Fixed blade grafting knife

[cavey]

Well I went and did it.. bought a fixed blade Tina for bench grafting. 90% of what I graft is whip and tongue done in my garage and the folder makes me nervous. I was going to take an old fixed blade knife and grind it down but I had some extra rewards cash in my prime account - that seemed easier. I bought another Antonini folding grafting knife too - their cheap ($8-$9)but I love mine... apart from the brass bark lifter on my old one that I hate while carrying in my pocket so the old one will be a back up.
We will see if the Tina is worth the hype and price.


maybe I will be this fast this year without any blood letting:

 

[Mortenson]

Ahhh, the talented green sweater guy. That's who I was trying to be when I about cut my thumb tip off last year. Congrats on your new knife.

 

[greyphase]

My success rate improved when I switched from an Opinel to a Tina but there is quite a price difference between the two. I believe the single edged blade made the difference and Tina is the only knife I could find that makes a knife for us Lefties. They are definitely a quality knife.

 

[TreeDaddy]

Ahhh, the talented green sweater guy. That's who I was trying to be when I about cut my thumb tip off last year. Congrats on your new knife.

.......maybe thats why he is wearing a thumb "protector".......

bill

 

[Spur]

How did the green sweater guy not cut his finger off? I am going to tape all of my digits like the green sweater guy next time?

My favorite blade is this one: https://www.amazon.com/Victorinox-S...eywords=Grafting+knife&qid=1579001291&sr=8-14

 

[Prof.Kent]

For a good grafting knife make sure it is tapered on only one side of the blade. Makes for a better straight cut than a double-tapered edge blade.

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

I've had good luck using a simple box cutter with a replaceable razor blade. If the rootstock is big with a reasonable root system then the grafts seem to do well. Spindly rootstock had a lower success rate.

The green sweater guy is doing it all wrong. He is clearly going too fast and he is not drinking enough beer while grafting.

 

[cavey]

For a good grafting knife make sure it is tapered on only one side of the blade. Makes for a better straight cut than a double-tapered edge blade.

PS there are right and left handed tappers - so make sure you purchase the right one - its opposite of what you think.

That and go with one with a high carbon steel blade over a stainless steel one - it can be honed to a wickedly sharp edge. Buy a set of leather strops (you can DIY with an old leather belt) and some jewelers rouge too. A good grafting knife is only 8-12 bucks and is light years ahead of v bladed edges. Everybody has a personal choice Im not dissing that but what I started with is not what Im using now and I have never regretted my grafting knife buy. Ive done the full gamut of cutting tools short of the funky hand held mechanical cutters. The better the cut, the better the graft, the higher the success rate - especially with smaller dia scion/RS. I push the grafting knife just because I know the difference it makes. And.... Im hoping the fixed cadillac of a knife is money well spent.

 

[AtomApple]

I've had good luck using a simple box cutter with a replaceable razor blade. If the rootstock is big with a reasonable root system then the grafts seem to do well. Spindly rootstock had a lower success rate.

The green sweater guy is doing it all wrong. He is clearly going too fast and he is not drinking enough beer while grafting.

do you burn or sterilize the razor? Some of them come with machining grease on them.

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

do you burn or sterilize the razor? Some of them come with machining grease on them.

I just wipe off the razor if there is any oil on the blade. It has worked well for me.

I also just use a simple cleft graft since it was easier for me to do than the graft type shown in the above video.

 

[Jordan Selsor]

PS there are right and left handed tappers - so make sure you purchase the right one - its opposite of what you think.

