The best grafting knives, compared.
Top pick: Due Buoi DB 207L V grafting knife – Top pick in this set: the only listing that states a right-hand V grafting blade, with carbon steel at HRC 58/59. Two reviews remain a small sample. Best value: TopHomer grafting and pruning knife – Best value among the listings under £15: about £10.49, score 8 against 6 for the barking cutter, about a quarter of the Due Buoi price. No graft bevel is stated. Updated 22.10.2026.
A grafting knife is a small, very sharp blade for joining a scion or a bud to a rootstock, usually a fruit tree or a rose. On amazon.co.uk the same search returns true single-bevel knives, pruning folders that only use the words in the title, and barking or girdling cutters that make a different cut. Judge a listing by the bevel, the stated hand, whether you can hone the steel, and whether the blade matches whip-and-tongue or budding. The Royal Horticultural Society says you need healthy wood, a knife that is very sharp and wiped clean, and cuts that meet flush. Cut, bevel, steel and price are in the [grafting knife buying guide](/hub/garden-tree-and-hedge-shears/grafting-knife/sub/grafting-knife-buying-guide). Whip-and-tongue and chip budding need a knife with a long flat face. A 3 cm girdling cutter does not make that face. An omega punch is another product, and it wants the scion and the stock almost the same thickness.
A grafting knife is a small, very sharp blade for joining a scion or a bud to a rootstock, usually a fruit tree or a rose.
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Personal buying guide
Question 1 of 2
What cut do you need?
The Due Buoi DB 207L is a right-hand V grafting knife, and the amazon.co.uk bullets state carbon steel at HRC 58/59 with a wood handle. At £41.72 it is the only listing in this set that names a graft blade, rather than a pruning folder or a barking cutter. Amazon.co.uk shows 4.0 from 2 reviews, which is too small a sample to say how the V seats in apple wood or how long the edge lasts. The UK listing gives the weight as 175 g and the length as 7.88 inches, about 200 mm, while the maker's page lists 105 g, so those two weights should not be treated as one measurement. Carbon steel at the stated hardness can take a fine edge, and it rusts if you put it away wet. The listing does not state a bark lifter, a lock, or a left-hand grind. It is the top pick here because the blade geometry is actually described. Two ratings still cannot make it the best grafting knife in the UK.
Pros
Cons
Best for: A right-handed V cut on dormant fruit wood, if you can accept two reviews and will wipe the carbon blade dry.
Less suitable: Left-handers, T-budding that needs a stated bark lifter, and anyone who wants a large UK review sample before they spend £41.72.
Specifications
Common questions
Which hand is this knife for?
The listing says right hand. It does not state a left-hand grind.
What is the blade made of?
Carbon steel. The bullets state HRC 58/59. The handle material is wood.
How long and heavy is it?
Item weight is 175 g. Item length is listed as 7.88 inches, which is 200 mm. The maker page lists 105 g, so do not treat that as the same figure.
The TopHomer is listed as a grafting and pruning knife at £10.49, with locking handles in the bullets and a stated weight of 230 g. Amazon.co.uk shows no star line and no review text, so there is no shopper account of the edge on a scion. The handedness field says ambidextrous, and the blade-edge field is not a readable bevel, which is not the same thing as a single-bevel graft grind. Length, hardness, and a bark lifter are all absent from the listing. A lock helps for storage, though a locking blade sits outside the unlocked folding-knife exception if you carry it in public. It is the best value in this set among the listings under £15, because the score is 8 against 6 for the cheaper barking cutter and the price is about a quarter of the Due Buoi. It remains a weak stand-in for a whip-and-tongue cut, because the geometry is not described.
Pros
Cons
Best for: Light pruning at a low price, if you already own a proper grafting knife and only want a locking folder in this set.
Less suitable: Whip-and-tongue or chip budding, where you need a stated flat bevel, and T-budding, where you need a stated bark lifter.
Specifications
Common questions
Does the knife lock?
The bullets say locking handles for safe storage. No separate lock type is named.
Is it left- or right-handed?
The handedness field says ambidextrous. The blade-edge field is not a readable description.
What do the reviews say?
The listing has no star line and no review text, so there is no shopper account of praise or complaints.
The Brrnoo is a barking and girdling cutter that the title also calls a grafting knife, listed at £7.35. The listing states a 3 cm cutting width, manganese steel, a rubber handle, a weight of 56 g and a length of 13 cm. Amazon.co.uk shows no star line and no review text. A 3 cm cut of that kind takes a ring of bark. It does not make the long sloping face used for a whip-and-tongue graft. The listing does not state a bevel, a hand, or a bark lifter. The mechanism line says fully automatic with no manual buckle, which describes a girdling action rather than a knife stroke you control. It is the cheapest row in the set, and it is the wrong tool if you are joining a scion to a rootstock.
Pros
Cons
Best for: A 3 cm barking or girdling cut, if that is the job you actually want and you accept a listing with no reviews.
Less suitable: Whip-and-tongue, chip budding, and any graft that needs a long flat knife face rather than a 3 cm ring of bark.
Specifications
Common questions
What cut does this tool make?
The title calls it a barking cutter and a girdling knife. The cutting width is 3 cm.
How big is it?
Item length is 13 cm and item weight is 56 g. The material line says manganese steel.
Does the listing state a bevel or a bark lifter?
Neither a bevel nor a bark lifter is on the listing. Handedness is not stated.
