Our proprietary Composite Blade Technology enables Shun to provide exceptional handcrafted quality at an amazing price. It joins two quality steels in one blade and enables us to put high-performance steel exactly where it’s needed most—on the cutting edge of the knife.

Here’s how our patented Composite Blade Technology works:

Shun laser cuts complex interlocking blade components from two different types of steel—like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Then we permanently join them into a single blade through a metallurgical process known as brazing. Brazing uses a third metal, a braze alloy, to join the two parts being brazed together; in this case, the two interlocking pieces of the knife blade.

You can see the brazed joint in a Shun Composite Blade as a thin copper-colored line between the two blade steels. A brazed joint is as strong or stronger than the metals being joined. It also adds an attractive decorative touch. With Shun's Composite Blade technology, you can get all the cutting advantages of ultra-premium steel without having to pay an ultra-premium price. Composite Blade Technology enables us to bring you Shun quality at a value price.

You will find this amazing technology in the Shun Sora line. VG10 san mai comprises the lower part of the blade, that is, the cutting edge. The upper part, above the braze line, is highly stain resistant 420J Japanese stainless steel. When the two sections are joined, they bring you the best of both worlds and create a durable blade that puts the performance of VG10 exactly where it’s needed. Composite Blade Technology also offers another advantage—eye-catching style that is simply unavailable from anyone but Shun.

Composite Blade Technology illustration. Described under heading Shun Composite Blade Technology.