VG-10. Am I missing something???

Probably the reason it doesn't get as much press as S30V, 154CM/ATS-34, or ZDP-189, is that there's relatively few companies that even use it. Very few American manufacturers use the stuff at all, even when they farm the work out to Japan. William Henry used to use it (they use ZDP now), some Seki City manufacturers still use it, but other than that, and Spyderco, not many others do. Spyderco is still the biggest user of VG-10, and even they seem to be trending away from it to some degree.

VG-10 is still one of my favorite steels. I love the bite the edge can take, it holds its edge, and isn't a PITA to sharpen.
 
LikeHike said:
Seems like S30V, 154CM, M-2, D2, etc. get most of the discussion and attention. VG-10 does not come up much.
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VG-10 was talked about a lot more when it was newer. It's also harder to find in the USA. Why deal with importation/tarriff woes as a knifemaker* if your customers are already doing backflips over S30V or some other readily available steel?


*Okay, so Phil Wilson and Nozh2002 are using ZDP-189 and Ken Onion is fond of Cowry-Y, but I was making a sweeping generalization.
 
I heard somewhere once (here?) that VG10 was developed for, or at least favored by, Japanese horticulturists because their grafting required a very sharp steel for the most precise cuts. Can anyone recall or confirm this?

Being a true Spyderphile, most of my collection is VG10. I've never had any trouble getting that sharp edge. It helps to have the Sharpmaker, although I've occasionally resorted to my Edgepro when I've gotten used/abused Spydies from ebay.
 
Well I have two knives (3 actually but only two users) in VG10. Both are Fallkniven. I am extremely pleased with these knives and have pretty much given up on my s30v blades of equivelent or higher monetary value in favor of these (F1 and WM1) two workhorses. :D
 
TIZWIN said:
I heard somewhere once (here?) that VG10 was developed for, or at least favored by, Japanese horticulturists because their grafting required a very sharp steel for the most precise cuts. Can anyone recall or confirm this?
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Yes, that is correct. Spyderco was the first to play around with this steel (western company) and in fact introduced Fjallkniven to it even though Spyderco and Fjallkniven came out with production knives featuring this steel almost at the same time. The first knife to feature it was, I believe the Spyderco Moran.
 
My first posting on this forum! I'm considering the purchase of a Fallkniven A1, Fred&Nemo's review of it was just ravingly enthousiastic. On the other hand, according to some, sharpening is not easy due to the convex shape of the edge. Should this be a reason for me to look for a blade that's easier to maintain? Or is the VG10 edge so well-holding it won't need much maintainance anyway? Look forward to hearing from you.

Gijs, Amsterdam
 
jgkort said:
My first posting on this forum! I'm considering the purchase of a Fallkniven A1, Fred&Nemo's review of it was just ravingly enthousiastic. On the other hand, according to some, sharpening is not easy due to the convex shape of the edge. Should this be a reason for me to look for a blade that's easier to maintain? Or is the VG10 edge so well-holding it won't need much maintainance anyway? Look forward to hearing from you.

Gijs, Amsterdam
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Depends on what you are going to do with the knife. If you just use it for cutting cartboard, meat, small branches, etc., then, the blade will not require regular sharpening.

Ik heb zelf een A2 bij de Oldman store in de Damstraat gekocht, met vaste-klant-korting weliswaar. De exacte prijs kan ik met niet meer herinneren, maar het was zeker geen weggegooid geld. De A2 is net als de A1 gelamineerd, maar dan met 420J2. Waarschijnlijk weet je dat óók al, dus alvast excuses voor het wijzen naar de bekende weg.
iig, het belangrijkste blijft waar je het mes voor gaat gebruiken. Voor outdoor gebruik kan ik de A2 warm aanbevelen, bóven de A1.

p.s. met 420J2 zijkanten is het lemmet ook minder gevoelig voor roest... en natuurlijk welkom op het forum ; )
 
I have loads of VG10 knives and I like them very much. My Al Mar SERE 2000 is in my pocket every day. My Fallkniven F1 or S1 are choice no 1 when I go in the woods.
 
