Grafting Series Lesson #5 Sharpening a Grafting Knife

[@jessemonico168]

Skillcult, You got me subbed after the first video. You are a smart man and you have a plan. It's important to share knowledge the best we can for generations to come. You are creating a great library and wealth of knowledge. I recommend you continue to push education and development of others. You are doing great! Keep it Up!

[@SkillCult]

Thanks for the encouragement. I got lot of plans.

[@RCCRAYZ]

Loving this series you are very Knowledgeable 👍👍

[@redwolfwoodsman726]

I learned the hard way about Japanese water stones. Learned how to sharpen on Arkansas oil stones leading the edge across the stone. American hard stone technique, and Japanese water stone techniques are backwards from each other. Expensive lesson when I was younger, cost me some damn expensive stones, because I was ignorant and strong headed. Stayed with Arkansas though until I saw you cut down a 200/1000 stone so I bought one. Both systems are working. Good video Thanks. I had more to say, done eating cheese.

[@SkillCult]

I found that all the old stones I have, which is quite a collection from flea markets and such over the years, cut pretty slow. The trade off is fast wearing stones and flattening all the time, but I find that to be a good trade off. Once I got my Japanese stones, pretty much everything else got shelved. Now that I have the 250/1000 King, I don't even use my diamond plates that much. They are fairly worn out though too. Stones may wear out completely eventually, but they never lose their cutting ability like diamonds do.

[@IHav2BlackCats]

Was wondering how i should sharpen my knife. I got the same one you have with the yellow handle using the "stock" edge. Will be picking up some stones for next year definitely. I am glad you forced yourself to make this series even though you wanted it to be better, its still pretty darn good. Looking forward to the rest.

[@SkillCult]

They usually come very sharp and you can probably just touch it up on a fine stone if you don't wait until it's too dull. Even stropping with polishing compound could bring it back if you don't wait too long. I can always redo it later and it will be the better for having done it once and gotten questions and feedback. I forget what people do and don't know, like you can't graft an apple onto an orange tree.

[@IHav2BlackCats]

One question how do you store your stones, are they always soaking in water or do you soak them before you need them?

[@SkillCult]

you're not supposed to soak the finer ones too long I guess. I dont' really leave any of them soaking for days. I try to remember to soak them up before hand for 10 minutes or more though. They don't work the same without water on the surface. You want the slurry that forms on there mixed with a little water.

[@lisakukla459]

This is supremely helpful. It's silly for me to still not know how to sharpen a knife at this point in my life. Thank you.

[@kingbriani]

Hey Steven, loving the videos and the frequency with which you are releasing the grafting videos. Even though I already know most of what you are covering (in the grafting series), I'm watching them all as soon as I see they are available, which is a testament to the quality of the videos you release. I've also been going back through your old videos and watching them for the nth time to sate my appetite while waiting for the new releases. I think you missed an opportunity to say in the video that the stones you mentioned are available in your amazon store and through the link in the video description. I have a selfish interest in seeing you succeed because I want you to keep developing content and releasing videos because they are among the best on youtube. I'll keep spreading the word about your channel and I hope soon it blows up and you're able to focus on your experiments and videos without worrying about money!

[@SkillCult]

I usually forget to push product or promote myself, although I did put links in the description to my amazon store on this one. Last video, I mentioned the store, but forgot to put in links. I'll go fix that ;). Thanks for helping me get out there. I feel some momentum happening lately and I know some of that is from people like you helping get me exposure. Thanks!

[@rayarmstrong3135]

Knives for budding and grafting fruit trees

[@mapleenderson8541]

i have noticed in other videos too. Do you perma soak the stones? Like store them in water? Or just every time you use the stones in a video you have them already soaking

[@SkillCult]

No, not usually. They say not to leave the finer stones soaking or they will crack. I think I may have seen that actually.

[@MrMousedude]

Any thoughts on diamond stones, or the systems with the angle guides like the lansky system?

