The traditional way to make the main cut of a whip and tongue graft is by pulling the knife towards your body. This is the only way to comfortably do it when grafting onto rootstocks that are in the ground or on to existing trees. People accustomed to this method also use it for bench grafting.
However, many people find it more convenient when bench grafting to cut away from their body, much the way you would sharpen a pencil or whittle a stick. People using this method should reverse their grafting knife selection, i.e. right-handed people should choose a left-handed knife and vice versa.
