I have 6 Tina 683 budding knives for sale. the price is $20.00 each plus postage.

I'd be very interested in a Tina if you still have them. Can you tell me if there is much of a difference between a budding and a grafting version? Can the budding one also be used for grafting.

Last question, are any of these left-handed?

Hope to hear from you... John

John, there is a left hand model-- I had ordered one thru Phillip, but accepted the right hand model when they sent him the wrong one. I also told him that if he orders again I would still be willing to purchase a left hand model.

I can use either hand and have tried this right hand model in both hands. Initially, I could made very smooth cuts with the right hand, but could not make a smooth exit cut with the left hand. I got to feeling the edge and noticed a small bur on the edge. I worked that off on a fine ceramic rod and now I can make very smooth and tapered cuts with both hands.

There is a minimum order of 3 at the site Phillip found, if we can get one more maybe we can do another order.

The $17.75 price sounds pretty good. Does anyone know the difference between a budding knife and a grafting one, besides the spreading bump on the other side of the blade. Is the blade a bit shorter?

I'm grafting some apples right now, but will be trying budding citrus if I can come up with some budwood, Tarrocco blood orange especially.

I've been using an Irish grafting knife, sharpish but not super sharp, right handed, and on whip grafts I can't seem to avoid a dip at the beginning of the cut. And when I try to thin down the end of the cut, I also keep getting a dip in the cut. Do you suppose this is caused by the right handedness of the blade, or sharpness, or is it technique? I try to make one quick cut, that makes for evenness, but never get the perfect inclined plane cut. I get more of a beginning dip then an even cut that is more parallel than inclined. I have a small Stanley hand plane that will give me more of an incline plane cut, but it only planes a little bit at a time so you have to keep cutting over and over when you use it and the edges (where the cambium is) seem to get rounded over and don't match up well.

John

I do not know the difference, but there is one thing that makes these budding knives different from most knives--they are beveled on one side only--that is what makes it left handed or right handed. That one sided bevel makes it glide right on top of the wood when cutting buds--you get a nice tapered bud with little or no wood on the bottom. My guess would be that the grafting knives are beveled on both sides.

I have to believe that your "dip" is due to technique, maybe you are bending the stock when you cut. As for sharpness, I don't consider any knife sharp unless it will shave--clean! And virtually any knife can be sharpened so that it will. As a wood carver, the first thing I had to learn was how to sharpen tools. I can tell a bit about how if you want.

Yes, I'd like to hear your insights about sharpening. I just bought a utility knife, with break-off blade, at 99cent store (included were 5 extra blades, all for .99!). Tried it on some spare scionwood and it worked much better than my Irish grafting knife. There was much less of a scoop (dip) effect, and it was easier to go back over the cut and correct. This shows me that my grafting knife really needs sharpening, so your information will be very welcome.

I'm pretty sure that grafting knives, as well as budding knives, have a bevel on just one side. Both are available in left handed versions. This utility knife I just bought has bevels on both sides, but the blade is thin and I could get a pretty decent inclined cut with it. I could make the cut thin which I like because it conforms easier (I wrap with a tight rubber band). With my un-sharp grafting knife, every time I tried to thin down the cut it would get worse, a new dip with every pass.


John

If your knife is relatively new, you probably don't need to reshape the main bevel. To get a knife sharp quick, use a coarse stone, work one one side--pushing the edge into the stone and holding the back edge of the blade just barely off the stone. As you work the blade you will feel a bur develop (feel it by rubbing your thumbnail away from the edge). When the bur runs the legnth of the blade, turn it over and do the same on the other side.

Then change to a fine stone and raise the back of the blade slightly higher than before. Working the edge into the stone again, but this time alternate sides and lighten the pressure. It will only take a few strokes and the knife should shave.

The primary bevel is generally a low angle--from about 17 to 25 degrees, lower angles for lighter work. The working bevel is 2-5 degrees higher and can be restored several times with the fine stone before having to go to the coarse stone again. Coarse and fine are whatever you want to make them to a point-- I use 80 grit to sharpen kitchen knives, but 120 to 150 for finer blades. I have actually used polished granite for the fine stone on some knives. It all depends on how long you want it to take.

There is a utility knife that is beveled on one side only. It is used by carpet installers and is called a trimmer blade. I have one in my grafting box (old tacke box), and use it often. The blade requires a special handle. Both can be found where carpet tools are located, in many home improvement stores. No sharpening necessary, just change the blade. For some jobs, like cutting buds, it works better for me than a budding knife.

Ned

The grafting knife I currently use has the spreading bump on the back of the blade. It's fairly useless because when you use it (the spreading bump) with any pressure at all, the entire blade wants to move to it's closed position in the handle. This presents a real danger to one's fingers. It would be much better to use a knife with the separate brass spreader at the other end of the handle.

Do the better grafting/budding knives have a stop, in the open position, that would prevent this from happening?

John

A grafting knife is only angled one one side. The budding knives 683 are angled on both sides. Yes, I still have some of the knives. The handles have 2 holes drilled in them in them to be converted into patch budding knives. The folding budding knives have the bump at the front end of the blade for opening the bark. I do about 2000 plus a year for a wholeale nursery and prefer the 683. for small graft the Tina 685 is the one I prefer. The 685 sell for about $25.00. Womack nursery co is a good supplier for this one.
Any one wanting the 683 can contack me by private message or e-mail.