[@SkillCult]

I'm very opposed to guides for the most part. They fail to develop the most important sharpening skill, holding an angle. If you already have that skill, they allow it to atrophy. Plus, its more expensive and more stuff to keep track of, set up etc... Diamonds are okay, but they wear out. My nice diamond plates see little use now as their main function was for fast cutting and reshaping or bringing back very dull tools. They are nice to have, but given the cost, I'm not sure they are worth it, but I do like having them. It's nice that they are always perfectly flat.

[@MrMousedude]

glad it's not just my imagination. I have a lansky system but I've never been impressed by it. it was my first attempt at sharpening so I figured I was just doing it wrong. I've never been able to get ride of my wire edges reliably using the lansky system, and the regular stones seem to cut very slowly, especially on hard steels. Sharpening anything takes a long time. long blades are a hassle because you have to keep un-clamping the guide and moving it. The oil is annoying. It doesn't work well with scandi ground knives (unless you want to re-shape the bevel angle to one of the 3 pre-set angles that lansky can handle). might be time to get some water stones.

[@SkillCult]

There may be systems that work better, but it sill doesn't develop freehand skills. I hate setting stuff up to. Get some inexpensive King waterstones and watch the Korin Knives channel I linked in the description. It's a hard won skill, but all the more reason to start sharpening freehand now. One reason people are attracted to them is being able to make perfect bevels. But that just doesn't matter that much. People free hand sharpened everything up until recently. I'm sure machines and gadgets have a place, maybe in a production setting, but I think they are generally just crutches.

[@armyofda12monkeys]

Hey SkillCult, just curious, What angle do you think you use? I am going to sharpen using the " Spyderco Tri-Angle Sharpmaker" that I have but that only offers 30 and 40 degree options so Im debating trying to use the sharpening stones (which i avoided past few years as I wanted to use a sharpening system that would give me a definitive angle).

[@SkillCult]

I have no idea. I dont think i have ever measured a knife bevel. Whatever you would put on a regular knife for carving should be fine.

[@aw5832]

I'm working my way through your grafting lesson series, best I have found for sure! I will be grafting onto dozens of wild apple seedlings popping up in an old silvopasture. For large trees like this would you prune for an open center or do you think it's wise to let the tree take a natural shape or central leader?

[@SkillCult]

I like modified central leader. It is lower than central leader, but in some ways similar to open center. Watch this video and my others on training trees. It may not be the best of trees are very vigorous there, but it works well for me and in this area. kzbin.info/www/bejne/bmmtY2tol7F-apo

[@brianstephens322]

When it comes to the blade of the knife. Do you prefer something like a stainless steel blade, something that you can sharpen more easily? Opposed to a blade with a higher carbon content steel, that might hold its edge longer but may be tougher to sharpen.

[@SkillCult]

It doesn't matter a lot, but if doing professional work, I'd go with harder and more edge retention, because it is important to keep it sharp. For amateurs it really doesn't matter. My fav was one I made from an average and pretty soft old hickory kitchen paring knife.

[@CarolynSpier]

I've always been afraid to try sharpening, because it’s so hard to be consistent about maintaining the correct angle for the bevel, and I’m afraid I’ll do more harm than good. Can you give any tips how to do that? Are you holding your fingers on the whetstone as you move the knife across it, so they act as stabilizers? If so, is it your back fingers or the fingers in front of the blade? How do you choose the angle? How do you get the same angle again after removing the knife from the stone? Can you feel the angle that is already there and use that as your guide?

[@SkillCult]

I can't tell you the actual angles. I just do it by experience and feel. There are many different ways to sharpen in a way that maintains the angle. I'll often have my fingertips resting on the blade and slightly on the stone at the same time like this tutorial kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZpfbfWusZ8mAntE. You can also feel the bevel by rocking the knife slightly on the stone with experience. That is a good tutorial, but there are loads and loads of sharpening content on youtube.

