Rinaldi Trento, Use and Thoughts

Discussion in 'Baryonyx Knife Co.' started by The Warrior, Jan 1, 2017.

  1. The Warrior

    The Warrior Member

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    Took the Rinaldi Trento I got for my birthday, to the cabin this weekend. Had a big ol dead tree on the side of the hill to my cabin, that needed to come down.

    The Trento with my homemade for now sheath. A cardboard Priority Mail sheath, haha. Hey, whatever works:

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    Complete with quick tab release:

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    Unsheathed:

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    Chopping the dead tree. I know it looks punky, but there's hard stuff underneath that outer layer. Wondered how it would fare with such hard wood. Also, notice the rock outcroppings, and all the debris laying around. It looks flattish, but it's on a fairly steep slope. I'm right handed, but this seemed the best spot to chop, so I went with it:

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    Decided to go to the other side. You can now see a bit better how steep the slope is, with my cabin in the background. I didn't stay there long for one reason. More on that later:

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    A nice shot of the Trento:

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    Part way in showed that the tree was hollow:

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    This next shot shows a few things. One, I held the camera as level as I could, difficult, being I'm on a slope. The top of the cabin is running fairly parallel with the top of the photo. I was wanting to show which direction the tree is naturally leaning. Two, you can see how deep the cut is now, so it shouldn't be long before it falls. Three, don't pay attention to my miserable back cut, haha. Once I saw the tree was hollow, I wasn't too concerned about it:

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    Earlier, I said I didn't want to stay on the lower side of the tree for a reason. I have cut down rotten/hollow trees before, and they're unpredictable. I didn't want to be on that side if it broke out and fell toward the cabin. That's also why I had my wife move above me. The first few shots she was below the tree. And, what I was afraid of did happen. Missed the cabin by 8-10 feet:

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    Crappy photos, but you can see where it broke out at:

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    Close call:

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    Close enough to my truck to get dust and debris on it:

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    Yep, close:

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    Anyways, now I had to have to clean that mess up. See the red arrow, pointing to that bowed tree, with the weight of the felled tree on it:

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    I chopped that down, to drop the tree further. You can see the red arrow pointing to the stump:

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    Now, I was worried about chopping the dead tree with the Trento, as it was some very hard wood. After I chopped it down, I inspected the edge, and it was fine. However, when I chopped the little tree down, which I believe to be oak, this happened:

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    to be cont...
     
    Last edited: Jan 1, 2017
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  2. The Warrior

    The Warrior Member

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    A close up, ouch:

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    This is the piece I chopped off. It has saw dust on it, because I took the photo after I bucked that little tree with the chainsaw. When it got toward the middle, where the "black" stuff is, I heard it chip, literally. It was like there was something hard in it. I'm not sure whether or not the smaller chips happened before or not, but I didn't notice them until after I chopped the smaller tree:

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    Before and after, of the felled tree:

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    Some observations:

    I love the look of the Trento, as it looks bad ass. It has a nice weight to it, and swings very well. I had no problem swinging it, and could do it one handed with no problem.

    When it comes to limbing with it, the branches jumped off in fear before it even hit them, haha. All kidding aside, it was a limbing monster. Many times one hit was all it took. It was a lot of fun.

    That said, I feel it was better at limbing than felling. I'm not an axe expert, far from one, but I believe the blade edge has too much length, aka too broad to be a good feller. It seems that a shorter edge would work better for felling.

    As far as the chip goes, I'm not sure what happened. Like I said, it sounded as if it hit something hard in the wood. Couldn't have been anything frozen, as it was 50° and sunny out today. Not sure what it was. I got the special grade, and was razor sharp. Easily shave the hair off my arm. Perhaps the edge was too thin? Really not sure.

    Anyways, chip aside, it was a lot of fun to use. Had a good time this weekend.
     
    Last edited: Jan 1, 2017
  3. FortyTwoBlades

    FortyTwoBlades Moderator Staff Member

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    It works best felling small-to-medium sized stuff and limbing, which you noticed! It can one-hit surprisingly thick stuff easily. The chip was likely a combination of things--a hard spot in the tree combined with side-load from the fibers under tension and the thin edge. I brought it pretty thin, in part because in subsequent sharpening one tends not to match all the way back on the bevel, and instead just sharpen the apex at the desired angle. So file out the damage and it'll be thickened up enough to resist doing it again on ya'. They're always their thinnest fresh off the grinder, and so most prone to damage at that point. It's tough steel, but at 58 RC in a thin section with a side load there's only so much it'll withstand. :)
     
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  4. FortyTwoBlades

    FortyTwoBlades Moderator Staff Member

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    Almost seems like the tree may have had some "mineral staining" which apparently is the result of mineral crystals in the cell walls and have increased ash content, that happen to make the wood there harder? This source states:

     
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  5. Theodore

    Theodore Member

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    Looks like you had a good time and a close call. That
    Was a nasty looking dead hollow tree. Nice get away you have.
     
