Dec 7, 2015 | General
There are two things in life I really love. Big V8 engines and Scots pines. Ying and Yang, perfect balance. This morning we took delivery of some awesome scotties and as I sit here now all I can see out of the window is my favourite things 🙂
The truck isn’t for sale but the pines are (mostly). As I get these sorted out I will be adding them to the web site. There are some very impressive BIG trees amongst this lot. I am looking forward to getting to grips with them.
G.
Dec 7, 2015 | General
It’s a rare day indeed that I get to work on trees. In fact I do less bonsai work now than when I had a proper job. However we recently had a quiet few days and that coincided with a light frost and all the larch dropped at once. Perfect timing to get some trees done.
When you move as many trees as we do and buy in so much stuff it’s inevitable a few waifs and strays find their way onto the benches. At the moment we have a lot of very average little larch knocking about amongst the better ones. A few early morning sessions and late evenings sorted out a few. It’s been a while since I did that much wiring!
G.
Dec 4, 2015 | General
Somewhere along the line I got saddled with the tag of being a wood carver in bonsai. For sure all my first trees were carved but that was only because I was too poor (and tight fisted) to buy good material. Once I got the hang of it everyone wanted to see how it was done and ever since 1999 I have been travelling all over doing carving demo’s …… Thinking about it I guess it’s kind of obvious.
Truth be known I hate wood as a working medium. I got the highest grade in woodworking in the history of my school but never followed it through. I ended up working with paper (I was in print for 21 years) but my first love was metal. I started gas flowing cylinder heads at nine years old. Sure it can be hard to work with but it just does what you want it too and does not care. Wood is finnicky and needs a skilled, considerate and caring hand. So, outside bonsai I never carve wood, I chop a lot up for my fire but I am not remotely interested in making beautiful things out of it. There are numerous incredibly skilled folk out there working with wood who’s work I love to see but couldn’t hope to emulate.
I would not even want to guess at how many trees I have carved over the years. I have always said deadwood does not make good bonsai. My favourite bonsai tree has no deadwood whatsoever. In fact my top three favourite bonsai have no deadwood at all. On the other hand I have a garden full of skip-rat stumps and so carving is on the menu here every week. Having done so much carving over the years I got a good view of the carving tools available and having sold those tools now for close to 12 years I get a lot of feedback.
A few years ago I designed the Terrier carving tool which has gone on to sell thousands to almost every country in the world. That was followed by The Little Terrier which has enjoyed similar success. However there was one massive gaping hole we needed to plug. For years now our customers have been crying out for a tool to run in a small Dremel style machine that actually did the job. Our Weasel did a good job but those are currently unavailable. The problem with the little power tools is that they can only run a thin shaft to mount a cutter and based on experience any tool with a cut rate worth a dam was going to bend very quickly in all but the most experienced hands. A couple of years ago I came up with a solution to the problem. A new carving tool that fitted over the output shaft of the small machines. It took me a while to figure it all out and put it in the hands of a competent manufacturer but today it’s here and ready to go.
After untold hours of testing and modification we believe this is THE most effective and INDESTRUCTIBLE carving tool out there and it eats wood as fast as a starving pit bull can eat a Big Mac.
A fast cut rate is of no value if the tool is unsafe. My better half has never used power tools in any form and yet with this in her hands she took to carving like a duck to water. If you have never used carving tools for bonsai before we have absolutely NO hesitation recommending you start right here. There are two versions available to fit Dremel machines and another to fit 99% of all to look alike versions out there.
For the first month only this tool is available at a small introductory discount but will have to go up to the full price early in the new year.
There are more new Terriers coming in the new year, stay tuned!
I think everything else you need to know is on the item listing. Let us know how you get on with it and please send us pictures of your projects. I’m off to do some stump work…….
G.
Nov 11, 2015 | General
It’s been  a busy few weeks around here. We did a couple of shows and some demo’s. I also finally got our new Terrier sorted out, it’s a ground breaking new tool that turns your small hobby tool or Dremel into a wood eating monster. Watch this space. Primarily however we have been working some of our trees. This time of year is always a bit quiet on the order front as everyone braces themselves for the silly Christmas season. Living on the coast the weather is very mild at this time of year and with leaves falling it’s time to get some styling work done.
It is becoming increasingly difficult and expensive to source good bonsai trees. Gone are the days of unlimited cheap Japanese imports as the government tries to wreck the business. As a result we are increasingly having to focus on producing our own bonsai. I have written here before I am forever amazed that so many folk do not buy raw unworked material considering the initial cheapness of such plants. Also the sense of satisfaction and reward of creating your own bonsai is immense not to mention the fact it’s entirely possible to double the value of a tree within a year. I do appreciate a lot of folk feel they lack the skills to complete such work but if you don’t try you are guaranteed to fail. In my experience most folk with a modicum of experience can do much more that they might initially think. The trick is to start on something cheap and go from there. Buying a £40 stump won’t financially ruin most of us and even if the results are appalling and you throw it away the lessons learned are worth much more that the price paid. Failure is not a reason to give up. I used to make some pretty ugly trees and killed more than a few but I just kept going, every tree worked is new experience in the bank and after a while it starts to add up.
We have a lot of raw material here. There are normally a couple of hundred trees listed on our web site but we never have less than 1500 to 2000 plants on the nursery. After a while I get fed up with looking at some of it and we make a concerted effort to get plants worked. It never ceases to amaze me, we have a beautiful piece of raw material sitting around for years and they never get a second look. We spend a few hours roughing out the trees shape, the price goes up and folk clamour to buy them. I suppose what’s even more odd is that I don’t make more time to get the work done, it’s my living after all. Having written this I think I should shut up and go do some work!
Anyhow, Rammon and I have been busy these last few weeks roughing out a few of our trees so here are a few images of some of the work.
G.
Oct 5, 2015 | General
Apparently the “Bonsai Group, Enfield” now have to be referred to as “North London Bonsai Group. What ever you call them they can put on a good show. I like this event it’s small enough to be a friendly accessible affair but still manages to maintain a good quality standard. Unfortunately I was way too busy talking nonsense and working to have a chance to take any pic’s of the exhibits to show you.
The demo’ tree I put up last week came out Ok for a three hour session. A short stint is always a challenge to get a significant result but overall this chopped off cupressus made a good step forward I think. Sincere thanks to everyone for their kind comments and encouragement. I expect we will be back again next year.
Heathrow show next…..
G.
Nose art is result of fighting my dog. He gets me every time 😉
Sep 29, 2015 | General
This coming Sunday (4th October) we will be at the Enfield Bonsai Group’s autumn show. I got my arm twisted a bit and will be presenting a demonstration over the day. I thought it would be interesting to let y’awl see the material we will be bringing. This Italian cypress has been cluttering up the place for a few years now and seeing as nobody had the stones to get into it I figured it might make for an interesting project. I have a rough idea how to take this forward, after all it’s a stump with some branches as is the way with bonsai material. I have about four hours to get this done so no pressure then 🙂
This event is a really good friendly little affair and you should make the effort to be there!
G.
