Hi all!! This will be extensive but if you want to make your life easier when using this tool it will be a good worthwhile read, so get your coffee. This little tool is awesome as long as you use it for what it was made for. I had been looking around for something that could help me cut, mulch, chop or shred palm tree leaves or fronds. Any one that has palm trees knows that the leaves/fronds occupy a ton of space and, if you live in a dry area, take forever to disintegrate and if you live in a wet or high humidity area they will rot and kill anything under them and also kill the view of a nice back yard while rotting away. Contrary to wood they are fibrous and not really hard except for the ones from huge coconut trees. First, gloves and eye protection. Palm tree leaves/fronds will not kick around like branches but being safe is always a good habit. I started looking at reviews here and found that the SunJoe brand (unknown to me) had a small branch chopper. I wasn’t looking for something I would later have to build a shed nor was I planning on taking down an ancient redwood forest and this met the size and need. Once I received it I tried my luck with a few fronds but first I read and read and read reviews from those that had tried it for that purpose. My Dad would say, “learn from the experience of others so you don’t mess up as much in life”. Here are the pointers: Best use dry fronds, not that it would not do a great job with green ones but it does chop them up in a more complete manner if dry. The tool sort of chews the thinner green ones, but that is more related to how I adjusted the blade (I'll explain that later). In my case it sort of “pinches” the thinner parts ending up with some long flimsy pieces, still very manageable and easy to work with. I also recommend, if chopping green palm leaves, to have around a few very dry ones to pass through at the end of the job to pick up any humidity left on the blades and shaft. No idea what the blade is made of but the shaft is clearly hardened or tool steel and it will rust if set aside still wet or humid. I definitely don’t recommend the wet, rotty or soggy fronds. They make a mess that will need clearing out. This is also an easy task with only one required tool (I think it’s included but don’t quote me on that, I used my own). Another tidbit of info, the tool s recommended for branches no thicker than 1.73” but palm tree fronds tend to be wide and sort of flat so, as long as the frond is not wider than the cutting blade nor thicker than 1.73” you’re good to go. Also enter the frond flat side against the blade. I cut the frond end that connects to the tree off at about two or three inches into the stem and feed those in separately, if too wide I’ll cut them in half so they fit in. It will even chop the little branchy things that have the seeds if you cut the curve in half so it’s a little bit straighter. See the pics I’ve included of end results. I even tried it on the wide palm tree leaves that look like the fans, seen in the pics, the pharos used to have in Egypt. Some one that is creative can find a use for these scraps since they come out like small accordions. My best result was cutting the leaves in half, stem and all, along the grain/fibers. You end up with 2 palm tree leaves. These are more dense/ thicker and the motor complains even if it is a lot of empty space.About the cutting blade. The instructions say to adjust the blade until a few shards or metal scraping start to come out. I adjusted mine so that the blade barely touches the anvil or flat surface against which the blade cuts. I think that metal against metal will greatly reduce the life of the blade since it would actually be cutting the other metal surface, but then that me and how I did it. If cutting green ones I feed a few dry ones every three or four greens. That keeps it clean and it doesn’t clog up. Always watch the output vs. the input, if nothing comes out, it's clogged. Turn it off and unplug. Reach in from the output side and try to pull out the clog. It will usually just fall out. Plastic edges on the inside are not sharp but will scratch up your arm if you don't do it carefully. If you feed too many greens it will clog up, badly. No fear, use an allen wrench or hex key unscrew the for plated screws on the front plate (the black metal cover). If done correctly, the screws will stay on the lid. Carefully pull the lid off, don’t drop it, it seems cast and can crack or break. Then carefully pull the blade off, use leather gloves. The shaft has a keyway and key, keep this in mind when replacing the shaft. Clear all the scrap from the lid, shaft and blade. Replace all, don’t over tighten the screws, and you’re good to good. Sooner or later you will need to do this since even the dry leaves will have very thin parts that can creap into crevices.Mine did come with a slight damage on the black, plastic top cover, but it wasn’t a showstopper. I suppose that happened in the mail. The thing is heavy to lug around in a box and probably got dropped more than once. It will not chop regular tree leaves since the blades are oriented and cut in a manner that’s best for branches, again, not what it was made for. I also found that the bag is good for smaller jobs but in my case, I can chop 20-30 leaves at a time, not good I found a large flowerpot and used that but a rectangular tote is now doing the job. Another pointer, it’s cutting dry stuff so it will make a lot of dust. It’s also a tad bit loud so working in open spaces outdoors is best recommended. I tested mine with a dosimeter and it was below 80dB at my ear height so, unless you plan on using it for more than 4 hours straight I don’t think you’ll need ear plugs. Use it for what it was made for and it will pay for itself. Cheers!!!