Sharpening stones.

Global stones are okay, but somewhat overpriced for what they are.  Shun, the same but more so.  Wusthof the same but even more so. 

Buy 8", not 6", and calculate prices accordingly.

• How much are you willing to spend? 

• Can you already sharpen freehand on a bench stone, or is that something you're planning to learn. 

• How much time are you willing to devote to learning?

• If there's another sharpening method which is almost but not quite as flexible, almost but not quite as good, and in the same price range as appropriate stones, but a lot easier to learn and use, would you prefer that? 

If you're not already committed to benchstones, and if your knives are either all Global or Global plus other knives which can hold a 15* edge angle, and you don't want to make a big deal about sharpening, then your best bet is the Global MinoSharp Plus 3 at 56 AUD.   

BDL

Oil stones are marginal for Globals.  Water stones are better.  Despite the manufacturer/retailer's (true) claim that the Wustof stone works as well with water as with "honing oil," the Wustof oil stone IS an oil stone, way too coarse for your knives, and generally NOT a good choice for your Globals.

Globals are made with a proprietary alloy developed for Yoshikin (who makes Global) called Cromova 18 which is very tough because it has so much chromium; but it's also fairly strong and Yoshikin/Global does a good job of hardening.  Global knives can be sharpened profitably on good oil stones (there are better choices than the ones branded as "Wusthof"), but slow stones are highly problematic for beginning sharpeners, and even very good oil stones run slow compared to good water stones.

Globals sharpen better on water stones -- the faster the better.  The Global/Minosharp brand is not a bad choice -- although in the US they're overpriced for what the are.  But you seem to have an affection for things Global so the branding might be enough of an extra to justify their purchase.  

In any case, you should start learning with two stones, one medium/coarse (around 1,000# JIS) and the other medium/fine (around 3,000# - 5,000# JIS).  After you've learned to sharpen with those, you can add a coarse stone for thinning. 

If you're like most people, it will take you quite a while to sharpen better on bench stones than with a MinoSharp Plus3. 

BDL

I don't know how much shipping to Australia will cost or if this will fit your needs, but given the price you should give this a look.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nathan Kreider 

I've decided on buying a 240/1000 grit stone by Global from a local Kitchenware store near my house, ironically, named House, for $90. 

 

I have one more question, I want to buy a nice set of wooden handled knives, I like Shun knives, but I was wondering if anyone knew of any knives that have a full circular/oval handles rather than D-shape like Shun? If not, does anyone know of any good ceramic knives? The only brand I know of is Kyocera for ceramics, but I really haven't heard much on them.

 Don't use shun in a pro kitchen. I had a friend who had those and they didn't last long same with ceramic they just can't stand up to the pressure. I have kyoceras and I never use them cause they will eventually chip or break no matter what. Try to find a 1000/4000 norton stonehttp://www.woodcraft.com/product/2004486/8359/norton-combination-waterstone-10004000-grit.aspx .  U

I have been reading about japanese knife options and have seen all of these stone combinations that people come up with.  It's unnecessary and expensive to have so many stones.  I have a woodworking background, and need to quickly sharpen blades all the time.

You need two stones.  One is the "honing" stone.  This is 800 - 1200.  

The second is the "polishing" stone.  This is 4000 - 8000.  8000 is a near mirror polish.  Anything higher is overboard.  And costs as much as a monthly payment for your car. 

Buying stones in steps in between is unnecessary.  The 8000 can handle it.

You only need a lower grit stone (for grinding) if something awful happens to your knife.  Like you drop it on the floor.  Or if you let the edge fail - because these knives are so hard, once they dull to a certain point, the edge fails.  Spectacularly.  And it chips everywhere.  So hone before edge failure.

You can get a norton 1000/8000 combination stone for $65 dollars at lie-nielsen.  You can flatten them any number of ways, but for a knife, not super critical.  And all synthetic waterstones will sharpen your knives.  They're all made from the same stuff, and can sharpen things that are rockwell 66.