Early in my bonsai career, I learned that when you are on a tight budget, rock planting is much more economical than buying bonsai pots. My first sensei, the late Bob Kato, was a strong proponent of rock planting, and I picked up some pointers and enthusiasm from him. Using my mechanical and construction experience, I went beyond the usual methods of the time and found new and easier ways to accomplish the work.

Using a minimum of words, and 17 pictures, I'll try to illustrate the use of both hand and power tools to carve and hollow out lava rocks for use as bonsai planters.

THE TOOLS

In my power tool collection, the most versatile machine for working on rocks, both hard and soft is the Bosch rotohammer. It's intended use is for drilling and coring holes in concrete, so it is readily usable for drilling and carving rock.

Fig 1. Stone Carving Tools ©2005 bonsaiTALK (Click to Enlarge)

Pictured at left are the main tools I use for this work.
TOP:  rotohammer with a 2 1/2 inch core drill in the chuck. Also shown are 2 more drill bits (center), a hatchet (far left) and a pair of masonry hammers (bottom).