Phillip, the 640/10 doesn't have the curve up to the tip that other budding knives have. How important is that curve for budding (which I haven't tried yet)? The only budding feature on this knife seems to be the tongue on the back of the blade, something I can do without..I'd rather make my own spreader. Is there something else on this model that justifies the $56 TimmerEnterprizes price, double that of other purely grafting knives. If the tongue is the only difference, I think I'd rather by two knives, one for budding, one for grafting, and the price would be about the same.

JoeReal, I've tried utility knives (but not the HD box knife), and I get the same dip(at the beginning of the cut) that I get with my not so sharp irish grafting knife. I think that dip is caused by the extra strength used to begin the cut. When I sharpened my irish grafting knife I was able to make a nice long flat (without a dip) cut. I'm guessing that a really sharp knife doesn't need the extra force that causes the dip. Is the HD box knife that sharp that you don't have this problem, or am I getting this all wrong? I'm talking about whip grafts or any type of graft where you need a nice long flat inclined cut.

jbclem, it takes practice. Home Depot sells special utility knives that are very sturdy, and costs about $7 each. Last year, I bought a 5-knife pack for only $20 and have given away some of them as gifts. I really loved the HD knife (will look at what brand when I get home later), as it makes precise whip cut, no curling at the end. I can make a very flat plane cut with it. Of course I whittle the first cut until it is as flat as you have used a plane.

JoeReal, did you get a chance to look at the brand name of the HD utility knife that you use? I'd like to take a look at it.

John

Joe, I was at HD looking at the Husky utility knives...do you use the 9mm or the 18mm version. Those are the ones with the snap off blades, where you could have any length of blade showing...all the other ones had single replaceable blades and only a short blade showing.

Recently I gave their address to a friend in Florida. he called Tmm and they would not sell to him. I was trying to save the postage from me to him. Any way i ordered the three knives for him. He wanted 283HD aand 1 283D. Their prices are very good but have increased in the last year.

I have never used a grafting knife. I have always used a utility knife with the replaceable blades. Have almost 100% take this way. If the bark is slipping I use the inverted T & rarely lose a bud. If the bark is not slipping a cleft graft works great.