bikerector
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
- Joined
- Nov 16, 2016
- Messages
- 6,773
I didn't get a lot of info on these when I was trying to figure out if I wanted this pattern or not. I liked the shape aesthetically and I have a bit of an affinity for the thinner cheeked axes like a Hudson bay since I cut into a lot of dry deadfall and it seems like the thicker cheeked axes bounce off more than I like.
It took me some practice to get used to this and after some back and forth with @FortyTwoBlades about how to use the deep biting, thin cheek bit I was able to get a nice rhythm while building a structure from a large fallen tree at my local mountain bike trail to make it passable again.
Digging down into the wood is a bit different because it doesn't throw chips really well and it is prone to biting deep if you swing really hard and it will stick. Taking lighter swings and just guiding it to the target and you eventually get there.
Working across the log and the resulting chip pile. Once the wood is free on one side the chips come off pretty easy. I find I get deeper chips but going too wide again doesn't pop out the chips like a more American type pattern.
And this finished log
Building the log pile to make this rideable.
Landing pad of wood chips
Finished approach side and picture of the tools
This is the felling size of the trento so it's a beast of a bit. It worked well for hewing-like work to add a bit of a bevel onto the log for the approach side. I found the axe awkward the first few times I tried it around the house and local woods figuring out it's quirks and I couldn't seem to hit anything I aimed at. Took several inches off the handle and it made a world of difference for me. I seem to do well with a 28-30" handle and this comes with a 35" handle.
Overall, it was a bit frustrating to figure out how to use it compared to my other axes, especially my fiskars chopping axe which seems to do well on not sticking but blunts too quickly in the dry wood but is a great size otherwise, but once I worked out the quirks and to take off less width to compensate for the lack of cheeks and deeper bite it was a fun axe to use. The above work was about 3.5 hours of works as I cleared up the top of the tree and another that it took down with it (to the right of the pics) which landed on a switchback of the trail that runs near the part the truck was over. I used the pieces from the top to create the approach with a lot of logs left over.
It's a different animal but I like it a lot and it seemed like it could be used for actual hewing in the future, as that was another reason I wanted the thinner bit, to have one axe to take down some dead trees and build some camp furniture out in my back woods without having to backpack a lot of different tools along with.
The blade was still plenty sharp after doing this work, fiskars would definitely needed a touch up or two but they're known for being a bit soft.
I should also admit that one of my big attractions to the Rinaldi axes was the slip-fit design as I apparently stink and re-hanging and getting consistently good results and I have never had a slip-fit axe or hawk so it intrigued me. It also seems like there's the possibility to quickly switch between handle lengths to target different uses, and then just carry a few sizes of handle (thinking chopping and hewing here, probably carving too).
It took me some practice to get used to this and after some back and forth with @FortyTwoBlades about how to use the deep biting, thin cheek bit I was able to get a nice rhythm while building a structure from a large fallen tree at my local mountain bike trail to make it passable again.
Digging down into the wood is a bit different because it doesn't throw chips really well and it is prone to biting deep if you swing really hard and it will stick. Taking lighter swings and just guiding it to the target and you eventually get there.
Working across the log and the resulting chip pile. Once the wood is free on one side the chips come off pretty easy. I find I get deeper chips but going too wide again doesn't pop out the chips like a more American type pattern.
And this finished log
Building the log pile to make this rideable.
Landing pad of wood chips
Finished approach side and picture of the tools
This is the felling size of the trento so it's a beast of a bit. It worked well for hewing-like work to add a bit of a bevel onto the log for the approach side. I found the axe awkward the first few times I tried it around the house and local woods figuring out it's quirks and I couldn't seem to hit anything I aimed at. Took several inches off the handle and it made a world of difference for me. I seem to do well with a 28-30" handle and this comes with a 35" handle.
Overall, it was a bit frustrating to figure out how to use it compared to my other axes, especially my fiskars chopping axe which seems to do well on not sticking but blunts too quickly in the dry wood but is a great size otherwise, but once I worked out the quirks and to take off less width to compensate for the lack of cheeks and deeper bite it was a fun axe to use. The above work was about 3.5 hours of works as I cleared up the top of the tree and another that it took down with it (to the right of the pics) which landed on a switchback of the trail that runs near the part the truck was over. I used the pieces from the top to create the approach with a lot of logs left over.
It's a different animal but I like it a lot and it seemed like it could be used for actual hewing in the future, as that was another reason I wanted the thinner bit, to have one axe to take down some dead trees and build some camp furniture out in my back woods without having to backpack a lot of different tools along with.
The blade was still plenty sharp after doing this work, fiskars would definitely needed a touch up or two but they're known for being a bit soft.
I should also admit that one of my big attractions to the Rinaldi axes was the slip-fit design as I apparently stink and re-hanging and getting consistently good results and I have never had a slip-fit axe or hawk so it intrigued me. It also seems like there's the possibility to quickly switch between handle lengths to target different uses, and then just carry a few sizes of handle (thinking chopping and hewing here, probably carving too).
