Occasionally the vinyl will girdle the graft as it expands by the second season or so. I cut the tape with a razor because unwrapping it often removes the bark of the tender new wood. Rubber electric tape stretches so this is avoided but I’m a bit of a cheapskate- also vinyl lets you wrap tighter, although I’m not sure this is an advantage.
It the scion and wood don’t have matching diameter you match it on one side so the cambiums meet halfway, so to speak. It usually works fine but takes longer to make a clean connection.
I was using a Craftsman utility clipper, or something like that. Someone in here recommended it. The blade is a replaceable razor blade. It’s similar to the clipper that you posted in the “2016” thread, but I think your tool will be better and easier to use because it’s smaller, thinner, and lighter.
Totally agree. My daughter has worked in a bakery lab to help put her through college. She easily talks over my head when it comes to molecular structure/chemical bonds.
Yes a shameless post from a proud father. I’ve read your posts Mark and know you are a serious baker. Thought you might be a tiny bit interested. Yet I understand this is a bit like showing pics of ones children/grandchildren. Forgive me my indulgence. My daughter loves baking so I feel a tiny bit connection to those who have the same passion.
After years of grafting with a box cutter, today I finally bought a real grafting knife: a Victorinox florist/grafting knife. I admit that with the box cutter I struggled to get a flat cut, and perhaps that is why my success was limited to small cleft grafts (I have a very high success rate with pawpaws). Right out of the box I practiced a variety of grafts: cleft, 3-flap, side veneer, and W&T. I was quite impressed how easily I could make a flat cut. Oops…I did nick my off-hand slightly with this very sharp blade. I will have to adjust to the single bevel and direction of cut. Of course I bought the standard right-handed model, meaning the bevel is on top as you draw the knife toward you (I generally avoided this direction with a box cutter). With your left hand holding the wood above the knife this is safe and seems to work. But there are cuts (tongue) that require cutting toward your off hand. I’m thinking of using my kevlar meat-cutting glove! As someone mentioned on another thread, a cut away from you will require holding the knife in your left hand. Seems odd.
Later this week I’m going to make real grafts and I will report my success. When it comes time to sharpen this blade, I’m wondering what angle is recommended. I’ve seen numbers all over the board: 15 degrees, 20, 30…? And I guess I will have to pony up for a real sharpening system for this real knife. I like the idea of the Ken Onion model.
I have a Victorinox grafting knife and in general I like it. However, I also prefer cutting away from myself, but with this knife in my right hand I need to cut toward myself, which is just inconvenient for me. I looked for a left-handed version of this knife but could not find any.
I bought kevlar gloves, but did not have much use for them while grafting. I try to never cut toward my off hand.
I’m not the craftsman type, at least not for crafts sake. I believe a splice graft is as effective as any and can be done entirely with a pruning shear with no risk to fingers.
By using an Italian double bladed model I have great control of the angle of the cuts and do a lot more grafts in an hour than I could accomplish with more complicated grafts.
I tried using a box cutter this year and was dissatisfied when compared to my Victorinox grafting knife and even my Opinel #6. Yes a box cutter is sharp but it’s not as easy to handle and did not produce straight cuts for me. I did prefer using the box cutter for cutting the single slit in understock cleft graft but that was it. I had hoped to find one of those razor blade multi cutters to try this spring but couldn’t find one. Maybe next year.
I don’t know if you need a very sophisticated system to keep your knife sharp, although you find it handy if you let it get too dull. I use a silicon carbide type, very fine stone. It just takes a few strokes to touch the blade up. As for the angle, try to stick with the angle already established on the bevel side, and on the flat side lay the blade flat on the stone. I pretend I’m trying to slice the very top layer off of the stone and pull the knife into the edge, but I’m sure it can be done many different ways.
For a true razor edge you’ll probably need a strop or buffing wheel charged with rouge (some sharpeners use “green rouge”) but I don’t go that far.
Alan, those look like beautiful but pricey shears. Seems like they have been discontinued by many online retailers. A couple of years ago I bought the anvil utility cutter at Sears, which I had heard could create good grafting cuts. I tried some W&T grafts with it but had no success. So many variables, but the design of the cutter did not allow for as long a cut as I had hoped. How long a cut do you get with the double bladed model, and how important is that?
I built my own strop out of a large black leather women’s belt I found at goodwill for a dollar. It was about 3 inches wide with the perfect texture on the back. I cut an 18 inch piece of it and glued it to a piece of flat oak board. All you need to do is swipe the leather with a Rouge polishing compound bar and have at it. Makes the thin blades of an Opinel knife just like a straight razor.
I have two different sharpening systems and both work great. The first is the Lansky system this one I believe.
I like it, but for some knives it is too short. I DO like it for my pruners and my utility knife. This gives you a few (maybe 4, but I can’t remember offhand)
The second system I have is the spyderco one. I love this one, and it comes with different attachments for scissors, pruners, etc… but I mainly use it for my knives. It also comes with a guide that explains different edge types, and it allows you to reset your edge. The only downside is that it really only lets you sharpen (your knives) at one angle. I’ve never had a problem with it, and all of my knives are RAZOR sharp. You go over the blade 4 times (one on each side of the different stones) so you have some wiggle room with how sharp you want your knife. For my machete I just go over it twice.
marc5,
Was yours a three or four inch long blade model?I bought multi-cutters that came as a set,with the two lengths.The longer blade made more successful cuts. Brady
It doesn’t have to be that long, because I used to get good results with a Felco bypass shear, but you have to match up the cambium on at least one side. I usually have a wide range of scion wood to choose from so I can usually match diameters which forces the cambiums to match- otherwise you have to carefully line up one side.
AMLeonard carries one of the pruners I’m talking about- I got a new one from them this spring. How long of a diagonal cut you get depends on the diameter of the wood but with it you can get almost 2" from a pencil thick scion.
It takes a while to get a hang of any grafting method. I used to go nuts trying to always get a perfect match up and down the cut but I do so many grafts I find I’m better off just quickly doing it well enough- most will take.
