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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| Nice and sharp - cutting wood |
Once I stropped it it would cut fine shavings off a piece of wood no trouble
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| 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!
