I've had both curved and straight handled wire cutters but didn't see much difference in the way they worked. I would imagine that the curved handled ones would be more comfortable if you were removing a lot of wire.

I never really bothered with the 'jin' plyers rather used good lineman ones for wiring trees into pots, normal but decent plyers and slip-joint ones for jins and other 'ripping' operations. Much of it depends on what you need/want and can spend for.

I think most of us would agree that the order of importance for tools would be 1. 2 good pair of concave cutters--8" and a larger set 2. good quality wire cutters 3. knob cutters.
The rest of the stuff sort of gets accumulated over the years.

Bob

I definitely agree on the concave cutters. Those are probably the one tool I couldn't have found a non-bonsai replacement for. And thanks for the idea of lineman's pliers. I believe I will buy those locally. I do like the appearance of bonsai specific tools but I do not have much disposable income so alternatives are always appreciated. I do have a cheap tool wrap but it is full of second hand/modified tools. I suppose I could work with typical wire cutters and just be more cautious. I just haven't ever seen the jaws on bonsai wire cutters to see what is different.

The wire cutters for Bonsai are very different. They allow more leverage with a smaller cutting area and closely rounded end to allow you to cut the wire without nicking the branch in the process. If someone wires they are an absolute necessity.

Bob

I was finally able to find closer pictures of a few wire cutters. I think for the small amount of work I have done so far I can get by but these will definitely be my next bonsai purchase. I would like to believe I could modify an existing set but working tool steel is not probably in my means. I wanted to do this, it does require some investment. At least this way it will match my shears and concave cutters. Curved or straight will be more a function of which is the cheapest pair I can find.