I think there’s a guy who sells tools and grafting equipment with a similar fixture. I think he uses a chisel to make the cuts. That seems a lot sharper and cleaner than a utility knife.
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If also seen examples of these kind of jigs before. Usually with a wide chisel.
If even tried it out myself. I did however find that unlike i expected, the length of cut varied a bit when using the jig. And thus scion and rootstock don’t always “fit” perfectly.
If also seen jigs to protect your hand while cutting the tongue. (basically a vertical plate with a hole for the shoot to go trough. And your hand is than on the other side of the plate. And thus if you where to slip with your blade it hit the plate, instead of your hand.
Especially with scions that don’t match perfectly in thickness. I still find hand cutting with a properly sharpened grafting knife easier and it gives better results for me.
It does take a bit of practice to get the hang of though. But imo is well worth that practise.
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I’ll be topworking a callery to European pears this spring. What’s the consensus on protecting topworked grafts?
Many of the videos I watch use some sort of wax, putty, or liquid sealer to protect the graft. But a few of the videos I watch do not use anything like that.
Apparently Neal Peterson just uses parafilm and freezer tape, and nothing else. Grafting - Peterson Paw Paws
The Texas A&M videos use tin foil and a plastic bag. Aggie Horticulture - Top Working Larger Trees
To be honest, the Texas method seems attractive to me, because it looks the simplest, and it looks like it would keep the rain/bugs out without worrying about some kind of liquid sealer seeping into the graft and blocking the cambium contact.
But I have no experience with this, so I wasn’t sure if there was some reason to use a wax, liquid, or putty for spring top-working pears, or if the Texas method would suffice.
I have not tried a chisel yet… but will… works nicely with a utility knife. I have a grafting knife ordered… will try that too when it arrives.
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That looks pretty much perfect to me… I once upon a time tried similar, with a chisel, a fairly sharp chisel… Difficult, didn’t like the results, went back to a knife alone… Drilling the slanted hole close to the edge of a block of wood, where a util knife blade can reach, I like the looks of that!
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Hi @dpps
As long as you cover the areas where air may enter to the carpentry, you’re good to go. You can cover with green florist tape, electrical tape & do it at the same time while tying your scion onto the tree branches.
I put parafilm on scions and leave plenty of room to cut and then cover all the exposed areas with tape or parafilm (whatever is in my hand at the time and not my pocket) or if I have tons of extra parafilm that has gotten old and doesn’t stretch worth a darn anymore.
So, my approach is to carry a knife, rubber budding strips, electrical tape, and parafilm. I carry pruners and a hand saw in my back pocket. I wear a simple nail belt that’s 99cents from Menards. My supplies are in a bucket (extra tape, extra this and that; bandages, etc) and a small hand cooler with ice to keep the scions from cooking while working outdoors field-grafting.
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Keep air and moisture out, and the scion firm against the tree you’re grafting to, and anything could be used.
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It’s basically a pocket hole jig backwards…
I suspect variability in the length of the cut would be due to relative diameter of the scion to the hole and how well it is constrained to the axis of the hole during cutting.
Also, if cut at the same angle, the length of the cut will be proportional to the diameter of the scion. So fatter scion will have longer cut.
If the last pictured scion were perfectly round and straight, and exactly matched the diameter of the hole, the cut would be the same length and shape as the one in the fixture (of course that isn’t possible).
If the scion is bent or non-round in cross section, that could affect the length of cut too.
@murky - you are right about all that of course…
But all that is still true if you are holding it in your hands and trying to make a nice, one swipe, flat cut.
You do have to consider the size and shape of the scion or rootstock… all that I have been practicing with so far has been from Hudson golden gem apple… and they tend to arch up where a bud is on the scion. So yes you do have to be careful how you place the scion in the hole there, takes a little practice to figure that out (like anything else).
One thing I can say that it really helps me with is getting a nice flat cut and if it is a little too short or long… I can adjust it a bit in the jig hole and make another cut or two (which remain nice flat cuts) to get the length right.
When I try to just pull thru them by hand, I often get a cut that is not all that flat… that thumb behind the scion wood to keep it from bending… I have not quite got that right yet. It often does bend a little and my cut is not flat… and sometimes I somehow twist it too… so it is not only not flat, but twist some too.
With the Jig thing… I can easily overcome those issues.
Hopefully in a few years I will not need this, but for a just starting off newbie to grafting, this might just help.
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I hope my post wasn’t seen as trying to poo poo the idea. I think its clever and can be very effective. It should allow almost anyone to make better cuts than I often make.
