roselli ax

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beyondmyken

Joined
Dec 23, 2000
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anyone have experience with one of these? They are rather pricey but have a unique look. There has been 1 review on the outdoors forum but I haven't seen much else. I am looking for a short ax that can be used primarily on game animals, the ulu shape of the Roselli appeals to me for this purpose. Any wood use ie splitting, limbing would be a secondary purpose. I have only been able to find 2 US suppliers Kellam knives and world knives, any others out there?
 
I own a Roselli - the longer model - and like it quite a bit. The head is quite hefty and makes for a powerful stroke. The handle allows for at least three distinct places to grip, and the ability to choke up on the axe makes it great for woodworking and knife type chores.

Great review by JM in the Outdoors Magazine internet site. A must read if you are interested.

Pricey. Grinds are not as pretty as a Gransfors.

One of my favorite axes for an all-arounder.
 
That review really surprised me, the axe bit is thick, shallow and wide, and yet it outperformed the GB small forest axe. I was never interested in that axe before as it looked to be so far from optimal, but that review made me curious enough to get one to see what is going on with it.

-Cliff
 
Cliff, I would greatly like to know your thoughts on the Roselli when you test it. If you don't post a review, would you please email me your thoughts on the Roselli ax. For myself, I would primarily use it as a hunting/camping tool and as a woods tool secondarily.
 
I would also like to see a review of the roselli; I've been curious about it for some time.
 
I got the Roselli, the idea that this can out chop or out cut a similar sized GB is just ridiculus in the extreme. The bit on it is thicker than the bit on the GB full splitting maul. Specifically its hit 1/4 thickness in less than half an inch back from the edge, on the GB maul its about 0.60" back. There is no relief grind to the edge, its just one large v-taper. When I get my digital camera I'll take some pictures because it sounds like this is an exaggeration, however it it isn't. The bit is massively thick.

It came not overly sharp, no shaving ability, could not slice paper at all, so no light cutting possible, no meat work for example. I used it compared to an RTAK from Ontario and even with its huge hef advantage, being much heavier than the RTAK with a much more forward balance, the RTAK actually got better penetration on hard woods. The axe could however cut dead limbs easier, as in putting them on a block and sectioning them, because the impact energy was high enough to actually break the wood.

I split up a hanfl dozen rounds into thin splits and while it worked, I would vastly have preferred my GB Wildlife hatchet. The bit on the Roselli is so think that it would bounce otu of the wood on occasion, and was difficult to actually stick in the cutting block for the exact same reason.

I also really didn't like the way the handle runs at the bottom, it curves the exact opposite way all axe handles I have used. This will take some getting used to. Its also a bit too thin, though it does choke up very well. But since this just held with the RTAK, it would be blown away by any similar GB hatchet. I'll compare it to the much smaller Wildlife hatchet from GB next week.

-Cliff
 
Thanks, Cliff. So what are the best uses of the Roselli in your opinion.
BTW, if the prices at Kellam knives reflect the whole Roselli market, they just went up about 30%. OUCH!
 
beyondmyken said:
anyone have experience with one of these? They are rather pricey but have a unique look. There has been 1 review on the outdoors forum but I haven't seen much else. I am looking for a short ax that can be used primarily on game animals, the ulu shape of the Roselli appeals to me for this purpose. Any wood use ie splitting, limbing would be a secondary purpose. I have only been able to find 2 US suppliers Kellam knives and world knives, any others out there?
Click to expand...
http://www.knifecenter.com has them for $99.95 and $94.95...
They also have the Uluchet for $99.95!
 
The very thick edge makes it a decent splitting axe, but I would still prefer my GB for thisas the Roselli can bounce out, and takes a lot of force to go in. As noted, the GB splitting maul is thinner.

The only real use would be in such a situation where you wanted extreme edge durability because this thing could slam into a concrete block with little effect, assuming the steel is decent anyway.

I am just glad I didn't waste my time picking up a small forest axe for comparison, as that would have been no contest at all.

-Cliff
 
Ok, so we have a rather EXTREME discrepancy between the reviews of Cliff and JM.

I know that people can disagree on OPINIONS, but this seems to be a LOT more than that...

One review says that it is one of the best cutters he has ever used, and the other that is is barely acceptable.



WTF???
 
There is no way this axe could come close to the GB performance of even the mini, the bit is simply too thick. When I put up some shots of it compared to the GB maul you will be simply shocked - I know I was.

Just draw it on a piece of paper, extend a fifteen degree angle back with no promary grind and see just how thick the bit gets.

Yes, the head is nicely centered, the axe has a nice heft, you can chop with decent precision, however all of this doesn't compensate for the fact that the edge is so thick it takes massive energy to push it through the wood.