Scores compare the three amazon.co.uk listings kept in this set. Prices, stars and review counts are the listing lines saved on 19 October 2026. There is no laboratory test and no graft trial. Stars contribute up to 55 points: the amazon.co.uk rating divided by 5, times 55, rounded. A missing star line scores 0 on that scale. A tiny review count adds only a small number of points. Two reviews add 2. Stated geometry can add points: a V blade, right-hand grind and hardness figure add 12, a stated lock adds 8, and a stated 3 cm cutting width adds 6. The stored scores were not recalculated for this page. The weights below sum to 100. They describe the relative emphasis of those three checks. In sentences this page says top pick and best value.
Amazon stars
55%The amazon.co.uk rating divided by 5, times 55, rounded. A missing star line scores 0 on that scale. A 4.0 from two reviews is a small sample, and it cannot make a knife the best grafting knife in the UK.
Stated geometry
30%A stated V blade, hand and hardness, a stated lock, or a stated cutting width. A missing bevel, hardness or bark lifter is not invented, and it is not deducted twice. A 3 cm girdling cut is scored as a barking tool.
Review count
15%A tiny count adds only a small number of points. Two reviews add 2. No review line adds 0. The count does not measure edge life or a graft take rate.
Choose the cut before the title. A V grafting knife, a pruning folder and a barking cutter are different tools, even when the search results use the same words. Prices below are amazon.co.uk shelf prices on 19 October 2026.
A grafting knife joins a scion or a bud to a rootstock, usually a fruit tree or a rose. Whip-and-tongue and chip budding need a knife with a long flat face. A 3 cm girdling cutter does not make that face. An omega punch is another product, and it wants the scion and the stock almost the same thickness. None of the three listings here is that punch. In this set the Due Buoi DB 207L is a right-hand V blade in carbon steel, stated at HRC 58/59, with a wood handle.
The Brrnoo states a 3 cm cutting width. That takes a ring of bark. It does not make the long sloping face of a whip-and-tongue graft, even though the title uses grafting-knife words.
The RHS says hone the bevel and only lay the flat on the stone to take off the burr. The Due Buoi states carbon steel at HRC 58/59. It rusts if you put it away wet.
The Due Buoi is 4.0 from 2 reviews. The other two listings have no star line. Neither figure measures edge life or how often a graft takes. An omega punch also does not forgive unequal diameters.
The first check is the cut. Whip-and-tongue and chip budding need a knife. The Due Buoi DB 207L is the only listing here that states a V grafting blade, and it states a right-hand grind. The TopHomer is a pruning folder. Grafting appears in the title, and the blade-edge field is not a readable bevel. Ambidextrous on that folder is not a single-bevel grind. The Brrnoo states a 3 cm cutting width. That is a bark girdle, not the long sloping face of a whip graft.
The Due Buoi bullets state carbon steel at HRC 58/59. That hardness can take a fine edge, and the blade rusts if you store it wet. The RHS says hone the bevel and only lay the flat on the stone to remove the burr. Stainless on the TopHomer title shrugs off a damp shed and can be slower to restore. Neither the TopHomer nor the Brrnoo states a hardness. None of the three listings states a bark lifter. You can chip-bud without one.
Three typical situations, each with a recommendation from this comparison.
You are grafting a few pencil-thick apples and you want a honeable knife. The Due Buoi DB 207L states a right-hand V blade and carbon steel at HRC 58/59, at about £41.72, with 4.0 from 2 reviews. Wipe the blade dry. The listing does not state a left-hand grind or a bark lifter.
You already own a grafting knife and you want a locking folder for light pruning. The TopHomer is about £10.49, with locking handles in the bullets, an ambidextrous field and a listed weight of 230 g. There is no star line, and the listing does not state a graft bevel.
You want a 3 cm barking or girdling cut, and you accept a listing with no reviews. The Brrnoo states manganese steel, a rubber handle, 56 g and 13 cm, at about £7.35. That cut is a ring of bark. It is the wrong tool for joining a scion to a rootstock.
In this set the top pick is the Due Buoi DB 207L: about £41.72, 4.0 from 2 amazon.co.uk reviews, and the only listing that states a right-hand V grafting blade in carbon steel at HRC 58/59. Two ratings cannot make it the best grafting knife in the UK, the maker page lists 105 g against 175 g on the UK line, and carbon steel rusts if you store it wet. The best value is the TopHomer folder at about £10.49. Among the listings under £15 it scores 8 against 6 for the cheaper barking cutter, at about a quarter of the Due Buoi price. The listing still does not state a graft bevel. The Brrnoo at about £7.35 is a 3 cm girdling cutter, not a whip-and-tongue knife.
Due Buoi DB 207L V grafting knife
Top pick in this set: the only listing that states a right-hand V grafting blade, with carbon steel at HRC 58/59. Two reviews remain a small sample.
TopHomer grafting and pruning knife
Best value among the listings under £15: about £10.49, score 8 against 6 for the barking cutter, about a quarter of the Due Buoi price. No graft bevel is stated.
Editorial
Peter F. is the editor for DIY & tools at productscompared.co.uk. Comparisons in this category are checked against amazon.co.uk listings, review evidence and public UK sources.
Guides on what to look for, how to use a product, and common mistakes.
Public UK sources used for this comparison. Listing prices, stars, and review counts are from amazon.co.uk on 19 October 2026.
Expert source (DIY & tools): Charlie White (Charlie DIYte) (external profile) – public expert commentary used as a research source, not as a contributor to our pages.
This page contains affiliate links to amazon.co.uk. If you buy through them, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Prices, stars, and review counts are the UK listing lines. We did not run a lab test.