[@ts694]

Good work. I'd like to hear a few words about why the single bevel is preferred in the grafting knife. I was born with a knife in my hand, but being so used to the double bevel, I found the single bevel to not cut as expected and went back to the double. Perhaps in you next video, you will state how to properly employ the single bevel while making grafting cuts. Thanks

[@SkillCult]

I think If you're not used to it, you can end up biting too deep. The blade has to be held at a lower angle. Not all grafting knives are equal either depending on how they are sharpened and thickness. I'm not aware of all the factors involved, but I know they work well for me. I'll often use a slicing motion in my pull cut with the knife at a diagonal to the scion because it cuts easier. Easier cutting means I'm more likely to carry through the cut I want without changing the angle and more likely to get through the cut in one pull.

[@violetviolet888]

Because the non-beveled side is the side used against the cut that is retained on the rootstock and the scion so that each has a perfectly flat plane so that when you join them, there is no bowing or any type of curve when you match them up.

[@melissabrown5320]

Is that just water you're putting on the stones? How much should you add, where should you add it, and at what stages? If I have stones lying around, is there an easy way to tell whether I should use water with them or oil? Or are any sharpening stones ever used dry? I've grafted hundreds of trees (maybe a thousand if I count my grafting failures), but I still don't really know what I'm doing when I sharpen my grafting knife or any other knives. I seem to wind up with more or less adequate results, but I'm still just fumbling through the sharpening process not really knowing what I'm doing.

[@SkillCult]

It is water. these stones absorb a lot of water, especially the coarser ones. You just add as needed. Ideally it is s wet slurry of paste fromed by the stone as it's used. If the stone has been used with oil, you are stuck using oil on it from then on. I don't use oil on any stones. I always use water. You can use some dry, but it never seemed to work well for me. that stone I'm using, the King two sided water stone is very nice and can be as cheap as 15.00. You have to flatten it, but it cuts fast. I probably have a link below the vid, but if not, it's in my amazon store www.skillcult.com/amazon I recommend them as an axe sharpening puck a lot. If you use that stone and a leather strop with polishing compound on it (which is cheap) you can get a very sharp edge. Most stones cut slow, but try using what you have. Most of what you need to know about sharpening in general is actually in this video. You can just look at the stones to see how coarse the grit is and go from coarsest to finest.

[@T3hJones]

Very nice series! I wonder what you do with all those apples? :)

[@SkillCult]

Apple butter for one. Check out my oldschool apple butter video, great stuff. I've had some on my shelf unrefrigerated for a year and a half now. Also juice, hard cider, chicken feed, eating, vinegar, animal feed and selling and giving them away. My production is still pretty low though. My trees are young and don't get a lot of attention or water/food. Also, I keep regrafting and experimenting. Oh, and wild animals get a lot of them, especially birds. Hear those jays in my videos all the time? they're not here for the scenery! I'm hoping this will be a good year though.

[@MrMousedude]

how about a vinegar video?

[@flintstoneengineering]

This upload deserves a wider audience, please, please amend the title to just "Sharpening" and repost a clone. Click bait? Maybe but your channel and work are first class and he right people are out there. Excellent series!

[@SkillCult]

I totally agree, but this video will never be that video. I'm actually thinking of a very specific digestible video, or very short series. That was most of what people need to know about sharpening, but I can refine it and communicate it better in the same amount of time or less, but packaged for a wide audience. Thanks :)

[@TheOtherGuybo]

Thank you! I would have never considered that a knife could be sharpened with only one side beveled.

[@SkillCult]

Not too commonly, but some specialized knives are.

[@violetviolet888]

It's the type of knife. Grafting knives are beveled on only one side. The flat side without the bevel is the side against the graft cut so it is a flat plane. There are right-handed and left-handed grafting knives.

[@Anson120]

I don't strop too much.It can dull the edge. I also do it lightly. I step off my soap box now.