The blanks I see with s90v has cpm154 laminated on both sides, requiring you to bevel both sides to have the s90 end up on the cutting edge.
This would not be good for a single bevel grafting knife. And they are close to $100. Just for a raw blank
M4 has my interest , it has twice the wear resistance of the M2 I have been bragging about above.
Maybe I am over thinking all this ?
My knives are pretty good, do I really need a better ( best ) one?
But this is the ultimate grafting knife thread. We can dream !
It’s been said before but a razor knife is great for grafting. I’ve been in opposition of razor knives at times but over the years I realized for me they are perfect. The other excellent grafting knives have been mentioned already.
I’ve used razor knives many times as well. They definitely are not perfect in my opinion. They do not create perfectly straight pull-cuts. They are great for creating the cleft center cut on stock. And they have the advance of being easy to sharpen just by replacing the blade. But in my opinion a really sharp single bevel knife makes a nicer cut.
I like whatever is sharp and fits in my hand so that I can cut with it with authority; I’ve never used a single bevel and I don’t doubt that they’re better but I wouldn’t write a smooth cut more valuable than my ability to make a cut, and parafilm compensates for a whole bunch of weaknesses
What it comes down to ultimately is personal preference. Most grafts can tolerate the slight cupping that’s created by a quick pull cut from a standard knife. With standard pencil thin scionwood the wood is generally soft, thin, and flexible enough to contour to the cupped face just fine. And when a good quality strong tape is used it pulls the mating surfaces together with adequate contact. As Mark mentioned, a single smooth cut is certainly a better. If you are grafting really thick finger sized wood than in my opinion that is when the straightness of the cut becomes more important.
I would guess that only 10% of the grafts I’ve done over the last 5 years were performed with a single bevel knife. They produce nicer cuts. But the overall take rate being about the same as any other knives. My success rate has been very species dependant. I can’t think of many failed apple or pears grafts I’ve done. They are just very easy to graft and very forgiving. Peach and cots on the other hand have been very poor for me. Maybe that’s where my technique could improve.
A large part of the reason I’ve mentioned making my own knife is strictly for the hobby and creative aspect to it. I like to consider myself a Craftsman. Jack of many trades, master of none. I’ve given away many knives as gifts and have two that are my everyday garage beaters that I use for nearly everything. For me it’s the time I get to spend by myself trying to make something that I can look at as say, that’s cool, I made that. Truth is, I don’t graft all that much now. I have about 25 trees going on 5th leaf with a lot of variety. Very few of which I’ve been able to sample due to spring freezes the last three years. I’m more concerned now with pruning and spraying my trees to do everything I can to actually get some kind of crop. I’ll graft a handful of new varieties this spring but I won’t be going all out like I have in previous years.
A single edge knife definitely helps when removing thin slices of material from a “free” end/side, like how planes and chisels are used, but it seems to me that it wouldn’t really help much when cutting through the middle of something, like when cutting a scion in two.
It should be mentioned here that the thickness immediately behind the blade is a very big factor in how a blade will perform in cutting, especially in harder media like fruit wood–the thicker this portion of the blade, the more the blade will tend to wedge the material rather than cut smoothly. An informative way to experience this wedging is to cut a carrot with a thin knife like a paring knife and a thicker blade like most 12" European style chef knives. With the thicker blade, it is difficult to cleanly cut all the way through the carrot without it largely just wedging and splitting, “snapping,” apart.
The CPM supersteels mentioned above can be thinned to ~0.01" (~0.25 mm) or less behind the blade and not chip or distort when slicing very dense hardwood. Typical final edges on these blades will be 25 - 40 degrees, inclusive, either single or double bevel (e.g. 34/40). These are the numbers that the Bladeforum guys shoot for in testing edge holding, either straight from the manufacturer or reground themselves (or through knife sharpening specialists).
Straight edge I like a sheeps/lambsfoot. but not wharncliffe.
EDC in case I leave it in my pocket (non lock, two hand folder <7.62cm, nothing stabby)
Super steel -Takes/keeps edge corrosion resistant
Lanyard hole /shackle
Rot-resistant scales meta or wood (takes oil or varnish)
To revive an old thread, I think an ‘ultimate’ grafter would be made of one of the modern super steels. High edge retention AND toughness so it doesn’t break if you drop it. And stainless, too. I know carbon steel is popular, but corrosion resistance plays a role in keeping your blade sharp. Modern stainless doesn’t really make any significant compromises on hardness and toughness to get the corrosion resistance.
Of course, such a knife would be prohibitively expensive and wholly unnecessary. But it would be glorious.
I kept trying to order one of the Schatt & Cotton Sampler but they have been out of stock ever since I have been looking. They look like great grafting knives.
There are quite a few on eBay, but you’re looking at $235 for most of what I’ve seen. They’re out of production and highly collectible. There are very similar knives currently in production like this one in D2 steel which can be had at a more reasonable price:
I can’t vouch for that knife in particular, but wanted to point out you can find comparable knives for much less.
Here’s a good contender for a cotton sampler alternative. Wharncliffe blade with M390 steel (stainless, very good edge retention, decent toughness) would need to be reground to single bevel. It’s definitely a little on the pricey the, but that steel is worth the price.
The blade looks thick and the handle a little bulky to me. But looks a very quality knife. I like the blade shape, and that it begins very close to the handle.
I agree, wouldn’t be ideal as an all-around grafter. I’m following up on a sub-thread regarding knives similar to the cotton sampler (now collectible and too expensive for a user) for use in situations where a heavier knife is called for. I edited my post above for clarity.
I do need to lay hands on a Tina one of these days to see what all the fuss is about.
Cheap and basic and buy 'em 5 at a time. It’s a shoemakers square blade about 3 inches long and .5 wide that I found on a commercial site. One sharp and one backup go in the box, and I also carry a blued Victorinox multi-tool with me for when I need a particular shape and size. 2 small stones (course/fine) also go in the box. I seem to break or lose one every other year or so, making the $7 price more attractive. Cleft grafting is my go-to, and is pretty tough on a blade.