How to sharpen dull global kitchen knives on a sharp maker?

[Jroest]

Dear All,

Newbie posting here.

I have bought the sharp maker recently with the intention of sharpening a rather extensive and dull set of global kitchen knives. I have had a go on the 30 degree setting followed by the 40 degree setting. Many strokes, very unimpressive results. My knives are still spoons.

My question to you, illustrious afficionados of knifedom - which angle and approach should I be pursuing with these knives? It almost feels as if I have bought the wrong tool for the job.

Any guidance or similar experience with said brand and knives would be very much appreciated.

[Tdog]

Oops, deleted double post.

[Cujobob]

I don't know what angle those knives are set for from the factory, but the first sharpening may be more time intensive because you are re-profiling, changing the edge angle and removing more steel than in a typical sharpening session. A trick many use is to put sharpie on the edge to make sure they're hitting the edge and not the shoulders. If the sharpie isn't removed after a few passes, you aren't hitting the edge.

[Tdog]

Hi Jroest, welcome to the forum. This is a great place, with lots of fine folks. A quick look at the Global site says their knives should be sharpened at 10 to 15 degrees, so the Sharpmaker should work well. If the knives are really dull it may take some time with the stones that come with the Sharpmaker. There are videos on using the Sharpmaker that should help. Also numerous other threads on the forum discussing techniques to give good outcomes. Do a search for "sharpmaker" you'll have plenty to read. :D You may wish to consider getting a set of the diamond rods which will speed up things considerably. I find that once a knife is sharp, it's much better to do quick touch-ups and not let the blade get really dull. Take care. :spyder:

[sal]

Hi Jroest,

Welcome to our forum.

Your're going to need to re-profile. A very coarse stone at a very low angle would be my suggestion. I believe Global knives are AUS-6. You could use a Sharpmaker, brown stone, corners only and patience. It will take many strokes to re-profile. You could add Diamonds or CBN, they work well, but are expensive.

sal

[tripscheck'em]

Grind out the chips with a coarse stone, a budget Norton crystolone will do.

To know when to stop on the coarse stone, do the light test. Flip the blade over, edge pointing up into the light. If you see reflections on the edge, keep grinding. If not, you're ready to move to the Spyderco ceramics.

[Jroest]

Dear All,

All these reactions in less than 12 hours!

Testament to the community you have here, great to see and now be a part of.

Lots of things to try. I will start with the sharpie method and reprofile if needed, possibly with ceramics. Will be home in a few weeks, give it a go and report back.

Many thanks tdog, sal, cujobob and tripscheck'em for taking the time to explain to a newbie.

[Johnnie1801]

Welcome to the forum Jroest, I think if you follow Sal's advice above you'll be good to go, he did invent the Sharpmaker after all :D

[Jroest]

Thanks for letting me know. Goes to my point about this being a good forum and obviously a strong community.

I will report back with my experiences so as to make a modest contribution of my own.

Thanks all.

[awa54]

If you aren't cutting bones, really hard root veg. or squash shells, I'd suggest skipping the 40 deg. microbevel and just finishing the edge at 30 deg.

I love the ergos of my Global knives, but the steel drives me crazy... wish they would update to a better (read; harder and/or more wear resistant) steel than AUS6!

[PayneTrain]

Ah, I know exactly what you're going through! I have been trying to revive my mother's kitchen knives which haven't ever been sharpened that I know of and have so many chips they might as well be serrated! I've been using the CBN rods, though I've been using the flats instead of the corners as Sal suggested. Still, after a while they do come back to life. When you think about what exactly you're trying to do, that is grind quite a bit of hardened steel away by hand, it's understandable that it will take enough time to warrant a comfy chair and a cold beer!