Also, "every size available" is not an answer. And to the earlier responders, "it depends" is also not an answer.

 

[Orion_metalhead]

Copper is different than aluminum in the way it tightens in place once bent, so for more flexible conifer species, the extra grip and holding power in a thinner size is much more appropriate for smaller fine branches. Also, since it stays on the tree longer than aluminum, the extra cost doesnt hurt as much as something getting cut off or removed in four or five weeks like on deciduous. Both will work fine ultimately, but there ARE differences. As far as a "TON" of money,... I've spent probably $200 on wire over the past four years and that includes a set of copper for $130, and several longer rolls of aluminum for general use on things such as pot prep, tree tie downs, guy wires, etc.

I agree with the majority of the above sentiment. It matters what size, species, and developmental stage you are in. For shohin size... probably smaller sized wire is fine and you likely won't be needing larger gauges.

 

[vp999]

Contact Jeremiah, he has a package of all the wire that he makes, called the special

Jeremiah McKinney

Adams-McKinney Bonsai Wire

ambonsaiwire@gmail.com

434-579-0150

Im not sure if he will ship to Denmark, probably much cheaper for him to buy them in Europe.

 

[SeanS]

Come on. That copper wire for conifers BS cost me a ton of money when I was starting out. What effing benefit is copper over black aluminum? Aesthetics? It's in my freaking backyard and I'm trying to bend a branch, not seduce Bjorn Bjorholm. Also, "every size available" is not an answer. And to the earlier responders, "it depends" is also not an answer.

It has more holding power at lower thicknesses than aluminium. It has nothing to do with the colour. Conifers often require more force to bend than non-conifers, hence the need for copper.

 

[Gabler]

About a year and a half ago, Marty Schmalenberg told me he used copper wire all the time on everything, because it holds better than aluminum. Because it work-hardens, it's harder to use, but it's worth it to learn how to wire well to be able to take advantage of the work hardening.

I've yet to notice a difference in effectiveness, except that you can use a thinner gauge of copper than aluminum for the same branch, but I'm far from an expert on wiring.

 

[LeftHandLuke]

Copper is different than aluminum

it holds better than aluminum.

It has more holding power at lower thicknesses than aluminium. It has nothing to do with the colour.

Chiming back in on this to rebut my dumbass comment from a while back. I now understand the difference between the two and appreciate what these people said. An additional point to make is that there's some value in the thickness of aluminum (relative to its grip and holding power) that it can be more forgiving with wire-bite. For example, you don't need a very thick piece of copper to hold a particular branch due to its holding power, but you might choose the equivalent in aluminum which is much thicker and therefore less likely to bite.

 

[Gabler]

Chiming back in on this to rebut my dumbass comment from a while back. I now understand the difference between the two and appreciate what these people said. An additional point to make is that there's some value in the thickness of aluminum (relative to its grip and holding power) that it can be more forgiving with wire-bite. For example, you don't need a very thick piece of copper to hold a particular branch due to its holding power, but you might choose the equivalent in aluminum which is much thicker and therefore less likely to bite.

You can also wrap the aluminum wire in paper towels for even more protection from wire bite.

 

[snowman04]

Raffia works for me...