Your thoughts on VG-10 steel

pahl

pahl

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Feb 23, 2002
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What do you think about VG-10 steel?

What do you think is better then VG-10?

Thanks,
Pahl
 
Decent in the areas of edgeholding, sharpening, etc. Where this steel shines is its ability to take a sharp edge. IMO, this steel takes a keener edge than most steels, with few exceptions.
 
gets very sharp fairly easily and holds the edge well. It shows finger prints worse than any other steel ive ever handled.
 
VG-10 will hold an edge as well or better than ATS34/154CM, while taking a finer edge (largely because VG-10 has Vanadium, that ATS34/154CM lack). VG-10 is also is more corrosion resistant than ATS34/154CM.
The only conventional stainless steel used for production knives that holds an edge significantly better than VG-10, that I know of is BG42.
Some of the newer powdered metal steels like S30V(recently introduced in the Benchmade 921 Osborne), may soon prove to be supererior to all of the conventional stainless steels, so stay tuned!
BTW, a lot of info on VG-10 can be found by searching the Spyderco forum.
 
Not a big VG-10 fan, it scratches and chips way too easily for me. I prefer somewhat "softer" steels. I sound like a broken record these days but I feel heat treat and grind are much more important to the performance and durability of a knife than whether or not it is made of some super steel.
 
I think that VG-10 is one of the finest if not the finest stainless steels out there!Never have had one chip and have about six knives with that steel.Its my favorite steel bar none nothing else right now comes close to the edge holding ability of the steel for the price range of the knives that use it.There is maybe better steels out on the market but they come at a higher cost. :)
 
Its ok, about on par with ATs-34 IMO. It does take a finer edge though. But IMO it aint got nothing on BG42, S30V, S90V.
 
I have yet to find a knife in VG10 that will match D2, S90V(old 420V),or S30V in edge holding. Not even close.
 
My only experience with VG10 is a Spyderco Perrin bowie (5" blade) that I acquired about 3 months ago. I don't know if it's the flat grind or the VG10 but this knife cuts like nobody's business! It has made me rethink getting some other knives in this steel/grind combo. I've been super impressed with it. It's cut primarily boxes, meats, vegetables, tape, fruit, 0.105 weedeater cord, string, rope, etc.

So, what I'm saying is that if this is representative of VG10, I'm very impressed. For comparison, I have ATS34, 154CM, D2, AUS8A, AUS6A, and various high carbon knives. Oh, and talonite, which I will leave out of this comparison because I've not found anything that cuts soft materials like it does.
 
I admit that I'm not super-tough on my knives, but still, I have not noticed a big difference between my VG-10 Endura and my ATS-55 Spyderco knives.
I think it's a really good steel though and it does'nt seem to stain as easily as the ATS-55.

Good luck,
Allen.
 
Where can one find the VG-10 endura and delicas? Did the steel change increase the price?
 
I have two knives in VG-10, a Spyderco Police 50/50 and an Endura SE. This steel takes a very sharp edge as mentioned, and holds it very well. It may not hold it as long as some steels like 440V (s60v?) but I would imagine it resharpens more easily.

It depends on what you find "better" yourself. Personally, I don't necessarily consider a steel better that holds an edge a super long time but is a nightmare to resharpen. I'm willing to compromise a bit on edge-holding if it will be easier to re-touch up, will take a scary-sharp edge, hold it well, resist chipping, and resist corrosion better than most ATS-34/154CM/ATS-55.

In such case, my two favorite steels to date are Benchmade's 440C and Spyderco's VG-10. Haven't yet had an opportunity to try the Al Mar SERE 2000 in VG-10.

Jim
 
JJCOOLAY,
So far my VG-10 Endura has'nt stained at all, but my ATS-55 Rescue has quite a few stains (reddish colorations from colored cardboard, not from blood).
But the stains are hardly noticeable at an arm's length.

Good luck,
Allen.
 
mine is hte opposite. My ats 55 is nice and shiny still while the vg-10 seems to have a slight redish tint to it.


I use my ats 55 for everything but the vg10 has not cut many seriopsu things yet.


Maybe just personal bias on my part.
 
I have the VG10 tarnished before (same as JJ)
I've tried the ATS-55 blades from Spyderco, they don't have as much bite asd the VG10. I think VG10 is an excellent steel by my standards.
 
Can anyone substantiate the story I heard that VG-10 was developed for the horticultural industry to allow slicing of plants for grafting with as little damage to plant cells as possible? That it was design as a clean-slicing steel?

Certainly, with the exception of my Camillus EDC in Talonite, my Spydie Viele and William Henry Evolution S07 (both in VG-10) seem to slice more cleanly than any of my other knives (ATS-55 Endura, G-2 Delica, ATS-34 SOG Vision, 154CM Commander, 440V Kershaw Boa etc.) They seem to be able to take a finer edge than the other knives and hold the fine edge for quite a while, though it is hard to quantitatively state how long compared to other knives.

In answer to the second question, I think that Talonite might just be able to perform the role of VG-10 a little better, though at quite a substantial increase in cost.
 
VG-10 is currently my favorite "stainless" steel. There are other steels with more abrasion resistance, such as S90V, but they are much harder to sharpen.

To me, there is a sweet spot somewhere between edge-holding and ease of re-sharpening that I like a knife to fall into. For example, 52100 seems to hold an edge longer than any of the steels that are comparatively easy to sharpen. VG-10, for a stainless, seems to fall into this category for me also.

But like others who have posted on this thread, I am perhaps most impressed by the quality of edge VG-10 will take. That is a characteristic I value highly in steels.

VG-10 is good stuff.
 
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