I gather there can be some problem getting the 7". Apparently they still have them at Hida Tool in Berkeley. We’ve bought a few kitchen knives from them.
also:
@alan,
So to follow up after this year Thornx are great backup pruners but I’ve went with ARS as my main pruners now. They stay sharper than Thornx over time. My last pair of Thornx took about two months to get because they have became so popular. They are great pruners for the price. My ars need cleaned up after making thousands of cuts this year but are razor sharp and very comfortable to use. They grew on me. The silky pocket saw is still new to me and the verdict is still out on it. Thanks to all who suggested ARS they are worth the extra money though it’s difficult to see that for awhile. It took me a year and a half of heavy use and thousands of cuts to understand how good they are.
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I agree on the ARS, I like them significantly better than my Felco. In fact, I was about to order a 2nd pair yesterday from Amazon until I noticed the price had gone up about 50% since the last time I’d looked.
I now have a price alert on it for if it drops back.
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Murky,
I better take care of the ARS I got because in that link I posted above the pruners nearly doubled in price !
That’s what I get for providing them with all the free publicity:wink:
Clark, your Silky saw is not the one I recommend. The 300mm gomtaro rough cut is much better than a shorter bladed model and that is where you find the advantage. However, I haven’t tried similar Felcos or ARS saws for a while. They may have overcome the manufacturing issues that caused the blade to bind when going through thicker wood. Actually that was with all the Taiwan blades. The Japanese blades are more expensive but certainly used to be worth the extra price for me. The binding is so frustrating that I haven’t even bothered trying to use the cheaper blades since. They have also gone up in price significantly in last few years.
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I had an alert set a few weeks ago using camel camel camel and was able to pick up 2 of the ARS 9 model at Amazon for $17.77 each. I was a happy camper, ARS pruners are awesome and I probably should bought more.
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That’s just crazy cheap.
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I’ve noticed when Amazon drops their prices like this you have to act quickly. The price drop may be only for an hour or less. I am tracking one of those mesh routers now and got an alert on my phone last week when it was not in my pocket. Less than 2 hours after the email the price had already gone back up and I missed out.
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Alan,
I must have misunderstood I thought you were recommending siky saws in general.
I’ve had my Thornx for a year and they are ok for average fruit tree branches but mine tear soft new growth and very thin wood so they are ok for the price but I would not bother buying them again. Bought some Corona snippers on jet.com for $9 that work great for the little stuff but don’t know how long they stay sharp.
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The second pair I got seems to not be as sharp. I’ve had problems with smaller growth not being a clean cut. The first ones don’t have that problem.
My Thornx are pretty fair, cut large and small and feel almost like my Felco’, but don’t hold an edge nearly as well. Like Clark says, backup pruners.
I don’t think there’s a thing wrong with Corona steel, but I don’t like the hollow plastic handle on the foldable saw I have. It cuts, though. I won’t live long enough to need anything but my Felcos, but I was buying I’d get the ARS nippers.
I have a small Silky pocket saw that I like a lot, but the teeth are pretty fine and it isn’t fast. OK for me but not for someone who did a lot of it. But it’s handy enough that I don’t leave it behind, and has a substantial handle and feel.
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When you are doing a lot of pruning you don’t want to be reaching in your pocket and unfolding. Switching from hand pruners to hand saw needs to be as seamless as possible. I don’t even keep a saw in my pocket- just a knife and hand pruners. If you push the wood with one hand away from the cut, you can cut some pretty thick wood with a small hand pruner.
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There are sellers on Ebay that say they ship from Japan with good prices. I ordered a pair at $38 or $39, should arrive in the next week or so.
I see one now at $35 http://www.ebay.com/itm/Houseware-Ars-pruning-shears-Buiesueito-VS-8Z-FREE-SHIPPING-SB-/272597337769?epid=1900179214&hash=item3f781146a9:g:tDkAAOSw2gxYz15X
I’m leery of ordering from Amazon or Ebay sellers now that I see there are Chinese knock-offs. I think its less likely for a knock-off to be shipped from Japan.
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