This is amazing, very cool!

Nice, Richie!
Thx for the link, Blue!

Interesting post.  When is the best time to graft on outdoor trees for zone 7?

Richie and others who have used this omega tool - what was your take rate on grafts?  Someone told me that these tools damage the cambium and don't work very well but others have said the opposite.  So far my skill at conventional grafting is apparently not very good so I'm seriously thinking about buying one of these.

Rewton,

Just my two cents. The blades on these tools are not very sharp, they get dull quite quickly and are very difficult to sharpen again. That causes a quite high percentage of failure because of irregular margins. I bought one of these tools 3 years ago and used it a a few times. I never used it again.
If the wood is hard it's quite difficult to get a good clean cut (it may work better with fig trees that are usually softer). But even in soft wood like kiwi, the results were poor.
Another problem - the cuttings have to quite perfect. Just the right diameter and bent free or, in most cases, the tool will be almost useless. 

In my humble opinion is best to invest your time and money learning to graft and purchasing a good grafting knife.

In the first year the percentage of success is not very high, but soon you will get the hang of it. With time each new graft get's better and better and soon failure is the exception.

I started grafting 3 years ago and now grafting apples, pears, peaches, apricots, plums, kiwis, walnuts, etc, has become easy and the percentage of success if very high.

Last year i tried to graft fig trees for the first time and the accumulated experience payed off:

      

Jsacadura,this tool can not be used for grafting kiwi. The rest of the culture grafted normal. See my photos posted earlier.

I've been using the same tool that Blue posted about, so far so good. The caliper and general shape of the joining ends really do need to be about the same, otherwise it's an awkward fit. I've used it for Asian pear, apple, pomegranate, persimmon, and of course, figs. Used Parafilm to wrap the graft, and electrical tape over that to prevent light-mediated degradation of the Parafilm. It's too early to tell whether they worked or not, but for most the unions looked really good and I didn't notice too much damage to the cambium layer from dull cuts. 

To hedge my bets, I also did some bud grafts of most varieties. Just in case. :) I have backup grafting material in the fridge too, since I know it's still pretty early but some of the trees seem to be waking up early and I couldn't resist trying some. 

Vladis,

It depends on the maturity of the branch. Older kiwi branches are harder and the tool cuts them like it would cut a vine.
I have no doubt that good grafts can result from the use of this kind of tool, like your photos prove. I just don't think that they are worth it in the long run.

Mind you i have the same one that Richie (in the first message).
 
I think that are others in the market that have better construction and overall better results.
If i absolutely had to use one i would buy a better quality one, like this one:

 

Besides one of these grafting tools what are the other essentials needed to start grafting. I am going to get one of these from amazon but might as well get everything I need all at one time.

Dale

Dale, thats what I do is get it everything necessary. I believe you will want to get grafting tape and or wax. I havent grafted before but its what I have seen used.

Okay so, fig addiction + tools addiction = bad addiction!

Jsacadura ,tool below is considered to be a good and quality.

I've had great success with mine on apple and cherry trees. Wrapped with paraffin paper and then sealed with tree tar. 

Frank, do you put any hormone solution on your grafts?