Roselli Axe and Carpenter and a Short Hike

T

Tyson Norris

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Jan 5, 2010
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Hey guys, I’ll be heading out later today for a short hike to workout my new Roselli Carpenter and 18” Axe that I received a few days ago from Ragweed forge. Already I can tell I’ll like them. I’ll take a pile of pics and compare them to a Fiskars 14” axe, Ontario SP8, Gransfors Wildlife Hatchet and Mora #1, I’ll also bring a Bahco Laplander along and share some thoughts as I try to find some wood for an SFA like axe handle.

I’m also going to test out an emergency fire starting method with a tung-oil drenched paper towel and if there‘s enough snow I‘ll toss together a snow cave. Looks likes there’s only a few inches of snow out there now.

I was having problems with my camera but hopefully I can get it to upload the bloody pictures for you. Catch ya’ later!
 
Tyson Norris said:
Hey guys, I’ll be heading out later today for a short hike to workout my new Roselli Carpenter and 18” Axe that I received a few days ago from Ragweed forge. Already I can tell I’ll like them. I’ll take a pile of pics and compare them to a Fiskars 14” axe, Ontario SP8, Gransfors Wildlife Hatchet and Mora #1, I’ll also bring a Bahco Laplander along and share some thoughts as I try to find some wood for an SFA like axe handle.

I’m also going to test out an emergency fire starting method with a tung-oil drenched paper towel and if there‘s enough snow I‘ll toss together a snow cave. Looks likes there’s only a few inches of snow out there now.

I was having problems with my camera but hopefully I can get it to upload the bloody pictures for you. Catch ya’ later!
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Sounds like you have a busy time planned:D

It will be good to see what your thoughts are on all of those and, hopefully, see some pics, too.
 
Interested to hear back. I have been eying the Carpenter for quite some time, so it will be good to hear some thoughts.
 
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Alright, I’m back. It was a fantastic few hours prancing around the woods (did I just admit to prancing about?). Always a good time with a bag full of sharp things! Great way to recharge the batteries for the week. :)

The arsenal:
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The stomping ground:
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Alright so I’ll start off with my emergency fire starting with tung-oil and paper towel test, the weather was just waaay to nice out for this to be any stretch of necessary, but I had to have a go at it anyhow. For ignition I decided to use a Going Gear Badger fire steel, I’m still getting the hang of these mischmetal rods, so it took me a good 30 scrapes to get the pad lit... Once it was lit though it had a very powerful and controlled flame. The spine of the Roselli was nice and sharp. I decided to go straight to larger kindling to test its ignition capabilities (nothing smaller than finger size), this wasn’t an issue for it though and picked up quite nicely. The pad kept burning for quite some time too, a few minutes at least. Depending how it handles tough whether, this may be a viable emergency option.

The ingredients; Going Gear ferro rod, tung-oil soaked paper towel:
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Cutaway of tung-oil towel (I chopped it into two):
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Quickly building:
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Jumping right up to kindling wasn't a problem:
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More to follow...
 
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The Roselli axe comes with a learning curve! It doesn’t handle quite like anything I’ve encountered before. If you aren’t familiar with it the first thing you’ll likely notice is its counter intuitive bit profile. It’s a very obtuse axe with near ‘scandi’ bevels to the edge which makes it act in an unique manner in its contact with wood.

Comparing it to the Wildlife Hatchet is apples to oranges. Their philosophy and design differs greatly. Handling the Wildlife is like a nimble little laser; the Roselli feels brutish in comparison. After hacking apart 2-5” saplings I can say that were I tasked with this for an entire day I would side with the Roselli. Due to the obtuse ‘scandi’ edge and large belly you need to approach your target differently than with a conventional profile. Once you’ve gotten a feel for it though the extra leverage and weight blows the Wildlife away, both in green and dead fire wood. There’s also zero chance of it sticking into the wood. A better comparison would be to the larger Gransfors Small Forest Axe, maybe I‘ll need to get one eventually. :foot: :D

When it comes to splitting, there’s really no comparison out there that I could imagine. It splits like a dream. Cleanly parting 6/7” rounds of ash with a few good hits, neither the Fiskars nor the Wildife have the power or wedge capabilities to begin to compare.

