Today we're taking a quick look at Chase's favourite knife steel SG2.
Made by the Takefu Steel Company using Powder Metallurgy, SG2 is a strong steel choice for kitchen knives.
A few Alias's for SG2: MC63 ,SGPS ,R2 ,3G
Why Chase loves it so much:
Working as a full time prep cook I could rely on my SG2 to hold a great edge long enough for me to get through weeks of heavy summer season. Daily maintenance was super easy allowing me to get right to work each day. Its a steel I recommend to every cook doing long days of Veg mise en place or even just for avid home cooks looking for something they won't have to worry about.
Here's some pros and cons of SG2.
First the pros:
SG2 is incredibly durable and super hard. Giving it the ability to get scary sharp, with similar edge retention to Carbon steel knives but with the benefit of being stainless.
Extremely fine grained steel that is easy to sharpen and has very low maintenance. This also means it can be sharpened to a very fine angle while still being a very strong cutting edge.
You'll often find it sitting at 63-64HRC on the Rockwell scale.
The very few cons:
SG2 can get pricey because of its popularity.
Some SG2 knives can get microchips due to the very fine edge but it doesn’t affect the performance.
Has several equivalents from other manufacturers so it can be a bit confusing.
Some Fun Science info on this wonder metal:
1.25 - 1.45% Carbon (C) Present in all knife steels,Increases tensile strength and edge retention and improves resistance to wear and abrasion.
1.80 - 2.20% Vanadium (V) Contributes to wear resistance and hardenability, and as a carbide former it contributes to wear resistance.
14 - 16% Chromium (Cr) Added for increased wear resistance, hardness, tensile strength, and (most importantly) for corrosion resistance. Cr forms large, complex carbides.
2.30 - 3.30% Molybdenum (Mo) A carbide former, prevents brittleness, and maintains the steel's strength at high temperatures. Improves machinability and resistance to corrosion.
0.40% Manganese (Mn) An important element, Manganese improves grain structure and contributes to hardenability, strength, and wear resistance.
0.50% Silicon (Si) Contributes to strength. Like Manganese, deoxidizes and degasifies to remove Oxygen from molten metal.
0.03% Phosphorus (P) Present in small amounts in most steels, phosphorus is essentially a contaminant, which reduces toughness. In very small amounts improves strength, machinability, and hardness.
0.03% Sulfur (S) Typically not desirable in cutlery steel, sulfur increases machinability, but decreases toughness.
Long story short, you can rely on SG2 to hold up under intense daily use in a busy restaurant or to be a great every day use at home. Pair it with a quality ceramic honing rod and you'll be an unstoppable Food Prep machine.
Here is a showcase of some of our SG2 offerings here at the shop:
Nigara Hamono SG2 Damascus Outdoor Knife
Hayabusa SG2 Maple Handle Santoku