# Global vs shun



## southpoleman69 (May 14, 2010)

Looking at a new knife, And I think I wAnna go with a Japanese blade, but nobody I know has experience with either shun or global. What would you go with and why?


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## petemccracken (Sep 18, 2008)

I really enjoy my MAC knives, having used them for over ten years.


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## brianshaw (Dec 18, 2010)

If you have  a William Sonoma near you, go and handle both.  Some W-S will have a cutting board and some veg for you to use.  If not, bring your own and see if they will let you try them out.  I've never used the Global but don't like the feel of the handle design.  I like the handling of the Shun, especially the Premier model.


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## southpoleman69 (May 14, 2010)

I've heard mac makes very good knives, but with knives I won't buy without holding and feeling them and handling them, and nowhere around me has mac. 
We do have a williams Sonoma around me, but for some reason there anal about that. I've heard that before about using a board, but they for some reason are not to keen on it. My beef is from what I've seen is shun knives can't be used on a stone or a steel, they must be sent out? Is this true? If so i will probably pass on the shun


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## brianshaw (Dec 18, 2010)

southpoleman69 said:


> My beef is from what I've seen is shun knives can't be used on a stone or a steel, they must be sent out? Is this true? If so i will probably pass on the shun


Not true. I've never heard that and can't belive that anyone who has used/sharpened a Shun would ever say such a thing.

Re: your W-S being uncooperative... they must not want to sell stuff. My local W-Ss (yes, plural) generally cooperate with any reasonable request that might result in a sale.


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## southpoleman69 (May 14, 2010)

Well it shows there clueless then. They claim to have a shun sharpened it must be sent directly to shun. Instead of a whetstone, it's called a Wheatstone, like wheat bread. There idiots. Hence why I'm here, getting real opinions.


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## brianshaw (Dec 18, 2010)

A lot of people say a lot of stuff on the internet.  Some of it is pure malarky.

There are people on this forum who are a lot more into knives than I am but I'm sure they will eventually chime in and call that notion malarky too.

The only type of knife that I'm aware of that is virtually impossible to sharpen are ceramic blades.  I believe they do need to be sent to the mfgr for sharpening.

Interestingly, on the info sheet that Shun puts in their knife box they make no mention at all about sharpening.  They say:

"Congratulations".. bla bla.. you bought a real fine knife.. bla bla

"Warrantee" .. bla bla.. FOR COMPLIMENTARY SHARPENING OR REPAIRS PLEASE FILL OUT THE WARRANTEE FORM...

"Cutting surfaces", "Washing", and "Storage".  You can imagine the "bla bla" in those sections.

I do believe that if you are the original owner and have filed the registration they will sharpen the blade free of charge for the duration of the warantee (lifetime of the original purchaser).  I seem to recall that they even pay the return shipping.

To stretch that to a statement that the only way to sharpen a Shun is to send it to them is stretching the truth, I think.


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## brianshaw (Dec 18, 2010)

Re: "wheatstone" -- ha ha ha, that's really funny!  Maybe they are using dried-up bread to hone their blades.

I have received an infraction for posting to the "Professional" group.  My sincere apologies to all for my intrusion.


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## Iceman (Jan 4, 2011)

Take a look here:



http://japanesechefsknife.com/

Nice selection. Nice prices. _(I think anyway.)_


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## crazycookin (Mar 18, 2011)

I used Shun knives, and I LOVE them. 

Its true you can send your knives back to Shun to have them sharpened but I use a stone. They haven't exploded or anything, so I think I am ok. 

I use the full stainless kinds (not the ones with the black handle). I tried every single knife I could before deciding on Shuns. I have smaller hands and I think they fit quite well. They are super sharp and stay that way for quite awhile. Plus, I think they look really slick. 

I love them, and I think they are completely worth the money. I am a Shun fan for life!


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## rgm2 (May 28, 2011)

I use have recently purchased my Global knives and I love them. I really like the handle and have not had any issue with slippage. I have not had any issues with them at all. Shun are AMAZING knives. I decided to buy the Global, because they fit my hand very nicely and they are easy to clean. It also helps that others I work with do not use them, so I can spot them anywhere. 

If you have a Sur la Table close by, they are great about letting you try them and give a discount if you let them know you are a professional.


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## mikez (Jun 13, 2010)

I hope its okay to chime in here I am not a professional chef, but have quite a collection of kitchen knives and own both shun and global and many other Japanese blades... First lol about sharpening on stale wheat bread that's just too funny. Second Shun recently changed their policy it used to be you can send any blade in for fixing sharpening for free. Now they have a company that you can pay to do it... or fill out that form. I broke the tip of my shun paring knife and they actually fixed it and send back the form saying it is not covered in warranty but we did our best to 



fix it, they did a very good job. So for Shun warranty a+. I think the globals can take a better edge but I prefer the profile of the Shun, the warranty, and the belly on the chefs knifes. Do you sharpen your own knives? I good resource for kitchen knives that I have used many times is www.chefknivestogo.com great service prices etc. And some good reviews. Hope this helps a bit.. PS please spend some time looking into some of the non commerical knives as well there are many J- knives that do not have the name shun etc that are a great buy great steel etc.. depending on the task at hand a nice 240 gyuto might do you nice 



mising from this is my amazing shun pairing knife which is the best pairing knife in the world, my new custom carter damascus utility knife, and my global g-16


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