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Bonsai ray gun

April 1, 2011 by Jonas Dupuich

I don’t always know what I’m going to see when I walk out of Boon’s workshops. During a recent visit, I stumbled upon what looked like a bonsai ray gun.

Bonsai ray gun

Bonsai ray gun?

Turns out the green pistol is a water pik like device that’s great for removing loose bark on junipers. Alternatives to this device include hand tools designed for stripping flaky bark and nylon or metal brushes.

The gun - a water-blasting pistol

The pistol up close

Blasting away loose bark

Using the gun to prepare a collected Sierra juniper for exhibit

The gun is fairly powerful. Turn it up to max and carve right through living bark. When set just right, it can make removing old bark fun.

The mad doctor at work

It’s hard to wield the device with a straight face

I don’t know when I’ll have a tree that needs this treatment, but when I do, I’ll know what to reach for.

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Filed Under: Bonsai Care Tagged With: Tools

Previous Post: « Extended bonsai study with Boon
Next Post: Juniper pests »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Mike Pollock says

    April 1, 2011 at 10:09 am

    Hey, I need one of those! 🙂

    I’ve been stripping bark like a madman on a Rocky Mountain Juniper I just acquired. I like the manual method because the time I spend gets me well-acquainted with the details of a tree. But if I had a lot of trees to do…

    Any idea what it is called by its maker?

  2. xwires says

    April 1, 2011 at 10:55 am

    I don’t know what the tool is called – I’ll let you know if I find out.

  3. John Romano says

    April 1, 2011 at 12:24 pm

    I used one at Urushibata’s a lot when there. Great tool! That was a few years ago and I wanted one since. This past Nov back in Japan I was going to buy one until I saw the price tag – expensive! But, Tomohiro Masumi advised me to show him my business card and ask for professionals discount. Bang – almost 50% off! I love it to clean bark on shohin, blow off moss, mold, etc on jin/shari. Mine is blue – Boon’s is green. I think he has the higher powered one. Since I do small trees, my is fine.
    John Romano

  4. bruce says

    April 1, 2011 at 1:38 pm

    John, could you tell us the name and where to to buy it?

  5. John Romano says

    April 2, 2011 at 6:28 pm

    It is made in Japan and I’ve never seen it sold in the US. I bought it from a vendor at Taikan ten last November in Kyoto and I’ve also seen them advertised in the Kinbon magazine. If you have any contacts in japan, someone may be able to secure one for you and mail it to you from there. There is no English text on it nor on the pamphlet that comes with it.
    John

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