JonW
Shohin
I've had some challenges finding decent mid-grade tools. I have trouble justifying spending more, at least at this point in my life / bonsai hobby. However, I've had some difficulty finding good ones. I tried 3 recently:
American Bonsai: The concave/hybrid cutters were nice, but Standard/Wide shears had so much play between the blades, they wobbled back and forth and just bent rather than cut branches. I called the owner when I first got them - he seemed nice and argued this is how they should work, and that a space between the blades was normal, I just had to learn to hold them differently. I've never had that issue with normal or bonsai shears, but I agreed to try them a bit longer. Once I decided to return the shears, I asked them to to pay return shipping because this isn't a matter of preference, the shears just don't cut (they bulked at this, and I'm still not sure they will agree to pay). My return tracking shows the shears were returned 10-days ago, so I emailed late last night. When I didn't get a response, I submitted a paypal request for my money back this afternoon. In the paypal request, I acknowledged it might be an oversight on their part, but I just can't have this on my "to do" list. I have a baby, my wife has a broken leg, and I'm on call 24/7 at a hospital. I got a call from the owner shaming me for using paypal rather than calling him! He said I had never emailed him (there were a handful of emails about the return, which he eventually found) and that he never got the shears and I need to send tracking info. Shortly after I sent the tracking info, he offered a partial refund of $35 (taking $10 of shipping out of the return for a $45 shear, and not covering return shipping). I escalated the paypal dispute - not shopping from them again!
Kiku Gold: I tried these based upon a number of threads here. They cut really nicely, but the metal on the handles was really rough - there were some pointy "splinters" that are sharp enough for the shears to dangle from my skin/hand after I tried to put them down. It took Andy from Superfly a while to get back to me, and he offered a partial refund or replacement. Ultimately, he gave me a full refund because the entire stock had similar issues. The shears cut very nicely and smoothly - they are 5-inch refinement shears I got for plants like my Kingsville Boxwood.
Mu-Tian on Amazon: this was another one I tried based upon BonsaiNut threads, as a replacement for the American Bonsai shmears. They were identical to the American Bonsai Shears aside from the "chop" (branding), and they cut just fine (not "play" between the scissor blades). The blades don't cut as smoothly as higher end shears - its almost like they were manufactured fine, but a little tweaking by hand from an expert would make them much nicer tools. Out of the 3 I tried, this is what I think I'd buy again unless Kiku fixes their manufacturing issue (they cut nicer than the Tian).
American Bonsai: The concave/hybrid cutters were nice, but Standard/Wide shears had so much play between the blades, they wobbled back and forth and just bent rather than cut branches. I called the owner when I first got them - he seemed nice and argued this is how they should work, and that a space between the blades was normal, I just had to learn to hold them differently. I've never had that issue with normal or bonsai shears, but I agreed to try them a bit longer. Once I decided to return the shears, I asked them to to pay return shipping because this isn't a matter of preference, the shears just don't cut (they bulked at this, and I'm still not sure they will agree to pay). My return tracking shows the shears were returned 10-days ago, so I emailed late last night. When I didn't get a response, I submitted a paypal request for my money back this afternoon. In the paypal request, I acknowledged it might be an oversight on their part, but I just can't have this on my "to do" list. I have a baby, my wife has a broken leg, and I'm on call 24/7 at a hospital. I got a call from the owner shaming me for using paypal rather than calling him! He said I had never emailed him (there were a handful of emails about the return, which he eventually found) and that he never got the shears and I need to send tracking info. Shortly after I sent the tracking info, he offered a partial refund of $35 (taking $10 of shipping out of the return for a $45 shear, and not covering return shipping). I escalated the paypal dispute - not shopping from them again!
Kiku Gold: I tried these based upon a number of threads here. They cut really nicely, but the metal on the handles was really rough - there were some pointy "splinters" that are sharp enough for the shears to dangle from my skin/hand after I tried to put them down. It took Andy from Superfly a while to get back to me, and he offered a partial refund or replacement. Ultimately, he gave me a full refund because the entire stock had similar issues. The shears cut very nicely and smoothly - they are 5-inch refinement shears I got for plants like my Kingsville Boxwood.
Mu-Tian on Amazon: this was another one I tried based upon BonsaiNut threads, as a replacement for the American Bonsai shmears. They were identical to the American Bonsai Shears aside from the "chop" (branding), and they cut just fine (not "play" between the scissor blades). The blades don't cut as smoothly as higher end shears - its almost like they were manufactured fine, but a little tweaking by hand from an expert would make them much nicer tools. Out of the 3 I tried, this is what I think I'd buy again unless Kiku fixes their manufacturing issue (they cut nicer than the Tian).