The only way this could keep up with the GB axe is if you missed one out of every 2-3 hits with the GB axe.

The other thing is that the bit is actually fairly shallow, on really soft woods, the relative penetration is going to be even worse. I'll hopefully get a chance to do a direct comparison this weekend.

-Cliff
 
Well, I have been looking at this ax for about 3 years and finally just told myself to get it and be done with it. Unlike Cliff's ax, mine shaves paper quite well. I got the Roselli to see how well it renders game animals into possession, I hope to be able to tell before the year is over. It chokes up very well and feels balanced in the hand to me. I will check the woodworking stuff as well but mostly what I would do is split some firewood. I still respect Cliff's opinions and await his testing.
 
Initial sharpness varies, even with GB aces I have seen some much sharper than others. I sharpened this the weekend to a fine shaving finish which took little time, a few minutes the bit responded quite well.

I used it on some slightly seasoned pine (<1 yr) as well as some really old and knotty spruce. The relative performance compared to the GB Wildlife was 74 +/- 4 % through 26 sections of wood cut.

The power on the impacts is *much* greater, based on the mass and greater handle length it should be about double, thus the efficiency of the axe is low, ~37% of the GB hatchet.

It does have a large advantage in regards to cutting very hard woods. With the bit so thick I just blasted into the hardest knots, cleaving them off the sides of the stick with absolutely no hesitation. If I tried this with the GB the edge could get damaged.

The temp was about zero, and even lower I would not be concerned about the edge on this, even on thick bone cutting it should hold up fine. I only had a few chicken and pork bones and it readily tore into them with no problems.

For regular cutting, it is also far behind the GB axe, it takes ~63 +/- 2 lbs to press cut 3/8" hemp, far much more force than the GB hatchet, which again isn't surprising as the bit is so thick.

It depends on what you want, for general wood craft, this is far behind, but it is a lot more durable. Though you could simply put a 22 degree microbevel on the Gb hatchet and have a similar high level of durability with a lot more cutting ability.

Handles well though, nice balance, head seems strongly attached, etc. .

-Cliff
 
I own both Roselli axes, the larger and the smaller handle one. Perhaps my applications for these axes are somewhat different than most of the people on this forum. I use axes for primitive skills, specifically for rough shaping staves that will be used to make self bows. Here are some points about the Roselli axes:
1) These are more "all purpose" or multi-tool axes than either the GB or other small axes like the Wetterlings. You can use them for close in work which is very important when shaping a bow, or carving a bowl.
2) These axes tend to glance off the wood if not held properly, but I don't actually find that to be a big problem since I've learned the proper angles by which to hold the axe.
3) These axes are FAR superior to most GB axes if you intend to do some carving. The only other axe that matches it is the GB carving axe, although I'd have to give the edge (no pun intended) to the Roselli.
4) For all around use in carving and bow making the longer handle Roselli is better because you can work for longer periods without getting fatigued. All short handle axes will have a higher "fatigue factor" simply because of the lowered inertia dynamics of shorter handles.

CONCLUSION: The Roselli is a fantastic axe and I highly recommend it in either configuration. When compared to the GB models it is not that expensive, but you must keep in mind that if you simply intend to chop wood when camping etc. then this is probably not the axe for you. The Roselli is a specialized multi-tool type axe and for my applications (bow making and also occasionally bowl making) I find it to be a much better choice than the GB axes...again, with the exception of the GB Carving Axe.

Hope this will help everyone. Regardless, enjoy the woods and respect nature.
 
Well put, Woods Roamer. You worded quite well what I've tried to express to others when asked about the Roselli.
 
I started a seperate thread on the roselli hatchet a week or two ago. Any of the roselli models, whether one of the two hatchets, or the axe, is very similar in design, shape, and contour. I am in the process of evaluating the small hatchet, but I had to postpone due to finishing the handle. So far I have used for bucking, peeling bark, chopping poles, and splitting. When I first received it I was dissapointed by it's thickness and near convex contour. Also, the knob on the top rear of the handle was completely wrong for me. If I held the handle right at the bottom, in order to get the most leverage, it kicked the entire hatchet at an unnatural angle in my hand causing my swing to feel awkward and uncomfortable. If I held it above the knob I lost fully four inches of handle length, which is a lot considering the OAL is 14 inches. I removed the knob and recontoured the handle to a much more comfortable and usable shape. In my use of it so far it has performed far better than what I had initially thought it would, despite it's thickness and blade contour. Once the handle has fully dried, and I have the opportunity to use it more, I will post my opinions of it. I have posted some of my other findings on the other roselli thread.
 
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