Global knives + sharpening

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I own a couple of Global santoku knives (and a whole bunch of others buy Calphalon), and I'm running into a problem.

When I purchased these, I was admonished to NEVER have them sharpened except by people who know what they're doing with Globals. My butcher (who normally puts a ludicrously great edge on my other blades) doesn't think he should touch them -

BUT here's the thing: Despite using my nice ceramic steel every time I pull the blades, they're losing their edge overall. Is there a GOOD sharpening system that won't ruin my blades? Anyone else have any suggestions for the proper care and feeding of a Global?

[KenS]

I bought the water stone that Global sells, and use it about once a year. Other than that I use a diamond impregnated steel frequently. I always have sharp knives.
Ken.

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I bought the water stone that Global sells, and use it about once a year. Other than that I use a diamond impregnated steel frequently. I always have sharp knives.
Ken.

I saw that system, with the plastic clips, on amazon recently. My only worry is that with the pronounced curve of the Santoku blades that I wouldn't be able to get a good consistent grind.

[The Nid Hog]

I talked to the owner of an artisanal cutlery shop in Tokyo this summer about sharpening knives. He turned up his nose a little at a store-bought Global, but he told me that all this fear about sharpening is hype. He said that all you need is a stone. If you can't sharpen it, he said, you have no business using it.

That's what I've been doing with excellent results. For about four or five years, I've been sharpening my Global G-48 Santoku with a "King K-45 Home Stone" that I think I bought in Chinatown in Chicago. They're also available on line--I've seen different ones on Amazon in the past.

If you're worried, there used to be a good video tutorial on Global's webpage. I'll post it if I can find it.

[MotoMike]

What is it about Global that makes you think it needs special sharpening? they just look like knives to me.

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What is it about Global that makes you think it needs special sharpening? they just look like knives to me.

They use a special, very hard steel along with a non-beveled edge that allows them to hold their edges much longer than the softer stainless blades.

[Fnord5]

global

I love them, and they do have a slightly different grind than even other Japanese style knives, just a little convex.

Global makes a handy little sharpener if you don't want to buy the other sharpening system, and believe me, it works.

I had a customer at my last job try and "steel" our 8 inch Global chefs knife, using a nearly 40 degree angle
Visible dings and chips in the edge, almost made me cry.

We also sold the MinoSharp (the one made by global)
its a wet sharpening system, and looks totally hoakey.
It works wonders.
this one has medium and coarse stones:

and this one has a coarse, medium and fine, (fine being used in lieu of a steel)

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global

I love them, and they do have a slightly different grind than even other Japanese style knives, just a little convex.

Global makes a handy little sharpener if you don't want to buy the other sharpening system, and believe me, it works.

I had a customer at my last job try and "steel" our 8 inch Global chefs knife, using a nearly 40 degree angle
Visible dings and chips in the edge, almost made me cry.

We also sold the MinoSharp (the one made by global)
its a wet sharpening system, and looks totally hoakey.
It works wonders.
this one has medium and coarse stones:

and this one has a coarse, medium and fine, (fine being used in lieu of a steel)

ooooo... those actually work pretty well, eh? I was looking at them, thinking about getting one. I've always been told to shy away from "auto" sharpeners though...

[MotoMike]

Hmmm. If it were in fact a convex grind, the sharpeners depicted would eventually eliminate the grind and at the very edge produce a hollow grind.

You can see that by looking through the sharpener along the same line that the knife would follow.

A convex grind can be very sharp on the edge, but has a lot of metal behind the edge as it widens in a non-linear fashion. Makes for a very durable edge, but one that doesn't penetrate as well as a flat grind.

I don't have any convex grind knives and have come to believe their place is for hard use as on a hatchet or axe. Perceived increased durability is not worth the increased effort in sharpening. Sharpening knives and maintaining the convex requires belt grinder or flexible sharpening medium on a rubber pad or something similar.

I am quite sure that I could sharpen those knives with my Lansky. Might take a while on the first go, but easy maintenance from then on.

just my unqualified 2¢

[The Nid Hog]

I am quite sure that I could sharpen those knives with my Lansky. Might take a while on the first go, but easy maintenance from then on.

just my unqualified 2¢

You're right--it's not a big deal at all. I could never understand what all the hand wringing was about with Global.

[TonyH]

+10 on the MinoSharp. I use that about every 8 weeks, and my MAC black ceramic steel every day. My Globals are always happy! I use the 10" Chefs, 7" Nikiri, flexible boning, and several others on a daily basis as the sous chef at a sushi restaurant, and wouldn't trade them for anything.

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+10 on the MinoSharp. I use that about every 8 weeks, and my MAC black ceramic steel every day. My Globals are always happy! I use the 10" Chefs, 7" Nikiri, flexible boning, and several others on a daily basis as the sous chef at a sushi restaurant, and wouldn't trade them for anything.

I would say that this is a ringing endorsement.