Zenport/Generic Labled Grafting Tool

I wonder if you could do some sort of additional “insert” fabricated to reduce that gap on the tool itself that could be bolted on to accomplish the same goal. This is a cool idea @franc1969!

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It would fit below the anvil and attach to it. That’s an additional thought, too. hmmm, interesting.

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I thought of that, but went with the extra wood, simpler and makes me cut more deliberately. It is fresh every time, and the cut can go straight through. I thought of adding cork or foam to the anvil, but since the blade/shaft has wiggle because of the inexpensive construction, it would need babying.

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You bring the blade down slow and steady the “wiggle” while you’re at it you can learn to use the tool better is all I’ll say.

I steady the blade until it’s on the wood and I sort of press in to get a bite of the cut to be made and then (may or many not) hammer that mf. It depends on the grain strength of the wood to be cut.

Anybody has to figure out how the wood cuts from cultivar to cultivar or Genus/species being cut. They all require different amounts of pressure placed on the graft wood.

Dax

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I looked thru this thread - and didn’t see any ‘sharpening’ advice for the Zenport. Has anyone had any success with that? Any advice?

When it works well . . . it sure creates a nice fit!
My only problem with the thing is that the cuts are so ‘short’. I think I may have mentioned this before. There just doesn’t seem to be a lot of strength potential with so ‘short’ an area of contact.

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I have been using a diamond sharpener with a curved surface to sharpen my blades.

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Just went over all the answers to my comment - and boy are you right about G-41. I lost my (first) best apple tree that was on G-41. Snapped right off - at the graft - in a rain storm. :cry:
That was the last G-41 I tried!

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Look at the V as one long cut instead. You’re totally not seeing there’s a lot of connection if you unfold the V and see it as twice as long. There’s a ton of connection, Karen.

One more thing. You’re using itty bitty scions too. 3/16ths or 1/4" & that’s throwing you off. Think of that 1/4 inch now as 1/2 inch long.

When you graft, all the wood that most of us exchange on here is 1/4" or less. That’s the stuff that propagators throw away such as Stark Brothers, Karen. It’s wimpier size wood to be grafting with but its’ the norm for homeowners.

When or if you learn bark grafting (not dangerous!) or flap grafting, you’ll get all the connection you want doing so. You make very long cuts. 2.5" 3" cuts, Karen.

This tool does a GREAT job for this little pity wood everyone is messing with.

Thanks for understanding, everyone.

Dax

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I wonder if there has been a scientific study to determine the most successful grafting cut particularly on more difficult trees like peach.

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bark grafting and flap grafting or budding.

budding is #1
it’s easy, it works almost every time. that’s what all this little wood is all about. it’s better to chip bud it.

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Did you graft it or was it purchased? I’d be curious if it was via one of these tools or was it a whip-and-tongue or something else? Something that would likely make for a stronger union… Or at least I hope a stronger union!

I’ve got a bunch on G.41 but all are W&T. One as a skinny whip fell over and had the graft union, or very close to it, bent at a fairly hard 90. Stood it back up and seemed fine. Will keep :crossed_fingers:

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For many things there are several techniques, each of which can yield 100% successes if the material and conditions are right.

If material and/or conditions are not perfect, then it probably depends on what those imperfections are as to which grafting technique is most likely to be successful.

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I’d love to know the cultivar and graft details. I know some cultivars were prone to graft snapping, and I have a windy hillside. I don’t plan to graft Fuji or Honeycrisp, they were mentioned in trials I think. Questionable things I plan on putting in a more wind-sheltered location, or on espalier supports.

@PomGranny did you have it staked and tied extremely well to its stake? How much did it grow last season and you kept the growth tied to the stake all season, right? You should be tying growth once a week to a stake… w/o seeming overbearing on you or anyone… everyone should do these things. Never during the first year or more do you want growth or a new graft w/o much growth whipping around and pulling it apart.

Slightly off topic, but does anyone have both the Zenport and the original Top Grafter tool, and if so, does it use the exact same blades? If not, do you have an idea of where to buy the Top Grafter blades if they are superior?

I had to buy the Topgrafter blades from A.M. Leonard. I don’t remember finding them any other place. They’re expensive. I bought (2) pair and it was 180 I think (3-4 years ago.)

They’re completely different and Topgrafter’s blades are better steel.

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I bought one of these tools and used it for part of grafting season. That time is over now, but I’d like to figure out how to adjust it better as it didn’t really work for me as well as I had hoped.

I adjusted the blades so that the tips of the blades met together, and when the tool was pressed down they were pretty close to the bottom piece. So it looked like it should all be aligned well when used.

The problem was, when I pressed into the scion, the blades start together but as they start slicing, the tips move apart from each other so that it doesn’t cut in a clean “V” but rather there are 2 angles and kind of a straight line connecting the two which doesn’t get cut.

I can rock the scion to break that piece off but it’s not very clean and seems to not be how the tool was designed to work.

What am I doing wrong? How can I get it so the blades don’t move away from each other when cutting? Thanks!