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  6. The Warrior

    The Warrior Member

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    Could be. Notice in that black area that part of it is thicker, almost like a pocket.
     
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  7. The Warrior

    The Warrior Member

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    We had a blast. My wife was panicking when it fell, yelling "Oh God, oh God!!", haha. I could tell it wasn't going to hit it, so I wasn't as panicky. Still thought perhaps a branch would break off and go through the window, or something. Yep, got lucky on that one.

    And thanks. I've had that little cabin for a bit over 2 years now. We have an absolute blast every time we go. Always take lots of steel with us. Getting ready to post a few photos in the photos of other knives thread. I got the wife a Fiskars hatchet for Christmas, and she loved using it. Luckily, my wife is very outdoorsy. Her dad raised her that way. In a few weeks, we're going to spend up to a week there, for our anniversary. Should be fun.
     
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  8. Theodore

    Theodore Member

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    I would imagine that little tree had some motion while you were chopping it. And the blade was thin. You see this same thing when people chop branches still attached to the tree with large knives. A lot of force and pressure in moving wood. Could just be you got a thin bit pinched (stuck a little) the tree was moving, result.
    Could be lots of things. The edge a bit below the chip sure saw something harder than it liked though:)
     
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  9. Theodore

    Theodore Member

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    When I have close calls I find myself leaning in the direction I want it to go. As though It may help:)
     
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  10. The Warrior

    The Warrior Member

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    Haha. I actually have a video the wife took of it falling, and her screaming, but I don't post videos or photos of myself.
     
  11. The Warrior

    The Warrior Member

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    By the way, I may end up getting a Council Tool American felling axe, and giving it a go. They are pricey though. My chainsaw is much easier, but I do enjoy swinging an axe. Something very satisfying about it.
     
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  12. FortyTwoBlades

    FortyTwoBlades Moderator Staff Member

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    You could always opt for one of the basic models. They shine up nice so long as you have some spare elbow grease kicking around. :)
     
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  13. The Warrior

    The Warrior Member

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    I did think about that, They carry one with a 6lb head, and it's cheaper than the American felling axe, by about half.
     
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  14. Theodore

    Theodore Member

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    You can get a Council classic Jersey for $54 a good review
    http://woodtrekker.blogspot.com/2011/10/council-tool-classic-jersey-full-size.html?m=1
    You can get a Jersey or dayton (painted red, no phantom bevels) 3.5 lbs for $38.
    Personally I am going to pick up a classic and do a review on it.(perhaps in direct comparison to a vintage Jersey)
     
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  15. JAD

    JAD Member

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    @The Warrior -- great post and pictures. I like that your wife goes with you to do that stuff.

    Let's have some more pics of the cabin next time you're out there.
     
  16. erik

    erik Member

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    I would check out a local farm store or lumberyard and see if they have any USA made Michigan/Dayton pattern 3.5 pound felling axes -- that $30-35 will let you know what you think of the pattern for a minimum of hit on the wallet.
    Once you know if you will like it or not, then you could look at the offerings from Rinaldi for weight and cutting edge length.
    Or - if you come to the conclusion the Trento is not for you, PM me with a price or some trade wants and we can maybe make a deal. :)
     
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  17. FortyTwoBlades

    FortyTwoBlades Moderator Staff Member

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    Weight and bit width don't translate 1:1 between American and Italian, I've found. Italians tend to be thinner and deeper in the bit and so they'll penetrate like an axe one "step" up from whatever their head weight is in American axes. For something with thicker cheeks and a narrower bit, though, the Calabria and Cadore models are good choices, and they have a splitting axe that I plan on scoping out in the near future that might work well in the same kind of "all-'rounder" role that most American axes are designed around.
     
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  18. FortyTwoBlades

    FortyTwoBlades Moderator Staff Member

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    I have this baby on the workbench right now. The first offset handle I made for my personal Trento used the factory handle as the basis in the digital tracing phase rather than the bottom eye dimension, so there's actually enough space to get a bit of a knob on the handle.

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  19. The Warrior

    The Warrior Member

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  20. The Warrior

    The Warrior Member

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    Tis a good idea. Here's a video of the Council Tool Velvicut series American felling axe I was talking about:

     

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