VG-10 should not be confused with VG-1 (steel).
VG-10 is a cutlery-grade stainless steel produced in Japan. The name stands for V Gold 10 ("gold" meaning quality), or sometimes V-Kin-10 (V金10号) (kin means "gold" in Japanese). Like various other blade steels, it is a stainless steel with a high carbon content, containing 1% carbon, 15% chromium, 1% molybdenum, 0.2% vanadium, and 1.5% cobalt.[1]
The VG-10 stainless steel was originally designed by Takefu Special Steel Co. Ltd.,[2] based in Takefu, Fukui Prefecture, Japan (the former cutlery/sword-making center of Echizen). Takefu also made another version: VG10W, which contains 0.4% tungsten.[3] Almost all VG-10 steel knife blades were manufactured in Japan. VG-10 was originally aimed at Japanese chefs, but also found its way into sports cutlery. Spyderco and Kizer have produced some of their most popular models from VG-10,[4] [5] SOG categorizes VG-10 as its highest grade of blade steel,[6] and Fällkniven uses laminated VG-10 in many of their knives.[7]