Hi. My name is Eric. I've been lurking here for a little while. I'm in
zone 4...South Dakota. I've already looked and there isn't a bonsai club
close by.

My bonsai collection to date consists of maple seeds that I'm stratifying in
my refrigerator...won't be ready to germinate until late January. In other
words, I'm treeless. I'm planning on stopping by my local tree nursery in
late winter to see what stock they have that looks promising for bonsai.

In the meantime, I'm reading a few bonsai books and lurking here, hoping to
learn something.

Here's a web page that I was looking at that contains tool recommendations:

http://www.bonsaiweb.com/guide/

What's the difference between concave and spherical knob cutters? Would
there be times that I would *not* want one with a spherical head?

I did a google search and found some recommendations for Joshua Roth tools.
Are these good value for the money? I don't mind spending a little more now
to have a quality tool that will last. But I don't want to spend extra if I
don't have to. I'd rather buy more trees than waste money on fancy tools.


Thanks for any advice!


Eric