Fruitnut,
When I bark aka rind graft I use very small stuff. 3 inches is good sized diameter and it may be to big for cleft but I would be tempted to do that because they heal faster than rind grafts. If I did rinds which is likely what I would do I would get very tiny branches cut both sides to make them thinner and slice the bark longwise and slip those little slivers of wood down in the cambium layer but making sure not to loosen the bark very much. When those slivers go in you want them super tight which means don’t peel it back much with a knife like many people do but rather just a little. Here is a post where I did an apple last year
Top working an old apple tree. Here is a video Stephen Hayes did that will help https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LrE2CkQHudI.
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