First let me say WOW great project! Question for you....are you cutting your piece to be grafted on a branch node spot? I would think that your cutting would be more apt to take to the graft spot. Just a thought, keep us posted.
Hey Maine!
If that's truly you in the pic...brother that rocks!
Yes, I took a "heel" cut (where I take a gradual scoop under the node, off the main branch, a half-moon shape cut) then perform the same cut on the root stock, at a branch node (the root stock cutting is kept for cloning) these two cuts should now match, and I would then place the cutting in position at the branch node.
Lastnight, I decided to take another Mother, and instead of performing this at a branch node, I had clipped a thick, upright branch clean off at a large node (leaving the thickest part on the plant (if I had a circle, I would cut at the center, leaving the middle exposed...the thickest part)).
-I then sliced downward from the top-center, down about 3/8"
-Took the cutting I had, performed a "V" shape cut at the base, exposing both sides
-A little special sauce
-Opened up the cut I performed on the root stock, slid the "V" shaped cut on my cutting, into the now "V" shaped cavity in the root stock
-Wrapped the connection with Teflon tape
-Placed a ziploc over the scion (cutting on root stock)
...and it looks great!