That and go with one with a high carbon steel blade over a stainless steel one - it can be honed to a wickedly sharp edge. Buy a set of leather strops (you can DIY with an old leather belt) and some jewelers rouge too. A good grafting knife is only 8-12 bucks and is light years ahead of v bladed edges. Everybody has a personal choice Im not dissing that but what I started with is not what Im using now and I have never regretted my grafting knife buy. Ive done the full gamut of cutting tools short of the funky hand held mechanical cutters. The better the cut, the better the graft, the higher the success rate - especially with smaller dia scion/RS. I push the grafting knife just because I know the difference it makes. And.... Im hoping the fixed cadillac of a knife is money well spent.

cavey can you post a link to one you recommend for a right handed fella? I have been using utility knife and getting better success rates each yr but always looking for an edge

 

[cavey]

cavey can you post a link to one you recommend for a right handed fella? I have been using utility knife and getting better success rates each yr but always looking for an edge

Jordan I sent a PM to you but couldnt post pics in the PM system so here are some pics. I like the Antonini's for the price Victorinox is a good brand as well. Tina was just to expensive for the pocket folder I couldnt justify it but I think it would be a great knife - I bought a Tina fixed for bench grafting I will post whether I think it was worth it.

I got mine off of Amazon. The original Antonini which is 4 years old and has done 300-400 grafts and is still like new and has held up well... not sure where I got that but I think I paid like 20 bucks for it. So this is like half the price. With tax and shipping I paid 11.70 a knife.

I came to hate the brass bark lifter - pain in the pocket... So it will be a spare and I will field carry the new one. I just for the hell of it got the hawk beaked one.

Any knife you get will not be sharp enough from the factory. You will see that in reviews of many grafting knives especially the less expensive. People complain about them not being sharp enough. They usually have a good edge you just need to hone them. 100% of the time you will need to put a good hone on the blade - even if you had a Tina plus frequently touching them up as you graft (if your doing a bunch). This is what I made/bought and use for sharpening. The diamond stuff you could get by without but I would at least get an old leather belt and some fine buffing compound to hone the edge.

 

[cavey]

Fixed Tina Blade arrived. I put a new edge on it and honed it up beyond sharp...

With Tina's reputation It was disappointing to see the gap between the tang end and the handle wood (almost an 1/8 inch - enough to see right through the handle); it was sharp but not sharp enough; blade is nice and solid maybe a bit thicker then I expected - seems beefy feels good in the hand. Bench grafting this spring will tell more.

I half wonder if I found an old kitchen knife with good steel and worked the back side of the blade to a single beveled edge and ground off the original blade edge - squaring it off. I bet a person with a bench grinder could, for next to nothing, make a good grafting knife if you took your time in not taking the temper out.

 

[Turkey Creek]

My favorite bench grafting knife is an old, cheap, plastic handled Buck knife that they gave all us Hunter Ed instructors several years ago. I broke the tip off trying to pry something with it. But I kept sharpening until I put a single bevel on it. Its my go to now. I have a AM Leonard brand, folding knife T-budding knife that I like just fine for that purpose. Just bought the boss lady her own budding knife from AM Leonard we have yet to put it through the paces.

Ideally any knife that holds an edge for awhile, blade doesnt have a lot of flex, isnt a pain in the arse to sharpen, fits your hand well will work. For T-budding we like a thinner blade knife to cut buds off the bud stick.

 

[cavey]

My favorite bench grafting knife is an old, cheap, plastic handled Buck knife that they gave all us Hunter Ed instructors several years ago. I broke the tip off trying to pry something with it. But I kept sharpening until I put a single bevel on it. Its my go to now. I have a AM Leonard brand, folding knife T-budding knife that I like just fine for that purpose. Just bought the boss lady her own budding knife from AM Leonard we have yet to put it through the paces.

Ideally any knife that holds an edge for awhile, blade doesnt have a lot of flex, isnt a pain in the arse to sharpen, fits your hand well will work. For T-budding we like a thinner blade knife to cut buds off the bud stick.

After grafting out about a 50 grafts I switched from my new Tina fixed blade back to my cheap Antonini folder and finished out the rest... The Tina was a huge disappointment. Maybe its just a matter of working the blade down a bit... but my Antonini just cut easier and when doing smaller dia cuts it was better. I will rework the edge on the tina and put a polish on the edge ... blade just felt to thick - drew hard and wasnt as surgical.

I have a few old knives that I found - I think I will do the same as what you did with the buck knife and see - just for fun someday if I can make the perfect fixed bade grafting knife for the fit of my hand. A custom knife of sorts.