For a long time I have tried to find a Utility knife blade that was beveled on one side only. I reasoned that such a blade would work well for budding, especially for cutting buds off the budstick. I found that carpet installers use such a blade, called a "Trimmer" blade. Not knowing a carpet installer, I ordered a pack off the web. They came today and I tried cutting some buds with one. It worked well, except that the blade had only one notch at the top, so I had to modify the holder I used a little. I am not sure if they are available with 2 or 3 notches or not.

Anyway, I don't know how they will work in actual budding, but they look good at this point. It would be great to have a knife that didn't require sharpening! I sometimes use a single edge razor blade for cutting the T in the rootstock, but it does not work for cutting buds.

I wondered if anyone else had suggestions for alternative budding knives?

There are box cutter blades from Home Depot which works quite well. My problem is that they are too sharp and hard for me to control, but should work with some people who have the dexterity.

Are the box cutter blades the same as what I call utility knife blades? I am beginning to think that they have different names, depending on where you live.

I looked in Lowes (we don't have a local HD) and they had a lot of utility knife blades, but not the "carpet trimmer" type. It could have been that they were just out., they had other blades used in carpet installation. I will look in HD when I am near one.

Several weeks ago I talked to a carpet installer in a town I was passing through, and he told me that they got them in boxes of 100 blades. He would have gave me some but his truck wasn't there at the time.

They are making utility knives that are more comfortable to handle, though not nearly as comfortable as a good budding knife.

Ned

Could be the box cutter knives a=nd utility knives are the same. They are good to handle. Funny that I do the reverse, I use the box cutter knife to remove the buds from the scionwood, but use the budding knife to make the T. The box cutter can take the tiniest bud, but when it comes to making a T, it is just too sharp and cut myself with it. I can control the budding knife much better. But I use both.

Other disadvantages of utility knives or box cutters is that it is very hard to sterilize them in between use if you are using heat or passing them over a flame stove. But then again, you can always use alcohol and H2O2. If you use bleach on the box cutter knives, they corrode easily.

The tina 683 budding knife is the best all around budding knife. This is favorite for most experienced budders. The next best is the zenith fixed blade budding knife.