Just Received Global Ikasu Set

[Luke]

I recently ordered and received a set of Global Knives this supplier:

http://www.everten.com.au/product/Global-Knife-Block-Set-Ikasu.html

I'm updating from a very ordinary set of Mundial's I have had for years. A few things I have noticed:

(a) They are very lightweight.

(b) The handle is very different. It might take a little getting used too.

© They are pretty sharp out of the box, but not super sharp.

(d) They are all convex edged.

I have heard it can be a nightmare to try an remove the burr from this type of steel, but I plan to regularly maintain the edge with the Bark River leather strop/hone and green/black compounds.

I'd be interested in others experience with them.

Cheers

Luke

[mtigges]

That is ONE HELL OF A GOOD PRICE.

I own one global knife. A santuko (is that the right spelling?). I have one high end Japanese chef knife, and a shun santuko. The Shun is their "sumo" santuko, it's not really santuko, but is a nice thick heavy knife to work with.

I have recently returned to using the global more and more. I'm loving the lightness. It makes it a joy to use in some situations. Fast chopping of small items (radishes, garlic, particularly), and other light duty tasks.

As for sharpening. The harder steel on these knifes compared to german style does present a maintenance challenge. I use an edgepro apex for sharpening and have nothing but good things to say about that tool. Just make sure that honing you use a ceramic steel as the steel in your new knifes may chip against a metal steel.

Chad did a knife maintenance course on eG a couple years ago. Very good info in there.

[Hiroyuki]

I have one Global santoku (G-46) (not santuku), which weighs 170 g, and I don't think it's particularly light.

As for maintenance, here is general information on the manufacturer's website:

http://www.yoshikin.co.jp/w/maintenance/maintenance_01.html

[paulraphael]

A ceramic steel will chip a knife every bit as easily as a metal one. The questions are how thin is knife's edge geometry, and how brittle is its metal. Global knives aren't particularly thin or brittle, so chipping isn't much of an issue.

Ceramic steels work a bit differently than metal ones; they're abrasive and actually grind the blade slightly. They're coarse compared with fine stones, so you want to avoid them if you polish your blades with anything higher than 2000 grit or so.

People complain about sharpening difficulties not because the steel is hard (it's fairly soft by Japanese standards) but because it's gummy and doesn't let go of a bur. If you don't get rid of the bur, you end up with a wire edge ... the knife can still be extremely sharp, but the edge will be fragile and short-lived. It's likely that most cooks use knives with wire edges and don't even know it. I personally find it very difficult to get the last remains of the wire off of my chef's knife, and it's made out of much friendlier steel than the globals.

To put it in perspective, Dave Martell of Japanese Knife Sharpening said he's given up on sharpening globals on stones; he uses a belt sander just like he uses on German knives. I assume this means he hasn't found a workable solution to the wire edge issue with global's metallurgy.

[Luke]

My belief (right or wrong) is that regular edge maintenance with a leather hone and black/green abrasive compounds should avoid the need for re-grinding and thus burr removal. I'll let you know how I go with the leather hone.