Hi guys, I picked up an Izula to use at my current part time job, overnight at Target, so it involves lots of opening and breaking down boxes. While I realize that a dedicated box cutter works better, it's the one pleasure I get out of that place, to be able to be able to use my knives freely. But i've run into a slight problem.
Excited about using my knife, I began use it to cut the packing tape, and break down the occasional box into smaller portions. I'd say, 75% of the cutting time on packing tape, 25% actually cutting boxes. And by the end of the first hour, my edge was pretty much blunted. Razor sharp, to being able to run my finger across it.
At first, I thought, okay, maybe the tape is gunking up the blade or something. So I cleaned it that night, sharpened it with my sharpmaker on the 40 degree setting, all the way up to the ultra-fine rods, and then went to work again. Instead, I only used it to cut the few boxes that I had to break down, and no tape. I used my Gerber EAB box cutter for the tape. And again, by the end of the first hour, after maybe 5-10 boxes, it was completely blunt again.
I figured at this point, perhaps the edge was fatigued from the factory grinding process. So I took it home, and did the standard 30 degrees to knock the shoulders down, and a full sharpening on 40 degrees from course to ultra fine. I figured that the 'newer' metal underneath would be better.
Unfortunately, that night, I found the same thing to happen. Blunt after about an hour of work. I've repeated the sharpening process a couple times now, with the same results. My Izula just can't seem to hold an edge. My sharpening skills aren't terrible, in fact, I think I do quite well with my sharpening setup. Just a sharpmaker and the Ultrafine stones.
Over the past couple months of working there, i've used a quite a few knives to do this same job. My Spyderco Delica with its VG-10 steel worked incredibly well, burning through all the tape and boxes with only a touch up on the ultra-fine stones at the end of the week. My Spyderco Persistence with its 8cr13mov steel needs a touch up every night, or every 2 nights on ultra fine stones to get its edge back.
Does this performance sound right for the 1095 steel in the Izula? I'm really only getting through 5-10 boxes before completely losing my edge. I'm quite confused, especially when my Persistence is outdoing it. Could it be a heat treatment issue? What do you guys think? And what should I do? Thanks for your help, guys. I really want to enjoy this knife, I'm just not sure what's going on with it.
Excited about using my knife, I began use it to cut the packing tape, and break down the occasional box into smaller portions. I'd say, 75% of the cutting time on packing tape, 25% actually cutting boxes. And by the end of the first hour, my edge was pretty much blunted. Razor sharp, to being able to run my finger across it.
At first, I thought, okay, maybe the tape is gunking up the blade or something. So I cleaned it that night, sharpened it with my sharpmaker on the 40 degree setting, all the way up to the ultra-fine rods, and then went to work again. Instead, I only used it to cut the few boxes that I had to break down, and no tape. I used my Gerber EAB box cutter for the tape. And again, by the end of the first hour, after maybe 5-10 boxes, it was completely blunt again.
I figured at this point, perhaps the edge was fatigued from the factory grinding process. So I took it home, and did the standard 30 degrees to knock the shoulders down, and a full sharpening on 40 degrees from course to ultra fine. I figured that the 'newer' metal underneath would be better.
Unfortunately, that night, I found the same thing to happen. Blunt after about an hour of work. I've repeated the sharpening process a couple times now, with the same results. My Izula just can't seem to hold an edge. My sharpening skills aren't terrible, in fact, I think I do quite well with my sharpening setup. Just a sharpmaker and the Ultrafine stones.
Over the past couple months of working there, i've used a quite a few knives to do this same job. My Spyderco Delica with its VG-10 steel worked incredibly well, burning through all the tape and boxes with only a touch up on the ultra-fine stones at the end of the week. My Spyderco Persistence with its 8cr13mov steel needs a touch up every night, or every 2 nights on ultra fine stones to get its edge back.
Does this performance sound right for the 1095 steel in the Izula? I'm really only getting through 5-10 boxes before completely losing my edge. I'm quite confused, especially when my Persistence is outdoing it. Could it be a heat treatment issue? What do you guys think? And what should I do? Thanks for your help, guys. I really want to enjoy this knife, I'm just not sure what's going on with it.
That is the trade off and why we use the carbon . In the field where time counts it is a lot easier/quicker to return a carbon steel edge to serviceable condition than the stainless. Both edges witll dull and get damaged in field use but we go for the easiest to return to useable condition quickly and with the lowest tech method available (a rock and water will fix carbon steel). 
