Sharpening a global?

Kitchen Knife Forums

Help Support Kitchen Knife Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
I wasn't using the traditional method on the stones.
I was using a diamond rod, best method if you have the feeling of how to use it,
Or the diamond rod move, on a 1000 grit stone.
On the stone it is a ***** to sharpen.
I tried not to loose that fat convex, which is very effective and my favorite characteristic of the knife

This! Exactly...

I was about to post a thread, precisely that query: wouldn't a noob (NOT saying supersavan3 is) like myself be better to properly and dutifully hone the Global, and then lightly sharpen it from times to times using some med/fine grit... But then before doing so I knew that I had to check first, all chances were that someone had popped the question already... and someone had... and she refused, and it was a world of hurt and chaos...

But still... THIS.
 
I sharpened a global yesterday. It had a weird profile from being sharpened on one of these roller pull through sharpeners...

atoma 400, shapton pro 1k then 2k, done. took less than 10 minutes.

globals are 55hrc lol (measured by the catra lab).
 
Then again I have to receive that crap... and then again have to receive notification that I will get it. In the meanwhile... go Cuisinart!

Tonite the perfect mac' n' cheese with Croque-Monsieur... well I didn't want to build a bechamel for nothing. As I said once, I can make do with what I have; chiseled those onions right, and I can't see the Global not being better than what I have.
 


Tried to listen to it... it was only the same guy after all... and he's "Global" alright. In the absence of at least two different takes on the matter, I still rely more on you guys... Sophism of "authority" and all that... ;)

Edit: I guess it went bad when I saw him pop out the angle clip...
 
I'm all for no abuse... sigh... should have went true J. Should have paid more... should have, should have, should have... should have received notification on that order already.

Thanks inferno!
 
Tried to listen to it... it was only the same guy after all... and he's "Global" alright. In the absence of at least two different takes on the matter, I still rely more on you guys... Sophism of "authority" and all that... ;)

Edit: I guess it went bad when I saw him pop out the angle clip...

But...but...but... it's Mr. Global!
 
Thanks to both of you for your humorous input... and serious one too. I feel at bit better now, thanks to inferno too.

Now if supersayan3 could have his/her input (sorry but I don't like to check profiles, if any concluding...).
 
Just have fun. Sharpen however you like. Yes, it's made with a convex grind. So what? Yeah, it's not some 68+HRC S00PERST33L. So what. It'll do things that some other knife can't. It's like the Wusthof, Messermeister, F. Dick knives. Tough and works.
 
Last edited:
I bought some Globals after reading Anthony Bourdain's book "Kitchen Confidential". I had only had German steel knives prior to that and these were an improvement for me. I have given away some of the larger knives. I still sharpen them and the petty's I have around for some tasks. They do require more of my time to get an acceptable edge; but the people I sharpen them for tend to dull them pretty much before resharpening.
 
My approach for these types of knives is diamond stones, you can leave a fairly acute secondary bevel (10-12°), and keep the edge toothy. 600 mesh grit (DMT diamond "FINE") is where I leave it. Try not to use them on ceramic plates or granite countertops if you make the secondary bevel acute. Otherwise beef up the bevel angle, maybe convex it with a multi angle treatment and blend the shoulders after. Strop a bunch until you get rid of the burr...unless you are really good and sensitive at working on the stones with light pressure and edge trailing. They are not gonna stay sharp for that long, but some regular touch ups on a ceramic hone will keep it going for a while.
 
Last edited:
I don't know why people have such trouble sharpening globals.
So according to these not even the advertised 56-58...

Wow I've bought crap, didn't I? :D
No, they're not crap. They're not hand-made 63HRC ferraris, but they're one of the most consistent beaters in the industry, despite what people often complain about. And they're not that horrible to sharpen either and hold an edge reasonably, albeit not magically long.
 
If you could just have been a tad more specific... ;)

They do behave more like a harder steel, but I haven't seen one worse over all these years, compared to similar stuff. For example AUS 8 will crumble much faster using the same aggressive approach. So I would say not too shabby. They will take a much keener edge compared to any traditional German knife and if done right, will hold it longer (not crazy lond, but definitely not gone after a few cuts). Some insight and knowledge towards this can be found here https://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/threads/stropping-on-medium-grit-stones.43483/ and the idea is important, as the means might differ.
The problems I've had with Globals were related to handle and grip. But I actually had a newer model to sharpen now and it's quite different. The grip is different. The balance is different for its size (some will enjoy the benefits of that blade heavy approach on purpose, although it didn't feel blade heavy as others do), the grind is different (definitely not convex, but with V bevels like a high flat at obviously much lower scale). And compared to the Zwilling counterparts I had as well, it was much nicer while cutting vegetables. It just felt better and effortless.

Since I encountered no sharpening issues with any of them in the past, I just can't say what's so special. Just the usual edge development specific to a knife and usage scenario. I think I've said this before. If you do hammer/nail sharpening, some knives might not be nails. There isn't one thing fits all, the rest is garbage. This translates in usage as well. And with anything, more people that don't like something will say so as opposed to people that do, making small problems seem much bigger than they really are.
 
All this being why I bought it after all. Had some good comments on it going on, but it seemed the sharpening was not easy. All of your insights are really appreciated. Last two posts are soothing, and I'm taking in and slowly digesting all approaches listed here.

I do think. hence why I bought it, that with my kind of use, careful honing and some touch-ups would do the trick for a long while... I've brought a couple of cheap knives back into action by honing properly with one of the cheapest steel rod on the market. A Cuisinart santoku is actually my leading edge since a couple of weeks, and it was crap when I found it in a drawer. It still wedges a bit in inline roots cutting of an onion but then I can do any thickness parallel cuts and it just melts through the onion the way my almost brand new Cuisinart Chef's knife cannot... this of course because the edge, shoulders and spine are about a third of the thickness of their Chef's knives. But still at first it was just wedging everywhere while not cutting all that much. It needs a resharpening, but honing it correctly with its thinness helps in a way I was not anticipating for.

Hence why I was shying away of most German Chef edges and design, often much too thick to do a good job on finer cuts. I was hoping the Global was the best in between before I get to know how much I want of this and how much I want of that and how very much I despise of other aspects. Groping in the dark here. Will figure it out and the Global will help me do that better than a Wusthof or else would have done. And just can't wait to mess around with the Victorinox rosewood santoku either. I thing I'm expecting that one even more to be honest. Fell in love with the Santokus since I had that cheap ceramic one that I still use for blunt thin cuts (say cutting bread into breadcrumbs) now that its duller than an afternoon TV show...
 
*best unexpensive*.... I still regret that MAC weren't offering some kind of equivalent bargain on the MTH-80. This was the knife I wanted as an in between... but its price here in CA is more expensive than some really good entry level J blades. Such a price I could have paid for, but didn't think it was reasonable to do just yet.
 
AFAIK Globals first became popular because they out-cut german knives with sharpness + ootb edge geometry.

Maybe its a nuance to some, but this "wow" factor is worth keeping
and alot easier if you can manage the ootb geometry.

OFC all of this is relative, more in the context of head to head with a wustie or victorinox, etc.
But alot of work in the world gets done with those three styles of knive still i'm sure.
 
Back
Top