Kyozen MX-10

In 2022, Kyozen set out to engineer a steel matching VG-10’s hardness and edge retention without its brittleness. Every knife maker knows the trade-off: higher hardness means a sharper, more acute edge — but also one more prone to chipping and less forgiving of rough handling.

Getting there meant vacuum heat treatment and cryogenic treatment — precise processes for high alloy steels. Vacuum heat treating hardens the steel in an oxygen-free environment, avoiding scaling and decarburization. Cryogenic treatment then takes it to sub-zero temperatures, converting more microstructure into stable martensite.

That pursuit became MX-10, our high-carbon, stain-resistant steel, hardened to 60HRC and engineered to resist chipping and micro-fracturing. It’s the steel at the heart of the Kyozen Classic line, wrapped in the clean lines that define the Kyozen look.