Circumstances dictated that I abandon plans to harvest the wire.

Maybe I should cut it into 3 foot lengths and use those triangular long Priority Mail
boxes to ship it, instead of bending it further?

What is the preferred length for a 3mm wire?

I watered the Ficus today, that I am eyeballing for a Bonsai treatment.
I bent the branches horizontal in a few places.. and although they are
thick.. they are still flexible enough.
They are large enough though, that I will surely need at least 2 wraps
of even this strong wire.

The plants have put out a dozen or so ariel roots each,
which have established themselves.
I am currently building an area with multiple 'misters',
on a 6X a day timer, to encourage more 'air root' development,
along with being an area for Orchids, Ferns and seedlings.



--
best regards,
Ra
http://surfpick.com
----------------------------------------------------
Try Lignum Vitae
----------------------------------------------------

Circumstances dictated that I abandon plans to harvest the wire.

Maybe I should cut it into 3 foot lengths and use those triangular long Priority Mail
boxes to ship it, instead of bending it further?

What is the preferred length for a 3mm wire?

I watered the Ficus today, that I am eyeballing for a Bonsai treatment.
I bent the branches horizontal in a few places.. and although they are
thick.. they are still flexible enough.
They are large enough though, that I will surely need at least 2 wraps
of even this strong wire.

The plants have put out a dozen or so ariel roots each,
which have established themselves.
I am currently building an area with multiple 'misters',
on a 6X a day timer, to encourage more 'air root' development,
along with being an area for Orchids, Ferns and seedlings.



--
best regards,
Ra
http://surfpick.com
----------------------------------------------------
Try Lignum Vitae
----------------------------------------------------

Ray: I've had a different experience, at least with the larger gauges.
Yeah, smaller gauges like 14, 16 or 18 hardly need annealing in the
first place, but larger gauges (4, 6, 8, 10, 12) are not sufficiently
annealed for safely wiring bonsai, even though the box claims they are
annealed.
Alan Walker
http://bonsai-bci.com http://LCBSBonsai.org
-----Original Message-----
"Ra" wrote
Hi All,
I just obtained some 3mm solid copper wire and I am also wondering if it
will require further annealing.
From: rschmitt23
Probably not. I buy bare copper wire (10, 12, 14, 16, 18 ga) in the
electrical department at the hardware store in 100 foot lengths and its
soft
enough for bonsai wiring. Copper work hardens as you bend and twist it,
so
unwinding and rewinding can become a chore. Best advice is to plan ahead
so
you only have to wind once.
Later
Ray Schmitt, Aliso Viejo, CA

************************************************** ******************************
++++Sponsored, in part, by Marc Zimmerman++++
************************************************** ******************************
-- The IBC HOME PAGE & FAQ: http://www.internetbonsaiclub.org/ --
+++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++

"Alan Walker" wrote in message
news:000201c3ef7c$9cf5bf40$6101a8c0@Alan...
Ray: I've had a different experience, at least with the larger gauges.
Yeah, smaller gauges like 14, 16 or 18 hardly need annealing in the
first place, but larger gauges (4, 6, 8, 10, 12) are not sufficiently
annealed for safely wiring bonsai, even though the box claims they are
annealed.
Alan Walker
http://bonsai-bci.com http://LCBSBonsai.org
snip

Alan: I try to avoid wiring with gages larger than 10. I find that I lose
the "feel" needed to do a proper wiring job. If the branch is really stiff,
I've used several methods: double windings of 10 ga copper wire; branch
benders; and rigging. Occasionally I've used a combination of these methods
on a branch.

Later

--
Ray Schmitt, Aliso Viejo, CA
Cold Hardiness Zone 10b
AHS Heat Zone 4
Sunset Climate Zone 22

"Alan Walker" wrote in message
news:000201c3ef7c$9cf5bf40$6101a8c0@Alan...
Ray: I've had a different experience, at least with the larger gauges.
Yeah, smaller gauges like 14, 16 or 18 hardly need annealing in the
first place, but larger gauges (4, 6, 8, 10, 12) are not sufficiently
annealed for safely wiring bonsai, even though the box claims they are
annealed.
Alan Walker
http://bonsai-bci.com http://LCBSBonsai.org
snip

Alan: I try to avoid wiring with gages larger than 10. I find that I lose
the "feel" needed to do a proper wiring job. If the branch is really stiff,
I've used several methods: double windings of 10 ga copper wire; branch
benders; and rigging. Occasionally I've used a combination of these methods
on a branch.

