Truper 19817 Miniature Cutter Mattock

Sturdy and sharpe. The “digging” blade is wide enough to improve functionality over some models I have seen with a more narrow blade. The only reason I didn’t give it a 5 is that I think the handle, though sturdy, could have been a couple of inches longer.

sigh where to start the rough grind? the blade that leans to the left? the uneven blade? the off-center mount to the handle? the inconsistent steel thicknesses? the crooked axe blade? i laugh at others comments about the quality of this item, ive seen better stuff from both india and china this is poorly cast steel thats been noithing but roughly ground in the only redeeming factor is the metal is sturdy and can take abuse, and its cheap. but if this was better made it would be far more effective, and safe to use. the handle is solid which is a huge plus. but due to the axe blade being both offcenter and off square with the handle it is hardly safe to the user. please review your castings and grinding quality checks because this is all over the place

Very good tool. Wish the handle was just a little longer.

Very high quality HAND axe / hand trench digger. Good balance, should last many years.

So, if you stumbled upon this dandy little tool and thought about customizing it like I did then here is my entry. It’s not much, but for me it’s a dandy. The factory handle was fit up nicely on both tools. Removing it was a chore and a half. It may very well be the hardest part of this whole job. On to the fire I used a gas forge to heat the haftless head to a nice orange. Just enough to make it malleable. It moved quite well under my hammer. It took a few heats to shape the blade and square it up. I also had to drift the eye back to shape due to a misplaced hammer blow. That cost me two extra heats. Once I annealed the head over night in the cooling forge I was able to grind the mattock teeth down to a more substantial tooth. The factory teeth were nearly sharp and would probably bend or break. I dressed the head and shaped the bit and back to the fire to bang in a bevel and then on to the quench. It actually skated a fairly good file. With enough pressure I could make it bite, but I imagine this is 1060 or 1055 of some sorts.I heated the eye with a mapp torch and watched the colors run. I put a nice edge on it and took it out to test. One inch limbs were nothing to it. I had a wild cherry log about 4” diameter and it cut through it with ease. I’m quite happy.

Steel seems solid, after sharpening I have beat this thing to death chopping roots and have hit more than a few rocks and the edge is still somewhat sharp with very little deformation so I very pleased.