The beard lets you get right up on the bit making fine carving as realistic as possible with an axe, I could see this also being applied well with field dressing. The axe is also very easy to slip into your belt as the beard will hold it firm, it also allows it to easily cling to any nearby branch when you want to put it down. The handle is nice and thick, much more comfortable than the others, and due to the swell in the handle it lets you safely hold it farther down on the handle than with a typical axe generating greater leverage.

The edge didn’t suffer any dents or rolls even though I purposefully went steadfast through knots when splitting, sharp as the day I pulled it out the box. I’ll still need to put a scary sharp edge on it though. The sheath is simple and does the job, I much prefer it to the Wildlife’s.

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Conclusion: A solid workhorse. It greatly overpowers the smaller axes and blows apart splitting wood. The ‘scandi’ edge lets you take great control over your cuts and allows for better fine carving. The Roselli carries more easily while offering greater leverage. Being equally capable with one or two hands is an immense advantage. This’ll be my go to axe.
 
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The Roselli carpenter is a very nice little knife. Simple, practical design and warm aesthetic handles. Even though the NIB sharpness was less than desirable it seemed to turn and carve just as easily as the Mora, a much thinner and narrower knife (and scary sharp). I think its wide scandi bevel is the key to a thicker, wider knife carving so gracefully, the bevels apex seems to help it turn by acting as a fulcrum, the mora doesn‘t present enough of a fulcrum due it being so thin. The edge also feels more acute than that of the mora another more obvious advantage when carving.

The most interesting thing for me was that although the base of the blade is roughly 3mm thick, nearest the tip it is a smidge short of 4mm. It actually gets thicker near the tip, quite the corollary to western knives that slowly taper to increase penetrative abilities. I imagine that this is so that the bevel will remain wide even though the edge is thickened near the tip to increase strength. A clever way to increase strength without decreasing the lovely advantages of a wide, flat bevel. After playing with it for a while and comparing it to the Mora and the convex Fallkniven F1 back at home I began to see the beauty of a true scandi edge. Everything about it is express for woodcraft, carefully honed and thoroughly tested for hundreds of years. It came with a micro bevel and I’ll need to sharpen that away to achieve its full potential. As with the axe the sheath was simple in keeping with the knife and held it firmly in the leather, I just wish that it wasn‘t such an ugly pink color. The edge wasn’t dulled by today’s light activities but it still needs some one-on-one to bring its inner demon out.

The handle is ergonomic even for my extra large hands. Not causing any hot spots when doing powerful hammer grip cuts to remove large amounts of wood. Very versatile as well, quickly lending itself to chest lever grips where the slight pinky finger groove helps push against your hand increasing the amount of force you can apply. Very easy knife to control for fine work.

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Comfortable reverse grip:​
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Detail of spine, its hard to see that it thickens towards the tip in this pic, also, all of those marks are from the firesteel, I count 27, heh heh:​
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Conclusion: Really nice knife. A step up from my beloved Mora, both in ergonomics and carving ability despite its heavier blade. The edge retention is also likely far improved. The Mora remains a fantastic knife with solid performance not to be neglected for anyone, novice or expert. As with the axe it looks like I've found my new go-to for the next foreseeable future.
 
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Thanks for the superb write up and great pics! Very informative, and it looks like it was a great tool. I'm still intrigued but can't quite make up my mind about that relatively obtuse profile.

Your thoughts do mirror what I've read from several other people who own the Rosseli though.

Very interesting to read that you favored the Rosseli handle despite having large hands (an affliction I have as well, haha).
 
Another thing that I wanted to give a proof of concept for was a simple backpacking shovel idea, the pic below should suffice for more information and it worked perfectly well, just as well as with any other handle. I’ll be giving it a more intense workout after we get enough snow for a snow cave. Cuts down on the bulk and weight if your not carrying a handle. Shovels are immensely helpful for winter backpacking.

