VG-1 is one of the real foundations of stainless steel cutlery. This steel is hard, durable, wear-resistant, and rust-resistant, making it an ideal material for knives. Our G-LINE Series, one of our oldest and most well-known series uses this steel. But is it the steel for you? This blog explores its benefits, and compares it to the more recent VG10 Stainless Steel.
VG-1 (also known as V1/V-Gold #1) is a material with the hardness of steel, but with rust-resistant characteristics. It is a reliable steel material that has many fans even today when VG10 and Powdered High-Speed Steel are popular.
About 30 to 40 years ago, stainless steel knives were mostly made of steel with a carbon content of about 0.6%, such as AUS-6 steel and 420-J2.
Since the carbon content and hardness are almost proportional, the sharpness was inevitably inferior to that of SK material (0.9-1% carbon content) and White Steel #2 (1.05-1.15%), which had been used since those times.
However, stainless steel is attractive because it does not require care to prevent rust.
Knowing this, our store manager at that time (who is still the manager today) called on various factories 40 years ago and launched our G-Line series (VG-1 Steel, 0.95-1.05% carbon content).
When the first factory that was approached to produce these knives began production, our first batch of nearly 1,000 knives made was too hard and all the knives broke.
However, after reviewing the entire process of hardening, distortion removal, and blade setting, the G-Line series using VG-1 Steel was finally completed and was well accepted by customers at the time, and has become a long-selling kitchen knife that is still loved by customers today in the current era, decades later.
Steel material is crucial for indicating a knife's initial performance (amongst many other things related to craftsman ability and more). Below are some comparisons to give you some understanding showing what a particular step of the process does in terms of impacting sharpness, balance and maintainability.
Steel material is crucial for indicating a knife's initial performance (amongst many other things related to craftsman ability and more). Below are some comparisons to give you some understanding showing what a particular step of the process does in terms of impacting sharpness, balance and maintainability.
| Steel Material | Heat Treatment/Forging | Edge Sharpening | Handle Attachment | |
| Sharpness | ○ | ◎ | ◎ | |
| Balance | | △ | △ | ◎ |
| Maintainability | ◎ | ○ | ○ | |
| Steel Material | Heat + Forging | Making Edges | Handle Attach. | |
| Sharp. | ○ | ◎ | ◎ | |
| Bal. | | △ | △ | ◎ |
| Maint. | ◎ | ○ | ○ | |
There’s three key pointers in the above chart to focus on.
Steel Material has a large impact on sharpness and maintainability (ease of sharpening and resistance to rust).
Apart from sharpness, heat treatment and the sharpening process in knife creation also have a large impact on sharpness.
Measuring a knife’s strengths is more than just its sharpness. Balance and maintainability also need to be considered.
Based on the above steel mapping chart, VG-1 Steel falls in this position on the graph below
It is difficult to express steel materials with just a mapping diagram like this, but VG-1 is especially tricky to discuss. For example, there's many cases where VG-1 Steel can cut for a longer time or be more difficult to sharpen in comparison to Silver Steel #3.
No matter what though, it is rust-resistant, sharp and long-lasting. Additionally, it's relatively inexpensive compared to its peers - which may be one of the contributing factors to its popularity.
All the things you want in a knife at an inexpensive price!
There’s three key pointers in the above chart to focus on.
Based on the above steel mapping chart, VG-1 Steel falls in this position on the graph below
It is difficult to express steel materials with just a mapping diagram like this, but VG-1 is especially tricky to discuss. For example, there's many cases where VG-1 Steel can cut for a longer time or be more difficult to sharpen in comparison to Silver Steel #3.
No matter what though, it is rust-resistant, sharp and long-lasting. Additionally, it's relatively inexpensive compared to its peers - which may be one of the contributing factors to its popularity.
All the things you want in a knife at an inexpensive price!
By definition, stainless steel is meant to be rust resistant and thanks to the high addition of chromium, this is indeed the case. However, there is also a higher level of carbon than other stainless steels, which slightly nullifies this benefit. This does make it easier for VG-1 Steel to rust compared to some others.
Further, the rusting process is different to carbon steel where the material turns brown. In this case, various little white pits will appear in the blade itself, so please make sure to maintain and care for these knives well. We have a blog dedicated to knife care, so please read that for more information.
Let’s quickly recap the four key points of VG-1 Steel here
We have an incredibly large selection of knives using VG-1 Steel, including special styles of knife that you don't often see in stainless steel like usuba knives for vegetables. Take a look at our G-Line series for more knives!
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