VG10 Steel - Stainless Steel

by Sakai Ichimonji October 18, 2023

VG10 Stainless Steel (sometimes called V-Kin 10, or V-Gold 10) is a stainless steel which focuses on sharpness. It's an evolution of an older steel, and is part of our most popular FV10-SWORD range. But what makes it so good and gives it that cutting power it is known for? This blog goes into detail about VG10 Stainless Steel, and whether it's the steel for you!

VG10 Stainless Steel - Performance and Sharpness

Compared to carbon steel, which is more susceptible to rusting, stainless steel tends to slip somewhat on whetstones when sharpening.

However, VG10 Stainless Steel is a very well-balanced blade steel, which combines ease of sharpening with a long lasting sharpness.

The ability of a knife comes down to many factors, but two important ones are the steel material itself and the process of its construction. A VG10 knife that has gone under proper forging, heat treatment and polishing, dependant on the quality of those processes can be a very good steel.

Steel Mapping Comparison

Steel material is crucial for indicating a knife's initial performance (amongst many other things related to craftsman ability and more). Below are some comparisons to give you some understanding showing what a particular step of the process does in terms of impacting sharpness, balance and maintainability.

	Steel Material	Heat Treatment/Forging	Edge Sharpening	Handle Attach.
Sharpness	○	◎	◎
Balance		△	△	◎
Maintainability	◎	○	○

	Steel Material	Heat + Forging	Making Edges	Handle Type
Sharp.	○	◎	◎
Bal.		△	△	◎
Maint.	◎	○	○

There’s three key pointers in the above chart to focus on.

Steel Material has a large impact on sharpness and maintainability (ease of sharpening and resistance to rust).
Apart from sharpness, heat treatment and the sharpening process in knife creation also have a large impact on sharpness.
Measuring a knife’s strengths is more than just its sharpness. Balance and maintainability also need to be considered.

Based on the above steel mapping chart, VG10 Steel falls in this position on the graph below

Japanese Stainless Steel Knife Composition

It might be due to the presense of cobalt in VG10, but we refer to this steel as being able to give an amagire ("sweet cut") when it goes through food, even when the tip has been rounded off!

It keeps its sharpness for a very long time, and compared against other knives of this sharpness level is still relatively easy to sharpen.

Note: Even though it contradicts the table above, depending on the tempering method we find VG10 to be easier to sharpen than even VG1

As a stainless steel, we find VG10 to be a great all-rounder material, with good, long-lasting sharpness while retaining ease of sharpening. It is an amazing stainless steel to work with!

Sharpness, a sweet cut, and ease of sharpening - all in one!

Composition Comparison

Let’s look at the tables below and explore the composition of VG10 Steel more deeply.

MAJOR MATERIALS
SECONDARY MATERIALS

Manufacturer	Steel Name	Carbon	Silicon	Cobalt	Phosphorus	Sulfur	Manganese
	Effect of Material	Hardness	Hardness (⅒ of Carbon) Oxygen Removal	Decarburization Prevention Toughness Wear Resistance	Embrittlement	Embrittlement	Sulfur Removal Toughness
	Listed Value	Average	Maximum	Average	Maximum	Maximum	Average
Aichi Steel	AUS6	0.6	1		0.04	0.03	1
Aichi Steel	AUS8	0.75	1		0.04	0.03	0.5
Aichi Steel	AUS10	1.025	1		0.04	0.03	0.5
Takefu Special Steel	VG1	1	0.5		0.03	0.03	0.5
Masahiro x Daido Steel	MBS-26	0.9	1	0.45	0.04	0.03	0.45
Hitachi Metals	Silver Steel #3	1.025	0.35		0.03	0.02	0.8
Takefu Special Steel	VG5	0.7	0.5	1.4	0.03	0.03	0.5
Takefu Special Steel	VG10	1	0.35	1.55	0.03	0.03	0.4
Bohler-Uddeholm	AEB-L	0.67	0.4		0.025	0.015	0.6

Manufacturer	Steel Name	Molybdenum	Vanadium	Nickel	Tungsten	Copper	Chromium	Hardness Rockwell Counter (HRC)
	Effect of Material	Wear Resistance Anti-Corrosion Toughness	Wear Resistance Decarburization Prevention	Toughness	Wear Resistance	Antibacterial Effects Embrittlement	Anti-Corrosion	Changes in the quenching process
	Listed Value	Average	Average	Average	Average	Maximum	Average
Aichi Steel	AUS6			0.49			13.75	55.5
Aichi Steel	AUS8	0.2	0.175	0.49			13.75	57.5
Aichi Steel	AUS10	0.205	0.185	0.49			13.75	59.5
Takefu Special Steel	VG1	0.3		0.25			14	60
Masahiro x Daido Steel	MBS-26	0.45	0.1	0.3		0.15	13.75	58.5
Hitachi Metals	Silver Steel #3						13.75	60
Takefu Special Steel	VG5	0.3	0.1	0.25		0.25	14	59
Takefu Special Steel	VG10	0.1	0.3	0.25		0.25	15	60
Bohler-Uddeholm	AEB-L						13	59

