What Are The Main Differences Between Beginner and Professional Bonsai Tools?

When you look at bonsai shops you will often see beginner tools and professional tools on sale and it can be a little confusing trying to understand the difference, apart from the fact that one costs a lot more than other.

The reality is that the tools are the same, but they are just a very different quality and this is what you are paying more for, but I will go through exactly what the difference is in more detail below.

The Tools Are Fundamentally The Same

While there are plenty of differences, which will get into below, the tools that a beginner uses compared to a professional are fundamentally the same …a pair of scissors is a pair of scissors.

If you look at a beginner “tool kit” it will usually contain all the same tools that you would see in a professional tool kit, everything kind of looks the same from a distance. It is not until you get closer that you will start to notice the subtle differences, which are really going to be the quality.

Professional Bonsai Tool Are Better Quality

When you look at professional bonsai tools you will see that they are of a much higher quality than beginner bonsai tools.

Just saying “higher quality” is pretty vague, so I will go through some ways that you can see that overall quality of the tools are higher.

You will quickly see that the reasons I give below can be given for any other example. Just think of a basic kitchen knife, then a professional one. They are separated by quality. This is just a common thing you will see in all areas of life.

Better Materials

Professional tools are going to be made from better quality materials. Usually they will be made from stainless steel or carbon steel.

Beginner tools will usually be made from other metals, or if they are steel, they will be a lower grade.

You can just feel the difference in your hand, the weight and just the feel of the professional tools will just seem to be a higher level and a better quality.

Better Sharpness

Professional tools are actually going to be sharp and actually do what they are designed for. I have seen many beginner tools that are just offensively blunt or the cutting blades are just poorly aligned.

This is going to make a huge difference in your overall experience with the tool and when you have something that is actually sharp and cuts through things with zero resistance, you will feel that higher quality.

Better Finishing

When you look at the finishing of the tools you will notice a difference. The professional tools will just be perfect. All the edges will be perfectly cut and smooth and they will just look and feel right.

When you look at a beginner tools you can tell the finishing is lacking. You might notice where things have been stamp pressed, or not sanded down as cleanly. The tools just seem a little rougher and not as well refined and as perfect.

This really comes down to the manufacturing and how the beginner tools are quickly made with lower quality materials with less quality control. 

Professional Tools  Can Be Hand Made

Not all professional bonsai tools are handmade, but some will be, and these will usually be of an extremely high quality.

Most tools are made with machines. The parts are pressed and maybe someone assembles parts of them, but most of it will automated. You will get pretty reliable and consistent results doing this and the end product can be fine …but it is mass produced.

When you have a handmade tool, someone has sat with it and worked it from whatever raw material they started with and skilfully crafted it into the final tool. The attention to detail and care that goes into a tool like this is going to be miles above anything that is going to come off a production line.    

Professional Bonsai Tools Are More Expensive

Probably the most obvious and noticeable difference between the two types of tools is of course going to be the price. The professional tools are always going to be more expensive.

However, if you have read everything I said above about the quality, then you can understand why the price is higher and how it can be justified. You will be paying for a better product that has used better materials and had more work put in to it, so it’s only natural that the price is higher.  

Professional Bonsai Tools Are Easier To Care For

Another way that the beginner tools and professional ones differ is their ability to be cared for.

This does link back to the quality, and basically the lack of quality in beginner tools makes them harder to care for. They are usually built in a way that is not really designed for longevity, they are designed to be used and thrown away after a while.

You will see a professional tool is usually designed to last and to be serviced and maintained. This is usually seen by the fact that you can take these tools apart and reassemble them, which you can’t do with the lower quality tools.

It will also be easier to maintain a sharp edge on the professional tools simply because they had this to start with. It is a lot easier to give these tools a quick sharpen and get them back to a high level. This doesn’t mean it’s impossible to do this with a beginner tool, but you will need to put a lot of effort in to just get it sharp in the first place …once you have done that, you can usually maintain that relatively easily, although the lower quality metal can affect the results.

(You can read more about – Bonsai Tool Maintenance and Care)

The Manufacturing Location Can Be Different

There can often be a difference in the manufacturing location of the tools. The cheap, low quality beginner tools are often mass produced in China, where as the professional tools are usually made in Japan.

This isn’t always the case, and this is not a dig at Chinese manufacturing, but in general you will see this trend with bonsai tools.

Professional Bonsai Tools Come In Different Sizes

A big difference in beginner tools and professional tools is the availability of sizes.

When you look at beginner tools, there is just one size for each tool. You might see a concave cutter for example…and there is just one option and they don’t say what size it is. It is just the concave cutter.

When you look at professional tools, they will usually have a few options. You will see that there is a concave cutter, but there may be 3 or 4 different sizes. You will have a “standard” concave cutter, just like the beginners … but also a small and large, maybe even an extra large.

The tools are the exact same, it is just that they are different sized and this can really make a difference in the work you can do and can really help with working on different size trees.    

Professionals Are More Likely To Use Power Tools

Power tools are not really a “professional tool” anyone can use them at any point, it is just that a professional is much more likely to do the type of work that needs power tools.

Power tools are generally used to carve out deadwood on a bonsai and most beginners generally stay away from this until they build up some confidence.

You will see plenty of amateurs who experiment with this after a few years and many will buy a dremel to help them carve their bonsai. Beginners generally stick with hand tools and that is alright. It is good to get the basics down before experimenting with carving the trunks of your bonsai.

(You can read more about – Are Bonsai Tools Safe For Beginners To Use Without Professional Training?)

Conclusion

Hopefully now you can understand the differences between beginner tools and professional ones.

Even if you are a beginner, I would still encourage you to buy a slightly better tool. You don’t need to get the top of the range, but I would avoid the lowest quality tools.

They may look the same, but they really are a world apart when it comes to using them, and you want to try and use the best tools you can, it will make you life a lot easier and your work a lot cleaner.  

(You can read more about – Frequently Asked Questions About – Bonsai Tools)