The handle is held quite firm with friction alone:
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Regarding my Bahco saw, I’ve had it for over a year now and couldn’t be happier. Still very sharp and very aggressive. A solid and forgiving folding saw, allowing incidents of bending the blade when sawing without breaking, I didn’t get any pics though but I used it to harvest a 7” piece of fallen ash today to try to make an axe handle at a later time, it took some time but got the job done even though the space was awkward and cramped. Lightweight, fast and reliable.

If anyone has any questions I’m more than happy to help out.
 
SpookyPistolero said:
Thanks for the superb write up and great pics! Very informative, and it looks like it was a great tool. I'm still intrigued but can't quite make up my mind about that relatively obtuse profile.

Your thoughts do mirror what I've read from several other people who own the Rosseli though.

Very interesting to read that you favored the Rosseli handle despite having large hands (an affliction I have as well, haha).
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I'm just glad you enjoyed it! The Roselli axe is really interesting, you can certainly feel that it's a thick profile when your chopping with it but only more dirt time will tell for me to just what effect such a thick profile has in terms of chopping efficacy. Today seemed really promising.

I do like the carpenters handle, but my hands don't seem to be quite as particular as some of the other XL hands on here, the F1 has hot spots for me but my #1 seems pretty good, the Roselli offers much more meat right next to the blade though so it doesn't dig in as much, among being generally more 'fitted'.
 
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Tyson, Thats a great review. I've always wondered about a bearded ax. Graet now I have to buy one of those too.
 
I love the Roselli knives. Ive never owned my own but from what I have seen and hear they are great knives that will serve a lifetime.
 
Great write up! The axe looks pretty cool. I would definatly like to check one of those out some day. The Carpenter looks like a nice blade, interesting thoughts on the tip.
 
Well Done, Well Done Indeed!

Good Job.

A tip - Leather often benefits from a good treating with beeswax. Here is how to do it.... Source the beeswax from the hardware store, where it is sold as the seal between the toilet and the floor. Nothing wrong with it, if you get it before it has been used. : ) You can melt it in a double boiler, and drizzle it on the sheath. Then, using a heat source, like the radiant heat from a fire or a cheap heat gun, melt the beeswax, and allow it to soak into the leather, and run across the leather, to coat it, gravity as your ally. Repeat until you get the color you want.... It comes out looking very very nice.

Here is a thread for a knife I sold, that shows the beautiful colour of a sheath done this way. A nice detail, is that the edges really soak up the wax, and get dark, which is a nice counter-point.

Marion
 
great write up and cool pics too...:thumbup: i really like those Roselli' axe's and knives... one of these days i'll have to pick one up...:)
 
Marion David Poff said:
Well Done, Well Done Indeed!

Good Job.

A tip - Leather often benefits from a good treating with beeswax. Here is how to do it.... Source the beeswax from the hardware store, where it is sold as the seal between the toilet and the floor. Nothing wrong with it, if you get it before it has been used. : ) You can melt it in a double boiler, and drizzle it on the sheath. Then, using a heat source, like the radiant heat from a fire or a cheap heat gun, melt the beeswax, and allow it to soak into the leather, and run across the leather, to coat it, gravity as your ally. Repeat until you get the color you want.... It comes out looking very very nice.

Here is a thread for a knife I sold, that shows the beautiful colour of a sheath done this way. A nice detail, is that the edges really soak up the wax, and get dark, which is a nice counter-point.

Marion
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Thanks for the tip! I've heard of treating leather with beeswax but didn't know how it was done, I'll definitely have to give it a go. :thumbup:
 
Tyson Norris said:
Thanks for the tip! I've heard of treating leather with beeswax but didn't know how it was done, I'll definitely have to give it a go. :thumbup:
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Welcome brother. If you want any help with it, when you get ready, don't hesitate to ask. And I really think you will like the look you get.

Marion
 
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