Recently I broke down my hand pruning tools to clean and oil their parts. I use these three tools for about seventy five percent of the work I do: a pair of Felco #2’s, a Silky Gomtaro and a Silky Super Accel 21 folding saw. I prune all sizes of trees with these tools, although the cuts I make I usually not much bigger than two or three inches.

First, I take each tool apart by using a flathead screwdriver on my chainsaw multi-tool. Organic debris builds up on each of the flat blades of the saws, as well as on the anvil of my bypass pruners. By using some WD-40 on a paper towel, I wipe down the cutting surfaces and scrub out the build up with a small wire brush. I repeat this process until each surface is completely clean. Some patina always remains on the cutting blade of the Felco’s.

Then I use the same process of oiling and wire brushing the smaller pieces of hardware used to assemble each system: bolts, washers, nuts, springs, and hinges. I scrub and wipe and repeat until the gunk is gone. Each tiny piece has many years of wear on it, especially the outer facing surfaces constantly being gripped by working hands and slid into leather sheaths. Again, the satisfactory patina. The blades get replaced every so often, as I choose not to go to the extremes of sharpening the tri-edged handsaw blades, but the main bodies-the nuts and bolts and handles-have been with me for many years. It is safe to say that between these three tools I have made thousands of cuts.

During the process of breaking each tool down, I break down and revisit the memories attached to each one as well. The Silky Super Accel was a gift from a tree climbing competition. I borrowed a Silky Gomtaro once from a close friend to use at a recreational tree climbing event, and I liked it so much that I went and bought my own to use as my primary pruning saw. The Felco #2’s I invested in shortly after I started contract climbing many years ago after learning from my mentors that they were the standard hand pruners because of their quality and performance. I found this notion to be true. Some of the red coating on the handles is beginning to wear away, and it gives me a sense of pride. I feel like all good tools well worn give us a sense of pride.

I also like to recondition my leather sheaths. I use an A.M. Leonard combination sheath for my Super Accel and Felco’s. And I use a Weaver leather combination scabbard for my hand saw and Felco’s if I feel that is a more suitable combination for the pruning at hand. Because of the Gomtaro’s longer blade compared to the Super Accel, I use it for slightly larger cuts. But back to my main point: I recondition each leather sheath with Obenauf’s Heavy Duty Leather Preservative. The main ingredient, according to the container, is propolis, which honeybees utilize to weather-proof and sanitize their hives. I also use this product on my work boots as well. It leaves the leather looking rich and moisturized, preserving the patina.

It’s not a very dramatic process, caring for my hand pruning tools. It’s actually quite simple, and usually takes about a half hour to work slowly and deliberately cleaning the surfaces and the working parts. The sheaths soak up the leather preservative relatively quickly next to the wood burning stove. I may go through this process in it’s entirety five or six times a season, because I prune often, because it is my main form of business. Sometimes I go through only parts of the process here and there (wire brushing sap build up mostly), after an extensive sappy or muddy job. This reconditioning of my hand pruning tools is one of those simple, quiet routines that produces massive amounts of relevance. And reverence. And before long I am cutting again, adding to the thousand cut catalog that the tools have amassed. The sap builds up on the blades again, as do the memories.