Grafting

My mother is notoriously difficult to buy for So this year I decided to buy her something completely different.

A grafting course.

And I couldn't let her go on it alone, that just wouldn't be right, so I booked myself a place on the course as well. We both have an interest in apple trees (well I think mine boarders on obsession) and we've always said we'd love to learn to graft our own, so I thought this course would be ideal. The only downside is we've got to wait until the 3rd of March! Still I'm sure it will soon be here.

Grafting knife

 In the meantime I decided to sharpen up my grafting knife (my mother bought this for me a few years ago as a present so hopefully I'll soon be able to use it) as there is little else I can do in this weather without fear of sinking into the mud as a permanent feature in the garden.

Water stone

I have a bit of an obsession with keeping things sharp, probably because I'm a carpenter and it makes my job much easier if every tool has an edge like a razor. But I decided to try some waters stones I bought a few years ago for this, instead of my usual oil stones.

Holding the knife at a slight angle to polish bevel onto it

 The stone worked really well, the course side altered the bevel in no time - I've kept this knife with a single bevel much like a chisel edge as I've read that's what a lot of the old time grafters used to use. Then the fine side polished a really sharp edge onto it.

Nice and sharp - cutting wood

 Once I stropped it it would cut fine shavings off a piece of wood no trouble

The cutting edge

I'm really looking forward to this course as it's something I've always wanted to learn. As a bonus it says on the course that we get to take two apple trees home with us that we've grafted, so that should add to my collection!