As Iris said, most clothes hangers are made from steel wire (or plastic in
my closet). For the most part it is hard drawn steel wire which means it is
either nice and straight or bent at a spot. Try bending close hanger wire
into a nice smooth curve with your hands - my experience is that I get a
series of straight bits with bends between them. When wiring a bonsai we
want to get smooth curves in the wire (even when making drastic curves in
the branch) so we have a much better control of the branch direction.
Generally we use annealed aluminum or annealed copper wire. However, as
Iris said fine florist wire (normally steel) can be used for thin twigs
because it is so fine relative to your fingers and the twig that the fact it
does not take a smooth curve does not matter.

Most people use annealed aluminum wire (generally anodized to a brown color)
for deciduous trees. Those with a fair bit of experience normally used
annealed copper wire for conifers. Those getting started often use the
annealed aluminum for all trees since it is more forgiving and it only
requires you to have one type of wire. There have been several articles
written on wire including some that I wrote that are posted at
www.evergreengardenworks.com and http://iebs.8m.com/info.html.

Steel wire can be used to shape bonsai and bonsai inspired landscape trees.
I have used 9 gauge (about twice the diameter of a clothes hanger) wire to
shape a pine in the garden - it was a bit awkward to apply, but it got the
job done and did not consume my more expensive copper wire. I also
understand that the Japanese use steel wire to shape informal upright pines
where they leave the wire on the tree permanently - the tree grows around
the wire and it makes the trunk rugged. They use steel vs. aluminum or
copper since it is cheaper and rusts away. However, you can still see the
wire mark many years later.

In summary, yes you can use clothes hangers to wire bonsai, but there are
far better materials out there.

Marty

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I know it's not copper, i think they're brass.

Anyone use clothes hangers?

Even the "brass" colored ones are usually steel wire (cheaper material).
Simple test - check with a magnet. If it sticks, you have iron/steel. IMO
brass wire of the gauge used for coat hangers would be too stiff for
anything but really heavy bends on thick stock. Steel isn't really suitable
for general use, harder to cut, stiff to bend (once again in relationship to
average bonsai stock) and even if it is just the cut ends, it rusts.

Not related to bonsai (directly, anyway) coat hangers make dandy fine
welding rods in a pinch :-)

Sam Crowell
Klamath Falls, Oregon
4200', USDA growing zone 5 (or so I have read)

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----- Original Message -----
From: "Dave"
Subject: [IBC] Can I use a clothes hanger for wiring?


Anyone use clothes hangers?


Dave,
PLEASE, immediately email Julian Adams at Adams bonsai and order some
annealed copper wire.
Forget the coat hangers!


Regards,
Dale Cochoy
Wild Things Bonsai Studio

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+++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++