TONMA Pruning Shears for Gardening [Made in Japan] 8 Inch Bypass Garden Scissors Secateurs, Premium Japanese Gardening Tools Hand Pruner Clippers with Ergonomic Handle

Japanese “made in Japan” hand pruners, made with Japanese SK5 steel. Although they say “stainless steel” in the description, SK5 steel is not remotely stainless. It contains only a few percent chromium at most; stainless steel needs 12-13% minimum to be considered stainless. That being said, the quality of these is outstanding. Smooth, precise action; feel great in the hand; excellent one handed locking mechanism. They come sharp and cut very cleanly. The steel is also much much harder than typical carbon steel used in most mass market hand pruners like Fiskars, Corona, etc. Rockwell hardness of 59 HRC is unheard of for hand tools; most are usually in the range of 50-54 or softer. As a result these stay sharp for a very long time but will take somewhat more time to eventually resharpen. I’m so impressed with these that I purchased a spare set.

I was holding out on ordering a new pruner, hoping the Felco brand would go on sale. After reading a few reviews for this one, I decided to give it a shot and I'm just sad I waited so long! This pruner is great quality, and the size is perfect for a smaller (women's) hand! I got these in December and had already done most of my tree pruning, but I went out and did some random clipping just to try them out. The cutting action is superb, very sharp blades and nice tight alignment. This appears to be top-quality in all aspects, and an extra spring was included, since that's probably the only thing that will wear out.I'm hoping to get years of use from this pruner, and the price was great. There is nothing worse than having a tool that isn't sharp and holding together, especially when you have "older" hands, so I'm really happy I got this! Don't waste your money on cheap gardening tools, especially when you can get great quality for almost the same price!

I ordered a pair of these snipers used them once and they were damaged. Contact customer service and they immediately responded and offered to send me a new pair. So there was something wrong with the manufacturing. Received the second pair and they are amazing. They are well made, easy to use, the locking mechanism works great! I would highly recommend buying from this company.Amazing customer service!

After a season of use, this pruner gets 5-stars. It is still sharp. Cuts clean. Good spring. Easy to clean. Has been a workhorse this spring and summer. It is a bit large for my hand but still a favorite tool in my yard.

It is such a well designed and made piece of pruner using high grade cutting steel on top of that. As you expect for new, the blade (about 1/8” thick) is sharp, makes an easy, smooth clean cut. As the blade and opposing steel are not stainless, user must maintain it accordingly to prevent rust. The handle has nice bump and operates smoothly with no play. It appears aluminum handles are bead blasted and look metallic and has a clear vinyl coating on entire aluminum handles which is superior to typical partial coating on most other pruners as this vinyl coating is usually the first to go. Nice touch !. Locking mechanism is easy one hand operation. If there is any short coming, it is that the opposing steel thickness should be more like 5/16” to prevent crushing the bark (more contact area) when cutting hardwood of large diameter branches. Nevertheless, it should serve most applications perfectly for many years. High quality piece. Highly recommended.

These are nice clippers. I haven't had a chance to use them too much, but they seem well worth the money. That said, the ARS VS-8 seems to be better built and probably worth the difference. The ARS have aluminum frames. The Tonma clippers probably aluminum too, but they have a speckled finish that covers the metal. The blades of the ARS clippers are held with a nut/bolt while the Tonma has a bolt into a threaded frame. I really like the "squeeze to release" lock on the ARS, the Tonma has a sliding lock that works fine, just not as cool as the ARS. The Tonma clippers have a telescoping spring (like Felco), the ARS have a coil spring. Don't know that one is better than the other, but Felco is pretty much the standard for commercial clippers. In terms of cutting, the Tonma clippers are sharp and make a clean cut. Don't know how long they last before they need sharpening. In summary, the Tonma's are nice clippers, but with Felco F2's on sale for $48.56 I think I probably should have bought them instead.

We have two properties with lots of plants and probably spend more time doing yardwork than anything else. What is it with plants, they seem to keep growing! These pruners work well and are high quality. We liked the first one so well we bought two more. Although there are many cheaper options (which we've bought) these work smoothly and are strong but don't tire the hand as much as the cheaper ones. Plus, we expect they'll last a lot longer, but we've only had for a year so can't say from experience.

As expected, these are super sharp. They make pruning easy and one-handed, even for arthritic hands.Yes, the locking device releases if you squeeze the shears' handles, even a little. That may not be all bad and not worth knocking off one star.