Demo by Bruce Baker

Puget Sound Bonsai Association

Demonstration by Bruce Baker

Coastal Redwood, Sequoia sempervirens

Once I determined where the live growth in the tree would terminate, I rapidly removed all but the smallest diameter branches on the trunk. There is a very simple truth in bonsai that the smaller the branches the larger the trunk, and the larger the trunk the older the tree. Bonsai is a strange combination of horticulture, art, and illusion. The bonsai artist persuades the viewer that she is looking at an ancient tree through simplification and exaggeration..

Please wear absurd-looking protective glasses when using power tools.

Once I located the top of the tree I realized that the single remaining smaller trunk would have to go. It was much too small to explain the swollen base of the tree and it couldn't have arisen from the base in a less fortunate juxtaposition with the main trunk. Carving away some of the tissue at the base leaves the viewer to imagine the loss of a better trunk than ever actually grew there. Here I am using a rotary carving tool with a router bit.

Here is a better view of the same tool.

After some very rough carving with the rotary tool, I switched to a reciprocating chisel. This is a very safe and easy tool to use.

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