VG-10 and Its Relatives from Takefu

Takefu Special Steel is a steelmaker from the city of Takefu, Fukui Prefecture. That is where VG-10 was developed — specifically for Japanese kitchen knives, not for bearings, dies or aviation, where knife steels usually come from.

Takefu’s line-up is long, and all of it is stainless:

• VG-MAX — 60–62 HRC
• VG-10 — 60–61 HRC
• VG-5 — 60 HRC
• VG-2 — 59–60 HRC
• VG-1 — 59–60 HRC, this is VG-10 without vanadium and cobalt
• V2 — 58–61 HRC
• V1 — 58–59 HRC
• SG-2, also known as R2 — 62–63 HRC, powder

Out of that whole list the world remembered one item. Today VG-10 is the most common steel in the upper segment of kitchen knives, largely because it landed in the right place at the right time.

What the name means

VG-10 stands for V Gold 10; you also see it written V-Kin-10, since “kin” is Japanese for gold. There is no gold in the steel. The word in the name marks the top grade in the maker’s internal nomenclature — roughly like “deluxe” on a package.

SG-2 has the same story: “Super Gold.” There is no need to read these letters as a description of the composition.

What is good about it

VG-10 is a high-carbon steel with chromium, vanadium, molybdenum and cobalt added. It was designed specifically for Japanese kitchen knives, and the balance of properties shows it.

Hardness above 60 HRC is not rare in itself. What is rare is hardness above 60 HRC without the brittleness that usually comes with it. VG-10 holds an edge for a long time and doesn’t chip, which is how it earned the “supersteel” label. In composition it is close to the American 154CM, but it holds an edge better and is noticeably more corrosion resistant.

The second merit is less impressive and more useful day to day: VG-10 sharpens easily. Even at 62 HRC it responds well to a stone, and you can take it sharper than, say, Cromova 18. Add minimal care against rust — essentially, don’t leave the knife in a wet sink.

Where you find it

It started in the kitchen, but pocket knives took VG-10 up quickly. Spyderco puts it in the Delica, the Endura and the Police, Fällkniven in the A1 and the K2 White Whale, and AL-Mar worked with it too.

Hardness depends on who did the heat treatment. Japanese VG-10 kitchen knives are usually hardened to 60–62 HRC; Fällkniven takes theirs to 59 HRC — a deliberate trade of hardness for toughness in a knife meant for chopping rather than slicing.

Neighbours by composition

The closest Western analogue is the Austrian Böhler N690, a martensitic steel with cobalt; VG-10 runs higher on molybdenum and chromium. The same company by composition and properties includes the Japanese AUS-10, the French Z100CD17, the Swedish Sandvik 12C27, the German X102CrMo17 and the Russian 95Kh18.

Gingami is a separate line, also known as GIN-1 or G1, numbered one through five. It is described as a variant of VG-10 and is widely used as a substitute for it in kitchen knives: GIN-3 turns up more often in kitchen knives, GIN-2 in pocket knives. Compared with ATS-34 it has slightly less carbon, slightly more chromium and noticeably less molybdenum; nickel, tungsten and vanadium are absent altogether. A good stainless with no pretensions.

VG-MAX is an optimised version of VG-10 with more chromium and vanadium.

Where VG-10 gets ruined

The most useful thing to know about this steel has nothing to do with the steel itself.

Many makers today ship Japanese steel — usually laminated stock with VG-10 at the core — to China and make chef’s knives out of it there. The price comes out attractive. Finish, polish and handle material are a lottery; the quality is inconsistent.

The worse part is elsewhere. Because the technology is poorly mastered, these knives are often heat treated wrongly and ground on stones without water cooling. The steel overheats and the hardness drops. In a Japanese knife VG-10 gives 60–61 HRC; in a knife assembled around the process rather than by it, it can end up noticeably lower — that is, no harder than an ordinary knife at half the price. Meanwhile the blade honestly says “VG-10,” and formally that is true.

The steel grade is a promise that heat treatment keeps. Without it the writing on the blade is worth nothing.

Who needs it

VG-10 is a sensible ceiling for someone who wants a good kitchen knife and doesn’t want to become a sharpening specialist. It is stainless, it forgives ordinary handling, it sharpens on ordinary stones, and it holds an edge long enough that the difference from a European knife is obvious without a stopwatch.

Beyond that begins the zone where every further percent of edge retention is paid for in convenience: powder steels take longer to sharpen, ultra-hard ones chip more readily, carbon steels rust. If you have no specific complaint about VG-10, moving up the price list is something you will feel in your wallet, not on the board.