I prefer to graft by hand, but also still end up making concave cuts sometimes. with pliable material, it can be squeezed flat, so no light can be seen between the scion and host, but it would be better if it didn’t need to be bound that tightly.
Also, I do most of my grafts out in the orchard, not bench.
I have used a different grafting tool myself in the past, but there is something particularly satisfying about making those cuts by hand using just a knife.
That may not make a lot of sense from the standpoint of pursuing the most excellent cuts and no doubt, as @murky states, such cuts are definitely better looking than mine.
I’m speaking about field cuts in a orchard, not bench cuts. I have no experience with those.
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I have mixed results with most grafting, but stone fruits have always been a slam dunk. I still bud if I can since it’s so easy, but in spring I seem to always have some emergency grafting to save rodent damaged trees. Almond, apricot, plum, peach have all worked out.
Thanks Alan!
Should work as well for splices. One with several diameters would be great.
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@alan… the first one I made had several (3) diameters on the one block…
But only the one nearest the edge, could I reach and cut easily with my utility knife.
The other one you could use something like a wood chisel.
I got the idea from a couple of examples on You Tube…
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I like the jig method on cutting the scions. I made a table top, for the cart for my tractor. Its comes in very handy, when I am grafting. It is easy to carry all my supplies, and I can go tree to tree, without carrying all my stuff. It makes it easy to engrave the tags also.
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I like that, I sometimes carry a small table out with me, or an aluminum step bench. But that looks very convenient. May be worth digging out if I’m doing more than 5 grafts or so.
I have a couple of benches, kind of like below, that I keep out in the orchard:
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Thanks for putting this together, Ryan, and I really like your Paw Paw website.
In grafting as well as rooting cuttings one of the most important jobs is to protect the plant material from losing moisture while it’s regaining the ability to keep itself hydrated. There are different strategies to do this, and I’d like to suggest a couple materials I’ve found useful. Most people know of Wiltpruf as the anti dessicant you spray on evergreen plants to try to protect the foliage from ‘burning’ in the winter due to drying out. But it can also be used in warmer temperatures. When I did landscaping this was something we used on recently transplanted material as a little extra help in case the plants were not watered regularly. I seem to end up grafting sometimes with really unfavorable timing and conditions, and I also regularly have a lot of cuttings in the process of rooting, usually with some foliage intact. I eventually realized that Wiltpruf could be helpful for both those things. It sprays on so it’s pretty handy to use and I have not had it damage anything when used in this way. The coating is light enough to use on foliage and it will slowly wear off on it’s own.
Sometimes I will give a new graft a spraying also if I suspect the weather will be too dry. But I have another coating for situations where wax might be used. This is called Anchorseal, and it’s actually sold as a coating for the ends of logs to keep them from drying out too quickly and cracking. I bought 5 gallons of this many years ago and I’ve used it for all kinds of stuff where a water seal is needed. It’s made from paraffin oil and comes in two formulas, both non - toxic and water based so it’s easy to thin.
I believe both formulas are freeze safe. I have the original which is, and it’s still sold, now in gallons and quarts as well. A quart is probably close to a lifetime supply for the average grafter. It is white when applied, but dries clear. I use it to coat scion wood for protection and it will weather off in a growing season. I like that it’s clear so I can see if the scion starts to lose color. Usually the scion stays in very good shape, even if the graft doesn’t take so it’s a little hard to know if the graft failed. I generally use Parafilm or something stouter for the graft itself and try to keep any sealing away from places where it might run into a graft and stop it from bonding. Not a problem if the scion already has a dried coating. The main advantage over wax is that it can be used at any temperature, and it generally dries in a few minutes. Before it dries it can be washed off by rain, and sometimes it may temporarily go back to a white color in a rain. It’s good for topworking since it’s made for sealing end grain.
Neither of these will substitute for a skilled graft, but they can help if everything is not ideal.
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Found this spring apple bark grafting video last night… he does a good job of showing the up close details.
A little different than some others I have seen but he shows the results after all 4 take and grow nicely. Definitely worked well.
The up close knife work… separating the bark from the tree at the cambium layer… I found helpful.
Could not understand a word he said… but saw some good details.
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Yeah, it is helpful to see where the bark slips. The thicker the trunk, the deeper the cambium layer.
I think bark grafting is the easiest, especially so when the scion diameter is small and the host diameter is thick.
Usually the cuts are made longer, which also makes it easier to slip into the bark seam and makes a more secure connection.
Interesting that he paints the cut before doing the grafts. I do the grafts, put putty into any big voids, and then paint over the wound with Doc Farwell’s. I also make all my cuts with the knife bevel edge out. He does his bark stripping/shaving the other direction. Probably doesn’t matter much because it isn’t precision cuts.