LikeHike said:
Seems like S30V, 154CM, M-2, D2, etc. get most of the discussion and attention. VG-10 does not come up much. At the same time (to my limited experience & understanding) it seems to have some of the best qualities of the stainless steels without the controveries of S30V. My VG-10's seem to hold their edges well and to sharpen fairly easily even with my amateur sharpening abilities.

What's up? Am I missing something here???
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In some types of usage that depend on pure edge retention the "super steels" outperform VG10. If I remember correctly, Cliff has done testing showing this. Because edge retention is something you can get your hands around, it receives a lot of publicity. And for someone who skins a lot of deer or similar, it makes sense to have that focus and to look for that property above all others.

But for a lot of folks (like me), pure edge retention is not all we need. We need a different balance of properties. (Notice I said "different" not "better".) I cut things with my EDC that are not entirely proper: heavy plastic, cloth, whatever needs to be cut. Sometimes in cutting these things side pressures get applied to the blade. I need something that retains its edge, but is very tough. My favorite steel for these needs has always been 440C. More recently I have added AUS10, and VG10.

My gut feeling is that I like AUS10 the best, followed by VG10, then 440C, though I have minimal data to support the difference between AUS10 and VG10. (I've just started carrying an AUS10 blade, so far it's awesome, but we'll see over time.) I do know that I find it easier to get a finer edge on the AUS10 and VG10 than on the 440C.

At any rate, for my EDC usage VG10 is outstanding.
 
Your not missing anything! people talk about the latest and what is thought to be the greatest. I have many knives w/VG-10 (Kershaws/Spydercos/and couple of costom as well as several Mcusta's) that are Awesome. I have S30V/154CM/ATS-34 & 55/Gin1/ZDP-189/BG42/Hitachi Blue/n690Colbolt D2/W1 & 2/1095/1050/damascus/420 &440/AUS4 6 8 10/and last but not least H1 blades. Being a member of the general population any of these knives is more than suitable for my daily cutting needs. I have yet to wear one out with EDC use. All I am saying is your are correct some great steels don't get mentioned as much as some of the newer steels. That doesn't make those old steels any less great!!!! ~baba~
 
Most under rated stainless 440C, it is still the steel of choice for high end european production blades.
The reason you get very different S30V blades is some manufacterers under harden it so they can market it as S30V but the average consumer can still sharpen it. VG 10 has not had as much hype so the companies that use it do so because they want a hard and probably not that big blade that is wicked sharp
holds an edge but you may need to use ceramic to sharpen.
 
I just received a NOS Caly Jr. FRN Spyderco in VG-10. Been sitting here reading this post and others while making some fuzzies on a piece of fatwood. Done it for a while and the hair still flies off my arm. One of my favorite stainless steels by far. Tough, very stain resistant, holds a great edge, and sharpens very easily. What more could you ask for is a stainless? :D
 
Thanks for your response (I'll just reply in English, so nobody will feel excluded:) , I'm familiar with the Old man Store, I'll pay them a visit... On the Fjallkniven website, it is claimed a A1/A2 has a convex edge, others, on this forum say it is flat. What is it? Hope to hear from you. Oh, B.t.w.: Best Wishes to all for 2007, let's make it a cutting-edge year!

Gijs
 
But isn't VG10 talked about? I hear good things about it constantly. Don't get me wrong, I love my VG10 knives, it just seems like the fact everyone agrees with VG10's greatness is itself saying good things about VG10--case in point, VG10 *is* positively brought up often. The reason it might not be discussed as much (which is different than as positively) is that there are significantly fewer knives being made in VG10 than S30V. One of the big two companies doesn't even use it at all, and Kershaw uses it next to none (and when they do, it's in San Mai). Strider and CRK don't use it at all. My point is that there's simply less to say about it--much fewer knives come out to discuss in the first place. But the opinion has always been positive, as best I can tell...
 
VG10 is not an ordinary steel but easy to sharpen, it's a good choice in any edc folder.
 
just got my browning ice storm w/vg10 out of the mail box. for $30 i could not pass it up. its the first vg-10 i have bought and it has to be one of the sharpest knives i own. i cut several cardboard boxes up after christmas and its still just as sharp as it was out of the box. im sold!
 
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