VG-10

{{Short description|Stainless steel grade optimized for cutlery}}

{{distinguish|VG-1 (steel)}}

{{more citations needed|date=November 2015}}

File:Camillus_tanto_folder_with_"Titanium_Carbonitride"_coated_VG10_blade--_2013-04-03_15-05.jpg

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.{{cite web|title=VG10 Features|url=http://www.e-tokko.com/eng_vg10.htm|website=Takefu Special Steel Co., Ltd.|access-date=11 November 2016}}

The VG-10 stainless steel was originally designed by Takefu Special Steel Co. Ltd.,{{cite web|title=VG-10: The gold standard of Japanese stainless steel|url=http://www.digitaljournal.com/business/business/vg-10-the-gold-standard-of-japanese-stainless-steel/article/429773|website=Digital Journal|access-date=11 November 2016}} 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.{{Cite web |title=Original blade steel｜Takefu Special Steel Co., Ltd. |url=https://e-tokko.com/original.php?lang=en |access-date=2023-12-21 |website=e-tokko.com}} 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,{{cite web|title=DELICA 4 LIGHTWEIGHT BLACK|url=http://www.spyderco.com/catalog/details.php?product=209|website=Spyderco|publisher=Spyderco}}{{cite web|title=DELICA 4 LIGHTWEIGHT BLACK|url=http://www.kizer-tbt.com/product-6-1.html|website=Kizer|publisher=Kizer}} SOG categorizes VG-10 as its highest grade of blade steel,{{cite web|title=SOG Buyer's Guide|url=https://sogknives.com/buying-guide|website=SOG|publisher=SOG}} and Fällkniven uses laminated VG-10 in many of their knives.{{cite web|title=Product information Steel|url=https://www.fallkniven.com/en/product-information/steel/|website=Fällkniven|access-date=11 November 2016}}