How to sharpen a Global knives

Some beautiful Global knives

Global knives outperform any of the German knife brands.

I know they were super popular in the 70-80s, but they haven’t gotten the attention they deserve. Maybe because they sold so many of them, and many have been neglected over time. Many of the ones I get need reprofiling and thinning, and most have had bad sharpening jobs.

I love Global knives, they are light, they stay sharp, they look good, and they are easy to keep clean. They are affordable and available everywhere. So it makes me sad, to see how many of them are ruined from bad sharpening. Miss-aligned edges, wrong edge formation, and wrong edge bevel angle. Some are so overheated from grinding machines and belt sanders, that they look like rainbows. If they are sharpened correctly, they are one of the best affordable knives you could have.

This is how you sharpen your Global knives

–          They should be hand-sharpened and deburred on stones.

–          The edge formation should be slightly convex on the top of the bevel to blend it into the blade.

–          The edge should have an angle between 11°-15°, and a 2000-4000 grit finish is optimal.

Global knife performance: Catra test of new knives report

The little video above shows what performance you should be able to expect from a newly sharpened Global knife. Maybe not, if you prefer an edge with more bite, but you should at least be able to slice thin slices of tomatoes and shave with it when it is newly sharpened.

It is definitely possible to get a Global knife way sharper than it was when it was new, check Global’s CATRA report on the “Hand sharpen performance” link above.

My process for sharpening a Global knife

1. Assessment is it clean, straight, any damages? This is what I take care of first.
2. I start with a thinning blade right above the edge bevel. 0.2mm thickness behind the edge is sufficient no need to thin more.
3. After that, I set the bevel at 10 degrees with 700 grit Bester. Making sure I raise a nice even burr, before finishing the bevel with a couple of edge trailing strokes.
4. After each stone, I test the edge before I continue. My tests at this stage are, does it bite into my wet fingernail and can slice a hard-rolled Kleenex effortlessly?
5. The second stone is a 2000-grit Bester. I raise the bevel a little to 12 degrees and blend the top edge of it into the blade, rolling it down a little at the end of the strokes. Finally, I deburr with a couple of trailing strokes.
6. After this stage, I test in the same way as earlier, but also make sure it’s shaving sharp.
7. For the final stage, I use a natural Japanese stone. Usually, an Aoto of some kind gives a nice finish and bite. The final stone could be anything, but I wouldn’t go over 4000 grit on a Global knife. For finishing I get very light-handed, to refine the edge without building up a wire edge. I just use edge-leading strokes in this step. And I deburr with one stroke on each side at 65-75 degrees, super light not even close to the weight of the knife, on hard super fine stone 10k plus.

Magnus Pettersson hand sharpening, call or text 310-486-6068 or email.