Need a grafting knife
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greyphase
5 year old buck +
These are pretty popular and inexpensive. They have the single bevel edge for right handers.https://www.amazon.com/Victorinox-S...264&sr=8-5&keywords=victorinox+grafting+knife
If your left handed (like me) Tina is one of the few makers of left handed grafting knives but they are pretty pricey.
http://www.cspoutdoors.com/tina-t605-right-or-left-handed-all-purpose-grafting-knife/
Using a single beveled knife seemed to improve my grafting success.
If your left handed (like me) Tina is one of the few makers of left handed grafting knives but they are pretty pricey.
http://www.cspoutdoors.com/tina-t605-right-or-left-handed-all-purpose-grafting-knife/
Using a single beveled knife seemed to improve my grafting success.
silver_yummies
5 year old buck +
Not trying to thread cap here but what about a wax and film to complete the graft? Or are they all about the same and doesn’t really mayter what is used?
Telemark
5 year old buck +
I like Mora, so I tend to use their knives for everything. Their chisel knife is great for bar grafts, and their "flexible" knife is good for cutting scions. The scabbards interlock, so one hangs from the other.
https://www.knivesandtools.com/en/p...MI15zUnay23wIVQ6QYCh0PpwlbEAQYAiABEgJ4o_D_BwE
https://morakniv.se/en/product/flex/
The flex knife is not very flexible, but itnis thon and crazy sharp.
https://www.knivesandtools.com/en/p...MI15zUnay23wIVQ6QYCh0PpwlbEAQYAiABEgJ4o_D_BwE
https://morakniv.se/en/product/flex/
The flex knife is not very flexible, but itnis thon and crazy sharp.
Bowsnbucks
5 year old buck +
I haven't used a single bevel knife before - only a utility knife for grafting. Does the single bevel give you a straighter cut ?? The utility knife tends to give me a paper thin tail-end on the cut and I have to mess with it to get a good wedge on the cut.
Telemark- would that chisel knife be for a lefty? I love mora knives and always looking to get another one. I almost got their hawkbill the other day but didn’t.
Bows best I remember I thought I got a better fit with the single bevel. My opinel sometimes would have a wavy cut not so much with the Victorinox.
Bows best I remember I thought I got a better fit with the single bevel. My opinel sometimes would have a wavy cut not so much with the Victorinox.
SmallChunk
5 year old buck +
Help me if I’m wrong. If you make your cut towards you and are right handed, you want a right handed knife. If your right handed and cut away from you, you want a left handed knife. True?
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
Mine is very similar to the first link, but it has a "bump" on the back for budding. It is not much more expensive and works exactly the same for cleft and w&T grafts but also has that bump which helps when budding.
There are lots of ways folks use to protect grafts. I've found some things work better than others depending on the trees. For bark grafting persimmons in the field, I don't use my grafting knife. Instead, I use a cheap box cutter style knife instead where I can break off the blade when it gets dull. For this kind of grafting you don't need a single beveled edge. In all kinds of grafting, it is important to have a VERY sharp knife. So, rather than dulling my budding knife, I just use the box cutter style knife for this. For most grafting, cambium alignment is the most important factor, but for bark grafting I think pressure is more important. For persimmons I like to use electrical tape. You can stretch it quite a bit and it provides good pressure. When bark grafting larger persimmons (an inch or more in diameter) cutting down the tree creates a pretty large wound. You can use any kind of grafting compound to protect this wound but if you use one that is more liquid (I like doc farwells), you need to make sure it does not get into the graft. Tape near the graft to keep it from running in. I also use doc farwell's to seal scions.
While I'm on the topic of "sharp knife" make sure you buy a set of stones for sharpening. You should easily be able to shave hair off your arm when the knife is sharp. I have 3 levels of stone I use and then a strop block. It is much easier to maintain a sharp edge rather than letting the knife get too dull and resharpen it.
For W&T or similar grafts on apples, I like freezer tape. It degrades like masking tape in the field and does not need to be removed but it has a water resistant coating that keep water out of the graft. For this kind of grafting cambium alignment is more important than pressure. This saves time if you are doing lots of trees since you don't need to remove it.
As for parafilm, once again it depends on the graft. To protect scions from desiccating, I like parafilm-M. It is waxy and thins as you stretch it. Buds easily break through it. It degrades on its own and doesn't need to be removed. Other type of parafilm I've tried don't have that thinning effect when stretched and it is harder for buds to break through. It does not degrade and eventually needs to be removed. I find parafilm-M degrades too fast for chip and T budding. I find I can put several layers of it above and below a chip or t-bud to hold it in place and protect it with a single layer over the bud.
If you want a little more pressure on things like W&T you can use grafting rubbers. I found it less expensive simply to buy large wide rubber bands and cut them to size.
The final thing you will need if you are new to grafting is lot's of bandaids!. The master grafter in a class I took said that you are not really a grafter until you cut yourself.
Thanks,
Jack
Northbound
5 year old buck +
I've bought a few grafting knives and the omega tool. They all sit and collect dust, it's hard to beat a standard utility knife. I do like the fat max blades as their a bit thicker if your using the knife to pry
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
The only thing I don't like about a utility knife is that it is beveled on both sides. For some grafts, I get much better cambium fit with a single beveled grafting knife. With easy to graft trees that have a thick cambium layer, a utility knife is probably good enough. I have found with W&T on harder thinner cambium trees like persimmon and jujube seedlings a grafting knife works better.
Thanks,
Jack
Bowsnbucks
5 year old buck +
Are Opinels all single bevel ?? Seems a few of you guys like them here. I have an older knife with a squarish end on the blade - it was used for high-voltage terminations - that I could sharpen to make it a single bevel. It's a stout, stiff-handled knife. Thoughts ??
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
You could probably make most anything work as a grafting knife. I think some kinds of steel can be sharpened to a very fine edge but don't hold it long. Others won't hold as sharp of an edge but will hold the edge for a long time. This is a general statement, but the more expensive knives are generally made from a steel that can hold a fine edge for a long time. Beyond that, price is driven by craftsmanship and marketing. I prefer a single beveled edge for some kinds of grafts and I think most grafting knives are like this but probably not all. Knives that are stout and stiff-handled probably work well for cleft grafts in the field where one is trying to split a sizeable trunk and hold it a part to insert scions. On the other hand, for more delicate bench grafting this probably doesn't matter.
I'm not sure there is one type of knife that is best for all forms of grafting, but in the hands of someone experienced, I'll bet almost any graft can be successful with any knife.
If you don't have an other use for it, I wouldn't discourage you from trying to make it into a grafting knife.
Thanks
Jack
My opinels are double beveled. I say give your other knife a try especially if you don’t have any other use for it.
greyphase
5 year old buck +
Hey Mark
Opinels are sharpened on both bevels. I used one for 3 years with good success but feel my success when up when I switched to a single bevel knife. There's no right answer, many guys swear by box cutters. If you can get a good sharp edge on that knife it should work fine. Matching the Cambium of the rootstock to the cambium of the scion is the secret to a successful graft. I also switched from cutting away from my body to cutting toward my body. It seems to give me much better control of the cut.
