- Joined
- Jun 29, 1999
- Messages
- 9,767
Ive had a Roselli erapuukko (hunting knife with a wide, sharp-tipped, 4 blade) for a couple of years and found it to be an elegant and useful design: strong, lightweight, with a big useful handle of Arctic Birch, and all business. Roselli makes users out of forged traditional high carbon steel (from Krupp, but I dont know what the makeup is), and he isnt a fanatic about whether both sides match up perfectly as long as it cuts. And Roselli knives do cut. Theyre working blades, with the scales from the forge left on so you can see theyve gone under the hammer.
Ive had an eye out for Rosellis carpenters knife, a somewhat downsized version of the erapuukko, for some time, but was put off by the sticker price and the hassle of importing one. So I was pleasantly surprised to find one at Dick Persons booth down at Whitehorses Longest Days pavilion last week. (Longest Days is a month-long street festival, and we have lots of light at this time of year.) Dick is a near legendary Yukon guide-outfitter who was highlighted in an article in a recent Tactical Knives magazine. He knows knives, and axes, no one better. Dick had what had to be the best display of knives and Gransfors Bruk axes Ive seen so far in the Yukon. His blades included a healthy selection blades from of Russell, Helle, Brusletto, Mora and Roselli, and doubtless a few others I didnt have time to drool over. The price was right ($68 Canadian) so I came home with the little Carpenters knife in my pocket. (Dick also had an Roselli erapuukko in UHC (ultra high carbon) steel, derived from wootz, but the $320 sticker price was a bit too rich . )
The blade is 3 3/8 long, 1/8 thick (just like my erapuukko), and the birch handle is a palm filling 4 ½ long. The blade retains its full thickness right up to about ½ back from the tip, no distal taper, so its not at all delicate. It must have been ground on a fairly coarse slack belt, as the blade has a subtle convex grind right down to the edge; no secondary bevel whatsoever. The blade is well set into the handle, but does not extend al the way through. Im not worried about it working out or loosening, though; you can see epoxy gleaming just inside the small bolster that surrounds the front end of the handle.
The sheath was not as satisfactory; it was the traditional Nordic pouch design that holds the knife firmly, yet allows you to slide it back in (and usually out) with one hand. However, it had slots for a belt loop instead of the more useful braided leather thong, and it was made of a thin cheap-looking leather with no evident wax. It did have a useful plastic insert. Believing that a good knife deserves a good sheath, I cut the original apart and used it as a pattern to construct a much better sheath from tough latigo leather. Then I waxed that inside and out with Snow Seal, adding a folded over belt loop. I had to do the same with my erapuukko. Finns seem to make great blades, but mediocre leather sheathes. I have seen some nifty wood, leather and fur sheaths from Finland, but those seem to be custom work.
I treated the birch handle with a couple of coats of tung oil, which seems to last longer than linseed, and next morning after it had dried overnight, sat down before the big old black Arkansas stone I inherited from a great uncle who was a cabinet maker, and which produces the best edges on carbon steel of any of my hones. About five minutes later I stropped off the minute burr and had an edge that is past scary sharp. Rosellis blades are forged, and seem hard (60 RC?), but maybe thats subjective.
Since then Ive been playing with it, cutting leather (for the sheath), fruit, string, and used it for some rough whittling. This blade flat out cuts! Its replaced the miscellaneous assortment of Frosts and Ericksson Moras cluttering up my workbench, and Im going to test it out on grayling this coming weekend up at Quiet Lake. With the sheath it weighs only 4.3 ounces, which makes it an excellent pick for backpacking. If Id had it instead of my Bark River Woodlands when we packed over the Chilkoot Pass last weekend, I could have saved 1.2 ounces! (And would have appreciated it even more.)
This is more than a carpenters knife; its a puukko, and one of my favourite designs. Its a keeper, at least as long as I can keep it out of my wifes hands.
Ive had an eye out for Rosellis carpenters knife, a somewhat downsized version of the erapuukko, for some time, but was put off by the sticker price and the hassle of importing one. So I was pleasantly surprised to find one at Dick Persons booth down at Whitehorses Longest Days pavilion last week. (Longest Days is a month-long street festival, and we have lots of light at this time of year.) Dick is a near legendary Yukon guide-outfitter who was highlighted in an article in a recent Tactical Knives magazine. He knows knives, and axes, no one better. Dick had what had to be the best display of knives and Gransfors Bruk axes Ive seen so far in the Yukon. His blades included a healthy selection blades from of Russell, Helle, Brusletto, Mora and Roselli, and doubtless a few others I didnt have time to drool over. The price was right ($68 Canadian) so I came home with the little Carpenters knife in my pocket. (Dick also had an Roselli erapuukko in UHC (ultra high carbon) steel, derived from wootz, but the $320 sticker price was a bit too rich . )
The blade is 3 3/8 long, 1/8 thick (just like my erapuukko), and the birch handle is a palm filling 4 ½ long. The blade retains its full thickness right up to about ½ back from the tip, no distal taper, so its not at all delicate. It must have been ground on a fairly coarse slack belt, as the blade has a subtle convex grind right down to the edge; no secondary bevel whatsoever. The blade is well set into the handle, but does not extend al the way through. Im not worried about it working out or loosening, though; you can see epoxy gleaming just inside the small bolster that surrounds the front end of the handle.
The sheath was not as satisfactory; it was the traditional Nordic pouch design that holds the knife firmly, yet allows you to slide it back in (and usually out) with one hand. However, it had slots for a belt loop instead of the more useful braided leather thong, and it was made of a thin cheap-looking leather with no evident wax. It did have a useful plastic insert. Believing that a good knife deserves a good sheath, I cut the original apart and used it as a pattern to construct a much better sheath from tough latigo leather. Then I waxed that inside and out with Snow Seal, adding a folded over belt loop. I had to do the same with my erapuukko. Finns seem to make great blades, but mediocre leather sheathes. I have seen some nifty wood, leather and fur sheaths from Finland, but those seem to be custom work.
I treated the birch handle with a couple of coats of tung oil, which seems to last longer than linseed, and next morning after it had dried overnight, sat down before the big old black Arkansas stone I inherited from a great uncle who was a cabinet maker, and which produces the best edges on carbon steel of any of my hones. About five minutes later I stropped off the minute burr and had an edge that is past scary sharp. Rosellis blades are forged, and seem hard (60 RC?), but maybe thats subjective.
Since then Ive been playing with it, cutting leather (for the sheath), fruit, string, and used it for some rough whittling. This blade flat out cuts! Its replaced the miscellaneous assortment of Frosts and Ericksson Moras cluttering up my workbench, and Im going to test it out on grayling this coming weekend up at Quiet Lake. With the sheath it weighs only 4.3 ounces, which makes it an excellent pick for backpacking. If Id had it instead of my Bark River Woodlands when we packed over the Chilkoot Pass last weekend, I could have saved 1.2 ounces! (And would have appreciated it even more.)
This is more than a carpenters knife; its a puukko, and one of my favourite designs. Its a keeper, at least as long as I can keep it out of my wifes hands.
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