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Need a grafting knife
- Thread starter Charman03
- Start date
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
Back up in the thread somewhere we talked about sharpening. When I put the new knife in my grafting bag, I checked what I use:
- A coarse diamond (only if I accidently get a nick in the knife)
- An Extra Fine diamond ( my normal first stage)
- An ultra fine ceramic (Spyderco)
- A strop Block
You can buy a lot more grades, but I found these to me sufficient for sharpening and reasonably priced.
Thanks,
jack
- A coarse diamond (only if I accidently get a nick in the knife)
- An Extra Fine diamond ( my normal first stage)
- An ultra fine ceramic (Spyderco)
- A strop Block
You can buy a lot more grades, but I found these to me sufficient for sharpening and reasonably priced.
Thanks,
jack
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
The reason a right handed (or left handed) grafting knife is made to cut toward you is that cutting away from yourself causes the scion or rootstock to bend away as you apply pressure. The best grafters I've seen cut toward themselves. They use their thumb to support the scion and rather than moving the knife, pull the scion away from themselves. The spacing between the knife blade and thumb is close, but stays the same through the cut. I'm not good at this and having the very sharp blade that close to my thumb is a bit unsettling (I'm on blood thinners). That is why I purchased the left handed knife that I'll use in my right hand to cut away from myself.
However, that brings me back to the original problem of the scion or root stock bending during the cut. To address this, I plan to build a jig. It is a simple design. I'm going to start with a piece of 1"x1"x ?" hardwood (I'll see how oak works and if not, I'll go harder). I plan to drill a hole lengthwise through the middle of it with a forstner bit. I'll then cut it in the middle at an angle, the angle I plan to cut grafts at. That should give me two blocks with a large hole in the middle, square on one end and cut at the same angle on the other. I'd then cut them in half lengthwise and end up with something like this:
I would lay the scion or rootstock in the trough, hold it in place with my thumb, and cut away from myself along the angle. The idea is that the jig would support the scion under the cut and keep it from bending. This also ensures both are cut at the same angle but I don't seem to have a problem doing that by hand.
My thought is to make that angle 20 degrees. Does that sound about right to you more experienced grafters? Anything that folks think I should change to make it better or do you see any issues?
Thanks,
Jack
However, that brings me back to the original problem of the scion or root stock bending during the cut. To address this, I plan to build a jig. It is a simple design. I'm going to start with a piece of 1"x1"x ?" hardwood (I'll see how oak works and if not, I'll go harder). I plan to drill a hole lengthwise through the middle of it with a forstner bit. I'll then cut it in the middle at an angle, the angle I plan to cut grafts at. That should give me two blocks with a large hole in the middle, square on one end and cut at the same angle on the other. I'd then cut them in half lengthwise and end up with something like this:
I would lay the scion or rootstock in the trough, hold it in place with my thumb, and cut away from myself along the angle. The idea is that the jig would support the scion under the cut and keep it from bending. This also ensures both are cut at the same angle but I don't seem to have a problem doing that by hand.
My thought is to make that angle 20 degrees. Does that sound about right to you more experienced grafters? Anything that folks think I should change to make it better or do you see any issues?
Thanks,
Jack
SmallChunk
5 year old buck +
You are over thinking it....
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
How so...
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
Here is my first crack at a grafting jig:
I started with a 20 degree angle. I'm gong to try this out before I cut more to see if I want to change the angle.
How it should work:
- Place the scion in the trough with the end you want to cut to the right. The end of the trough marks the point of the whip cut. Waste wood sticks out the end (Right)
- Hold the scion or rootstock down in the trough.
- Use an off handed grafting knife (Left handed knife for Right handers or Right handed knife for lest handers.
- Place the flat side of the knife flat flush with the angled cut.
- One stroke, cut away from yourself with the grafting knife following the angle of the wood.
The jug should support the scion/rootstock so that it does not bend when you cut away from yourself.
Following the angle of the wood also ensures both sides are cut at the same angle.
I'll let you know how it works when I try it out.
Thanks,
Jack
I started with a 20 degree angle. I'm gong to try this out before I cut more to see if I want to change the angle.
How it should work:
- Place the scion in the trough with the end you want to cut to the right. The end of the trough marks the point of the whip cut. Waste wood sticks out the end (Right)
- Hold the scion or rootstock down in the trough.
- Use an off handed grafting knife (Left handed knife for Right handers or Right handed knife for lest handers.
- Place the flat side of the knife flat flush with the angled cut.
- One stroke, cut away from yourself with the grafting knife following the angle of the wood.
The jug should support the scion/rootstock so that it does not bend when you cut away from yourself.
Following the angle of the wood also ensures both sides are cut at the same angle.
I'll let you know how it works when I try it out.
Thanks,
Jack
Mortenson
5 year old buck +
Well the knife got me on my 3rd graft of the season. Then I cussed and kicked things for 10 minutes while it stopped bleeding. Not sure the severity, but it's the level where I held my hand overhead during my shower tonight. Other comments on the knife - I saw this morning that Skillcult also uses the same knife, so that's definitely good. The knife seems durable and held a pretty good edge thru 12 grafts (which truth be told was probably many more cuts than most guys would have made by that point). Last year I secretly laughed at guys saying they all get cut, but now I'm a member of the club.
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
Took me a couple years to believe it myself, but it is true!
cavey
5 year old buck +
An inevitable right of passage, welcome to the club!
Here is my first crack at a grafting jig:
I started with a 20 degree angle. I'm gong to try this out before I cut more to see if I want to change the angle.
How it should work:
- Place the scion in the trough with the end you want to cut to the right. The end of the trough marks the point of the whip cut. Waste wood sticks out the end (Right)
- Hold the scion or rootstock down in the trough.
- Use an off handed grafting knife (Left handed knife for Right handers or Right handed knife for lest handers.
- Place the flat side of the knife flat flush with the angled cut.
- One stroke, cut away from yourself with the grafting knife following the angle of the wood.
The jug should support the scion/rootstock so that it does not bend when you cut away from yourself.
Following the angle of the wood also ensures both sides are cut at the same angle.
I'll let you know how it works when I try it out.
Thanks,
Jack
Jack,
Do you find that a 20 degree angle is about right?
Has anyone used (or made) a grafting jig similar to this one - https://northwestcidersupply.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=49 ?
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
It worked OK, but I soon found I could do as well by eye and quicker. It worked OK for me when I was starting.
williams111
5 year old buck +
I made a grafting jig, its not like the one you pictured but more similar to the Scionon guillotine bench grafting jig. I have revamped the angled block since the pics, the blade cost $10.70 everything else I already had laying around. I have made a few test grafts with it and I think it will work well, but it will take some practice. I think the blade is to big so I have a smaller one on order, the new blade was $8.83 so either way im not out much. The Scionon Grafting jig on the other hand is $595.00 
