That really answers my question lol, I have a whole bunch of Rinaldis (whish they where easier to get) and have tested them on dried live oak logs without issue. Their price tag makes it easier to just try and see what happens. Do you know why the Rinaldi pattern axes are so different from what's available from northern Europe?
As to the last question,i'd say that the (many) patterns that Rinaldi produces are distinct not because of being made by Rinaldi-but because they're So due to the different Tasks that they evolved to address.
So possibly you're comparing them to the tools made for different purpose,wheresoever they may've been made,Northern or Southern Europe.
If you look at some specific pattern,like some vineyard tool,and it's Northern counterpart,you may not see that much difference.
I watched a part of a cool video about harvesting Cork oak bark today,they had a distinct pattern of axe they were using,so if you look at the area where Cork oak hangs out,i don't think you'll see an impressive difference in shape of axe.
"North" in Europe is a relative deal...North to the hardwoods of France and Germany?...Or Way North,to the conifers in Scandinavia?
I don't know too many details about the axes of say Iberian peninsula,but i did briefly cruised through there when a (very) young hippie freak.
I was living in PNW then,and was amused at the toy logging they were doing deep in the Pyrenees,those spruce or pine were not very large.And that's the North of Southern Europe,i'd say.And i'm Sure that Basques,involved with ironworking since ancient times,had their own pattern for this,before chainsaws.
South of there the terrain and climate change,very different forests,and crops and consequently the tools used.
Pyrenees,as well as all the other sources of iron ore/centers of tool-making tradition were known since Celtic times.Such sites go on East of there clear around Mediterranean,and each region had their oaks or cedars or olives to cultivate et c.,the tool-making tradition following the usage,regionally.
