Is denim very abrasive?

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KennyB

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My jeans tore right up the middle the other week, but instead of tossing them out I decided that maybe I should save the denim. Never really know what you might be able to use some denim cloth for... I'm kind of a frugal guy.

Anyway, I'm also kind of a big boy so there was quite a lot of denim there, but my knife did not cut very much of it before dulling almost completely. I had rolled the pant legs up into about 1 1/2" diameter rolls and was cutting off 1" sections, so I estimate I made about 20 or so cuts into denim rolled into 1 1/2" thick.

Should that have dulled my knife very much? I was originally using an ESSE Izula... 57 HRC, about 25 degrees inclusive. So I thought maybe it was just too abrasive for that and tried my Kershaw Needs Work. It's at 59 HRC and about the same geometry, and dulled just as fast.


Is denim supposed to be this abrasive, or maybe it was just the acute edge angles? Just curious 'cause I've never cut denim up before and was surprised that it dulled the edges so much. I've cut through oodles of cardboard with both and not seen the same amount of dullness.
 
Any chance there could've been sand or somesuch impregnated in the jeans? I know it sounds kinda silly, but I can't think of much else :confused:
 
Well, its pretty abrasive against itself if you've got thighs like mine. I guess there's a reason we still use jeans over a century later...
 
Not so much "abrasive" as that rolls of cotton cloth are just plain tough cutting. It's not so much that the edge is worn away as it is the blade edge just gets deformed from the pressures of cutting.

Cutting cotton fabric is one of those cases in which a coarser edge cuts better than a polished edge. It also depends on the edge angle you use on the knife and how much pressure you are using to cut.
 
Denim is pretty dang tough. I've heard countless times that it will work to strop a knife back into shape. Denim also provides some degree of safety in various situations. I can easily see it dulling a knife with it all rolled up as you described.
 
I strop on bare denim all the time, it's just abrasive enough to work a burr off
 
KennyB said:
My jeans tore right up the middle the other week, but instead of tossing them out I decided that maybe I should save the denim. Never really know what you might be able to use some denim cloth for... I'm kind of a frugal guy.

Anyway, I'm also kind of a big boy so there was quite a lot of denim there, but my knife did not cut very much of it before dulling almost completely. I had rolled the pant legs up into about 1 1/2" diameter rolls and was cutting off 1" sections, so I estimate I made about 20 or so cuts into denim rolled into 1 1/2" thick.

Should that have dulled my knife very much? I was originally using an ESSE Izula... 57 HRC, about 25 degrees inclusive. So I thought maybe it was just too abrasive for that and tried my Kershaw Needs Work. It's at 59 HRC and about the same geometry, and dulled just as fast.


Is denim supposed to be this abrasive, or maybe it was just the acute edge angles? Just curious 'cause I've never cut denim up before and was surprised that it dulled the edges so much. I've cut through oodles of cardboard with both and not seen the same amount of dullness.
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One of those cases were both a coarser edge and a more wear resistant steel would have done better.

The 1095 was no surprise, but that 14C28N is in the same range as 154CM so the HT might have been on the softer side.

Not sure what oodles of cardboard means to you....... Neither one of those steels is going to go through that much cardboard when compared to the more wear resistant steels like S30V and up because the alloy just isn't there to provide the wear resistance.
 
25 inclusive on 57 Rc 1095 is too thin for almost any task.

Change the geometry and try again. Most all production knives won't handle much below 15 per side.
 
knifenut1013 said:
25 inclusive on 57 Rc 1095 is too thin for almost any task.

Change the geometry and try again. Most all production knives won't handle much below 15 per side.
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1095 at 57 HRC is on the soft side anyway for a cutting knife, take the same knife at 63-64 HRC and it would do somewhat better due to better edge stability.
 
1095 does have some impressive qualities at higher Rockwell values. The HT is very good on the ESEE blades just not hard enough imo.
 
knifenut1013 said:
1095 does have some impressive qualities at higher Rockwell values. The HT is very good on the ESEE blades just not hard enough imo.
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All of the performance in 1095 is directly from the hardness since there are no carbides to help with wear Resistance being a simple carbon steel.

It is what it is in the bigger picture comparing it with the high alloy steels.
 
It's like taking a lansky, sharpening both sides to a 17 degree edge, you now have a 34 inclusive on the knife.
 
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