Everyone has their own way of grafting. I needed to pick up some more knives for cleft grafting. I went with these for $20
i prefer brightly colored razor knives like these
I went with these ARS pruners this year
I went with this type of Plastalina
I went with inexpensive farden tape like this
These type of hammers work fine for me
I prefer this type of saw
I purchase a box of parafilm similar to this
If you have any questions on what i’m doing or how i’m doing it review this old thread
i started with the cleft 8 years ago and am still using it with great success. its not as pretty but it works. ive collected several grafting knives that i rotate through. 5 yrs ago i purchased a lightly used soligen thats my fave. it really holds a edge for a long time but isnt easy to touch up like my cheaper ones. i take the stones to it every spring and you could shave with it.
For cleft grafting I use an old boning knife, tap it in with a mallet or even a piece of wood, and use a small screwdriver to pry open the cleft. Then pull the cleft tight on the inserted scions with grafting rubbers or Temflex 2155, and wrap over that with Parafilm. (I wrap my scions with Parafilm before grafting). @Richard likes to wrap first with Parafilm, irrc, and then with a 2155-type product, which makes it easy to remove. As for a saw I have a little pocket Silky which works well on the size of stuff I usually end up working. I also like to take my pocket knife or grafting knife and score the bark before cutting with the saw to try to ensure no torn strips of bark.
Never thought of this. Nice tip. 
I have used Opinel™ locking ring knives for grafts since beginning in 2010. High carbon numbers 7 & 8 are easy to hone for t-&-g grafts, for chip buds and smaller clefts. For a bigger cleft, I tap a #12 with an apple branch by way of soft hammer. And yes, like marknmt, I often insert a slot screwdriver to keep large clefts open while placing a scion.
Have you seen any of these videos? I love his modifications of chefs knives, and it’s pretty cool to watch them graft thousands of trees.
