Winter time is a great time to inventory, clean and replace your Bonsai tools if necessary. Rocky Mountain Bonsai Society member Bob Randell is somebody who could be called a role model for caring for his Bonsai tools. Bob’s tools are organized well in his tool bag and they are ready to be used at any time because Bob takes great care of them after he is done using them. I lent Bob a folding saw to do some heavy root pruning and Bob returned it to me all clean and well oiled for its next appointment sawing root balls in two. After each use Bob wipes his tools clean of dirt and debris and oils each tool. Camellia oil is traditionally used to oil tools with. Masakuni-oil is another option for use on Bonsai tools. Tsubaki-oil is another name for Camellia oil and is commonly used for hair and skin treatment.
Before oiling your tools for the winter, you should remove all rust, sap and anything else on your tools. Rust can be removed using Navel Jelly and some 4 ought steel wool. Sap can be removed by using Purell and steel wool on your tools as well as your hands. Clogged wood working bits can cleaned by soaking the bits in Purell and then using a brass brush to clean out the wood bits. You can also soak the bits over night and the wood bits will be at the bottom of the soaking dish no need to brush. I like to have 2 wood bits available with one bit soaking to be replaced with a clogged bit and then you can just keep right on working and not have to wait. A blow torch is another way to clean your wood working bits.
WD-40 and 4 ought steel wool can be used together to clean pots with water stains on them. Spray the pot with WD-40 and wait around 10 minutes and then use the steel wool on the pot. You may have to repeat this process for heavily stained pots. WD-40 is good for softening hard water stains on plumbing to.
Don’t neglect you tool bag, lots of unintended stuff end up in your tool bag by the end of the summer. Empty out the bag and dump all the needles, branches, bits of wire etch etc.
Fall and winter is also a good time to order and replace the brushings in your Dremel tools. I just hate to be working on something and the Dremel dies because the 2 brushings wore out. Here is a video describing the process to change them. Be sure to keep some spares on hand.
There are many great articles and videos on taking care of your Bonsai tools. Here are some of the best: