Brady,
I think the blade on my knife is stainless steel. Even though the picture makes it look sort of gold, it’s actually shiny silver colored. I like it because the blade is not completely straight from the back of the blade to the edge. Of course the back of the blade is wider than the edge, but the blade doesn’t have a straight taper from back to the edge. Instead, it’s sort of dished, or concave, like old straight razors used to be. But I think the blade is a bit stiffer than an old straight razor.
Tina has a good reputation for grafting knives, but I really think any knife which fits your hand is the best.
Here is a video of any expert grafter and he uses an old pocket knife (around 1:03 min. in the video) which looks like he cut the end off of. He makes a nice cut with the knife in the scion (around 5:00 min. in the video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sk_sgkLzD5c
If you don’t already have a knife you like, you might look at Omaha Knife company. I’ve bought a couple items from them, and received good service.
Some people like only one edge beveled on the knife. I think Tina knives are like that. I used to own a grafting knife with only one edge beveled and didn’t like it. I lost it somewhere. One of the things I need to do with my current grafting knife is put some red electrical tape on the handle. Green handles are the worst for losing knives (or other tools) in the orchard.
As far as the Lansky sharpener, it’s interesting you brought that up. I just ordered a Lansky sharpening kit (before I read your message). There are a ton of different kits out there, some really high end. I didn’t want to spend a ton of money, so I looked at a couple cheaper kits (Lansky and DMT, diamond kits). There were more complaints about the DMT.
Lansky was a bit more money, but that’s what I ordered. Plus I added the Ultra fine stone to the kit, which was a little more money.
What really sold me on the Lansky was watching a couple videos of some guy (not a Lansky rep) showing how to get the most out of the sharpening system. It didn’t look too hard to use and when he was through, his knife shaved like a straight razor.
I can’t get a razor edge on a knife using free-hand stone sharpening, if the knife steel is hard. I’ve tried on several different stones, but I just can’t do it. So I thought I’d give one of these cheap knife sharpening kits a try.