MAJOR P1
MAJOR P2
SECONDARY P1
SECONDARY P2

Maker	Steel Name	Carbon	Silicon	Cobalt
	Effect	Hard.	Hard. (⅒ Carbon) Oxygen Rem.	Decarb Pvnt. Tough. Wear Res.
	Listed Value	Average	Max	Average
Aichi Steel	AUS6	0.6	1
Aichi Steel	AUS8	0.75	1
Aichi Steel	AUS10	1.025	1
Takefu Special Steel	VG1	1	0.5
Masahiro x Daido Steel	MBS-26	0.9	1	0.45
Hitachi Metals	Silver Steel #3	1.025	0.35
Takefu Special Steel	VG5	0.7	0.5	1.4
Takefu Special Steel	VG10	1	0.35	1.55
Bohler-Uddeholm	AEB-L	0.67	0.4

Maker	Steel Name	Phos.	Sulfur	Mang.
	Effect	Embrittlement	Embrittlement	Sulfur Rmvl. Tough.
	Listed Value	Max	Max	Average
Aichi Steel	AUS6	0.04	0.03	1
Aichi Steel	AUS8	0.04	0.03	0.5
Aichi Steel	AUS10	0.04	0.03	0.5
Takefu Special Steel	VG1	0.03	0.03	0.5
Masahiro x Daido Steel	MBS-26	0.04	0.03	0.45
Hitachi Metals	Silver Steel #3	0.03	0.02	0.8
Takefu Special Steel	VG5	0.03	0.03	0.5
Takefu Special Steel	VG10	0.03	0.03	0.4
Bohler-Uddeholm	AEB-L	0.025	0.015	0.6

Maker	Steel Name	Molyb.	Vanad.	Nickel
	Effect	Wear Res. Anti-Corrosion Tough.	Wear Res. Decarb Pvnt.	Tough.
	Listed Value	Average	Average	Average
Aichi Steel	AUS6			0.49
Aichi Steel	AUS8	0.2	0.175	0.49
Aichi Steel	AUS10	0.205	0.185	0.49
Takefu Special Steel	VG1	0.3		0.25
Masahiro x Daido Steel	MBS-26	0.45	0.1	0.3
Hitachi Metals	Silver Steel #3
Takefu Special Steel	VG5	0.3	0.1	0.25
Takefu Special Steel	VG10	1	0.3	0.25
Bohler-Uddeholm	AEB-L

Maker	Steel Name	Tung.	Copper	Chrom.
	Effect	Wear Res.	Antibac. Embrittlement	Anti-Corrosion
	Listed Value	Average	Max	Average
Aichi Steel	AUS6			13.75
Aichi Steel	AUS8			13.75
Aichi Steel	AUS10			13.75
Takefu Special Steel	VG1			14
Masahiro x Daido Steel	MBS-26		0.15	13.75
Hitachi Metals	Silver Steel #3			13.75
Takefu Special Steel	VG5		0.25	14
Takefu Special Steel	VG10		0.25	15
Bohler-Uddeholm	AEB-L			13

A key difference between VG10 and other stainless steel is the presense of cobalt in the composition. Additionally, the Hardness Rockwell Counter peaks at 60 (depending on heat treatment process), which is very high amongst stainless steels - even being harder than some carbon steels.

VG10 VS Powdered High-Speed Steel

Powdered High-Speed Steel is classified as the highest grade of stainless steel, and it's not uncommon for it to be rated at a Hardness Rockwell Counter of 63, or even higher!

As a result, we often get asked "So High-Speed Steel is better than VG10, correct?" To this, the answer is both "yes" and "no."

Of course, "sharpness" as a concept can sometimes be linked with "taste," so a lot of this comes down to the sense of the user themselves.

Powdered High-Speed Steel can be made frighteningly sharp, make no mistake. However, when that sharpness is rounded off at the tip, it loses its cutting ability very quickly. In a sense, when it's honed well it performs amazingly, but the moment it moves out of that sync it loses performance fast.

On the other hand, VG10 Steel even when rounded off or somewhat blunted still cuts through food amazingly.

VG10 gives a sense of a steel that is greater than the sum of its parts, and cannot be measured by hardness or steel price alone.

Conclusion

Let’s quickly recap the two key points of VG10 Steel here

VG10 is an ideal all-rounder stainless steel that excels at both sharpness and ease of sharpening.
VG10 contains cobalt, which increases the long-lasting performance this steel provides.

We are very proud of the VG10 we use, and many of our knives - even wa-versions (Japanese-style Handle) come in a VG10 variant. They're brilliant for those who want something longlasting, but don't have the time for maintenance duties a carbon knife has. For those who want a premium experience, but don't want to overspend too easily - VG10 is the way to go.