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["Griffin Gardens" <griffingardens@earthlink.net>]

Diane,

   You might want to try using a sharp chisel. I use a 1" flat chisel for all my whip and Tongue grafts. As a cabinetmaker, a chisel is a precision cutting tool that I am accustomed to using compared to even the sharpest knife, which is a crude instrument in my hands. I think most people inexperienced with both would find it much easier to use a chisel as well.

   First I make a rough angle cut with a knife on the scion and the rootstock in the traditional way. Then I support the pieces one at a time against a block of hard rubber laid on top of the bench. It has to be supported all the way to the tip. Then I make a shearing cut (chisel is slid to the side as it is pushed through) and clean up the rough cuts. The chisel cuts into the rubber block at the end and this clips off the tip of the thin end nicely.  My chisel is ground to a skew of about a 10% angle which keeps the hand away from the root when making that cut. The chisel, like a well sharpened grafting knife, has to have a dead flat back bevel and must be very sharp. With the chisel I can re cut the piece any number of times to change the angle of the whip slightly, straighten out a bowed cut and eventually match scion to stock with much more precision than I ever could with a knife. Then, once matched, it is a simple matter to cut the tongue with another sharp thin bladed knife and tie.

 

Dave, getting ready in zone 4a

----- Original Message -----

From: Diane

To: nafex@lists.ibiblio.org

Sent: 2/21/04 3:02:27 PM

Subject: [NAFEX] grafting

I grafted 10 years ago for the first time.I bought a "fieldgrafter" from New Zeland that made a "V" cut and formed a saddle graft.I had a 95% sucsess rate.I thought I was doing pretty good so the next year I ordered more rootstocks.Well,I had 1% sucess rate.I still am not sure why.I tried it a couple more years and had the same sad results.I think after I make the "V" cuts the scion "wobbles" around while I try to tape them up.I think this makes my cambiums not line up.This year I am thinking about getting a block plane from the hardware store to make a long diagonal cut on the scion and the root and then using my grafting knife to make the "tongue " cut.This will take longer but I think I will have better results.I have tried to make the first cuts with my grafting knife but they look very rough.What do you guys think?Thanks,skip in Michigan.Zone 5