vg10 steel

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rctk1

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i just ordered a spyderco perrin fixed blade with a black vg10 blade, can anyone tell me how well this steel holds up to rust,edge holding, if its brittle, or any other info? thanks
 
(Well, before others can say it- you should try the search feature.) this has been well discussed. There is alot of information to be found. I recently got a VG-10 endura and I am very pleased with it. It is supposed to be pretty good for edge holding, and easy to sharpen, I believe.
 
Most people seem to consider VG-10 to be one of the top-tier knife steels. It won't win every category, but it does pretty well in all of them. I don't know anyone who doesn't think it is a high quality steel, though. Although there are some real "steel snobs" out there, my experience is that a decent knife made in VG-10, S30V, ATS-34, 154CM, or D2 (along with a few others) will perform "close enough" that in day-to-day use it's of small concern which one it is made out of. Each steel has some areas where it may do slightly better than others, and each will have some areas where it will do slightly less, but any of them will generally work just fine.
 
I can get VG-10 sharper than just about any other steel, S30V included (and much easier). It does't hold an edge quite as long as S30V, but it's still quite wear resistant. Stain resistance is pretty good, but I have to watch it much more than 440C.
 
VG-10 is pretty close to being my favorite stainless steel. As someone already said, I can get it sharper than I can most other stainless steels.

It holds an edge very well, and is just about rust proof.

My Calypso Jr. is a favorite.
 
You'll get no argument from me.

In certain applications, I lean towards other steels (my whittling knive is D2, my boating knife uses 440C), but as a "general all around" steel, I can't think of much that I'd take over VG-10. It takes a wicked edge, it holds it well, it's realatively easy to sharpen (particularly compared to S30V and D2), and it does a good job of resisting staines.

Oh, and my Calypso Jr. is my "go to" blade, and one of knives I always carry with me. ;-)
 
Agreed.., very good stuff...

I've been impressed by the edge holding of VG10, and as mentioned, it take a very keen edge easily...
 
Cliff Stamp tests a lot of knives to destruction. In one case he destroyed 3 knives with very thin blade contours. The blades were all the same model, but were made with 3 different alloys. The AUS-8 alloy is used in a lot of medium or a little better than medium quality production blades. VG-10 is a step up in edge holding and is found in fewer knives. The D2 alloy is a tool steel that is seldom found in production knives.

http://www.physics.mun.ca/~sstamp/knives/deerhunters.html
 
I think it depends on who you ask really. In an article I read talking about the new ZDP189 steel coming out Matt Conable of William Henry Knives is quoted as saying, regarding cutting tests that the ZDP189 steel:

"does three times what VG will do and four times what D2 will do if the D2 is heat treated perfectly to 62 Rc." He then goes on to say that the new ZDP189 is ten, thats TEN (10) times better at edge holding than the 'standard' steels like ATS34/154CM.

Pretty bold statements for sure on the standard steel comment. Funny I don't consider VG to be better at keeping an edge than D2. Nor do I rate it that much better (if better at all) than ATS34 or 154CM or BG42. They all kind of rate in the same league based on my own experiences and looking at the steel charts and comparing.

You can read this yourselfif you have Adobe on your computer to handle the PDF file at http://www.williamhenryknives.com/awards-press/articles/ZDP.pdf
 
Jeff Clark said:
Cliff Stamp tests a lot of knives to destruction. In one case he destroyed 3 knives with very thin blade contours. The blades were all the same model, but were made with 3 different alloys. The AUS-8 alloy is used in a lot of medium or a little better than medium quality production blades. VG-10 is a step up in edge holding and is found in fewer knives. The D2 alloy is a tool steel that is seldom found in production knives.

http://www.physics.mun.ca/~sstamp/knives/deerhunters.html
Click to expand...

D2 has become pretty common.
 
I've found VG10 to be easy to sharpen, good edge holding, good rust resistance, and not to be brittle.
 
VG-10 rocks! Don't worry about it, I'm sure it will stand up to anything you can throw at it in the course of normal use.

- Mark
 
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