Later

--
Ray Schmitt, Aliso Viejo, CA
Cold Hardiness Zone 10b
AHS Heat Zone 4
Sunset Climate Zone 22

"rschmitt23" wrote Alan: I try to avoid wiring with gages larger than 10. I find that I lose
the "feel" needed to do a proper wiring job. If the branch is really stiff,
I've used several methods: double windings of 10 ga copper wire; branch
benders; and rigging. Occasionally I've used a combination of these methods
on a branch.


I still haven't harvested this wire..
but I'm going to try it on some tough old 2 year Ficus that
will be really hard to bend at this point.

Today, I trimmed one of them.
I decided to go for Broom style although I'm leaving some criss-cross
branches in there. Once the thing bushes, the interior will be invisible anyway.

The trunk has about a dozen air roots that have successfully reached the
ground and are rapidly thickening.

This happened while the plants were on the pool deck, where things get dried
out more than usual. Once I get my 'misting areas' completed, I hope to
encourage a large batch of Ficus Bonsai with 50 roots each.

I'm in the Florida Keys.


--
best regards,
Ra
http://surfpick.com
----------------------------------------------------

"rschmitt23" wrote Alan: I try to avoid wiring with gages larger than 10. I find that I lose
the "feel" needed to do a proper wiring job. If the branch is really stiff,
I've used several methods: double windings of 10 ga copper wire; branch
benders; and rigging. Occasionally I've used a combination of these methods
on a branch.


I still haven't harvested this wire..
but I'm going to try it on some tough old 2 year Ficus that
will be really hard to bend at this point.

Today, I trimmed one of them.
I decided to go for Broom style although I'm leaving some criss-cross
branches in there. Once the thing bushes, the interior will be invisible anyway.

The trunk has about a dozen air roots that have successfully reached the
ground and are rapidly thickening.

This happened while the plants were on the pool deck, where things get dried
out more than usual. Once I get my 'misting areas' completed, I hope to
encourage a large batch of Ficus Bonsai with 50 roots each.

I'm in the Florida Keys.


--
best regards,
Ra
http://surfpick.com
----------------------------------------------------

"rschmitt23" wrote Alan: I try to avoid wiring with gages larger than 10. I find that I lose
the "feel" needed to do a proper wiring job. If the branch is really stiff,
I've used several methods: double windings of 10 ga copper wire; branch
benders; and rigging. Occasionally I've used a combination of these methods
on a branch.


I still haven't harvested this wire..
but I'm going to try it on some tough old 2 year Ficus that
will be really hard to bend at this point.

Today, I trimmed one of them.
I decided to go for Broom style although I'm leaving some criss-cross
branches in there. Once the thing bushes, the interior will be invisible anyway.

The trunk has about a dozen air roots that have successfully reached the
ground and are rapidly thickening.

This happened while the plants were on the pool deck, where things get dried
out more than usual. Once I get my 'misting areas' completed, I hope to
encourage a large batch of Ficus Bonsai with 50 roots each.

I'm in the Florida Keys.


--
best regards,
Ra
http://surfpick.com
----------------------------------------------------

"marty haber" wrote

what's a fair price?


Before they're annealed, $1 each. After annealing, $3.
Marty




Thanks for the feedback Marty.
I don't think it would be worth the labor alone, to sell it for $1 per.

I can envision the annealing price working though, or slightly higher,
if it turns out to be a relatively painless process.

I could probably go as low as $2 per 25 foot piece, for raw wire,
if 10 pieces are bought?



--
best regards,
Ra
http://surfpick.com
----------------------------------------------------
Try Lignum Vitae
----------------------------------------------------

"marty haber" wrote

what's a fair price?


Before they're annealed, $1 each. After annealing, $3.
Marty




Thanks for the feedback Marty.
I don't think it would be worth the labor alone, to sell it for $1 per.

I can envision the annealing price working though, or slightly higher,
if it turns out to be a relatively painless process.

I could probably go as low as $2 per 25 foot piece, for raw wire,
if 10 pieces are bought?



--
best regards,
Ra
http://surfpick.com
----------------------------------------------------
Try Lignum Vitae
----------------------------------------------------