Al Keppler Signature Stick

Many years ago a friend, Ray Thieme gave me a stick for repotting. I had just come back from my honeymoon of driving the California coast. We got Married in Reno and traveled west. We spent the night in Santa Cruz and the next morning looked over the town. I was still a baby of just 28 years old and my new wife, 12 years my senior showed me the town. She took me to San Lorenzo Lumber to see Begonia’s. I found bonsai. Found them, and was intrigued by them. I bought one and we spent the rest of our trip up the Ca. coast with the tree and my new bonzo book. Upon arriving home and and checking the yellow pages I found that indeed there was a bonzo nursery. 41 Bonsai Nursery owned by Ray Thieme. I met him and he showed me around the place. I bought a couple junipers from him, (I still have them) and he told me about a bonsai club, The Fresno Bonsai Society, he said I should join and learn about bonsai. I did, that was 36 years ago.

After about four months, and finding myself at the nursery every weekend, Ray gave me this stick. It is made of very heavy bamboo, and has repotted every tree since 1984, hundreds and hundreds. I have never forgotten where it came from, and it was given to me out of friendship. It’s just a stick, but to me it’s much more, it’s a reminder of friendship from a man now gone, but not forgotten.

Now many years later and I too have made sticks for many years. The first ones I was making were basically a jazzed up chop stick. Laminated and thicker than a chop stick and about 12 inches long. It was good used as a chop stick but that’s about it.

About 20 years ago I started making these. Much larger and only ten inches long. I have made a dozen or so at a time and take them to conventions and the Shohin seminar. They start out as about 3/4 sq wood scraps from stand building. The woods range from black walnut, english walnut, padauk, lace wood, cherry and mahogany. I start by thinning the stick one way. Ok I was drunk, the sander will fix that…..don’t worry.

Then I quarter turn it and sharpen it the other way, but much more shallow. This is done on the band saw and the blade wanders in the hard wood. I could switch to a thicker wider blade that don’t flex but I’m lazy, OK there I said it.

This is about what it looks like before sanding.

I have a large bench sander not in the picture but it will give you a really short manicure in about 4.6 seconds. Those in the front are the raw sticks and those stacked on the green lid are cut to be sanded. My garage is full of saw dust for the ones I made to take to Shohin. These are the ones I made for the meeting. The orange sawdust is from the African Padauk it’s bad but not as bad as Bocotte or Cocobolo. That became a trip to the hospital.

I’m allergic to the sawdust from the ones made of wood from Africa or Austrailia. I have no antibodies because the trees don’t grow here. My eyes puff up, water and I itch everywhere.

At the Shohin Seminar I ran into lots of friends I hadn’t seen for many years. I haven’t made these sticks for ten years. Just to many medical things going on in my life and no time for things I like to do. In this case Adair Martin from Georgia is choosing the one he wants from the stash.

These things are real Dracula Daggers and if your lucky, you might just win one at the meeting tomorrow! These things can tear up a root ball in no time, and they will pry a stubborn trees out of a pot, I have many times.