Shun's proprietary upgrade: same hardness as VG-10, more alloy, marginal gains.
VG-MAX
For the Newcomer
VG-MAX is the proprietary steel in Shun's flagship Classic and Premier knife lines, an upgraded recipe built on VG-10 with triple the vanadium, added tungsten, and doubled cobalt. On paper it should meaningfully outperform VG-10. In practice, the upgrade is modest: both are hardened to the same 60–61 Rockwell C, the standard hardness scale for blade steel. Most kitchen knives fall between about 56 and 66., the alloy loading is so high for a non-powder-metallurgy steel that the benefits are partially offset, and real-world users consistently describe them as nearly indistinguishable. If you have Shun Classic or Premier knives, you have VG-MAX, so care for it exactly as you would VG-10.
About this composition
The ingot steel problem. The very high alloy loading (particularly 3% V and 3% W) would deliver substantial performance gains in a Steel made by atomizing molten alloy into a fine powder, then pressing and sintering it. This produces very small, evenly spread carbides and better performance than conventional steel. steel. As an Steel made the traditional way, by pouring molten metal into a mold to solidify as a single block. Alloy elements can clump into larger, less even carbides than in powder steel. steel, cooling produces larger, less uniform Microscopic hard particles within steel that resist wear. Their type and size shape how an edge wears and how fine it can get.. Larrin Thomas: "The composition looks way too rich for good toughness for an ingot steel." Knife metallurgist Deadboxhero: "Massive blocky carbides will form when cooling."
The cobalt downgrade. Cobalt's primary function in knife steels is suppressing martensite recovery during high-temperature tempering, useful for industrial knife coatings, not kitchen use. Larrin Thomas: "Cobalt decreased toughness in almost all studies." VG-MAX doubled the cobalt from VG-10, a theoretical toughness penalty, not a gain.
Performance Deep Dive
Edge retention: Theoretically better than VG-10; in practice indistinguishable at 60–61 HRC.
Community consensus from KKF, BladeForums, and Spyderco Forums: "VG-MAX and VG-10 are very similar." If Shun ran VG-MAX at 63–64 HRC, the composition would produce meaningful gains, but they do not.
Toughness: Likely marginally worse than VG-10.
Higher cobalt (2.5% vs 1.5%) and higher alloy loading in ingot form work against toughness. In practice at 60–61 HRC, both exhibit the same failure mode: chipping rather than rolling.
Corrosion resistance: Slightly better than VG-10 on paper.
~16% Cr vs ~15%. Added vanadium and tungsten consume some Cr in carbide formation, so the free-Cr advantage may be smaller than the nominal Cr% suggests. Both are firmly stainless in normal kitchen use.
Ease of sharpening: Similar to VG-10.
Most users find it similar despite the higher alloy content. The recommended approach is identical to VG-10.
- vs. VG-10: marginal edge retention advantage in theory; same in practice at the same HRC; slightly worse toughness.
- vs. SG2 / R2 (Shun Kaji/Fuji): SG2 is a powder steel and achieves 63–65 HRC, a genuine step above VG-MAX.
- vs. ZDP-189: ZDP-189 is clearly harder with better edge retention; not a fair comparison category.
Research Notes
Every knife here is a Shun, by necessity. No artisan or third-party knifemaker has access to this alloy, because it is proprietary to Kai (Shun's parent company). Shun is normally a brand we steer newcomers away from as a primary recommendation, but with VG-MAX there is no alternative source, so it is the only honest way to show where this steel actually lives. Note that not every Shun uses it. Shun lines that do NOT use VG-MAX include Sora (VG-10), Dual Core (VG-10/VG-2), Kanso (AUS-10), Kazahana (AUS-10), Narukami (Aogami Blue #2), Kaji (SG2), and Fuji (SG2).
In the Kitchen
If you own a Shun Classic or Premier, the steel inside is fine: care for it as if it were VG-10 and ignore the marketing about the upgrade. The actual Shun lines worth chasing for performance are Kaji and Fuji, which use SG2. For sharpening and maintenance specifics, see the care section.
Composition
| Element | % | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Carbon (C) | 1.1 | Slightly higher than VG-10; raises the hardness ceiling |
| Chromium (Cr) | 16 | Slight corrosion improvement over VG-10's ~15% |
| Molybdenum (Mo) | 1.5 | Modest hardenability improvement |
| Cobalt (Co) | 2.5 | Nearly doubled vs VG-10, but reduces toughness |
| Vanadium (V) | 3 | 12x increase over VG-10; main edge retention driver |
| Tungsten (W) | 3 | Added vs VG-10 for grain refinement and wear resistance |
Steel family: Conventional ingot stainless (NOT powder metallurgy). Exclusive to Kai Corporation. Composition disclosed only in 2020, seven years after introduction. Not available to any other knifemaker worldwide.
Artisan Makers
| Maker | Knife | Style | Price | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shun | Classic 8" Chef's Knife (DM0706) | Western chef, VG-MAX + 68-layer Damascus | ~$150–$237 | shun.kaiusa.com |
| Shun | Premier 8" Chef's Knife (TDM0706) | Western chef, VG-MAX + tsuchime Damascus | ~$220–$275 | shun.kaiusa.com |
| Shun | Premier 7" Asian Cook's Knife (TDM0760) | Premier gyuto, VG-MAX, 156g | ~$210–$262 | shun.kaiusa.com |