AUS

AUS is one of the stainless steels developed by Aichi Steel Corporation and occupies the majority of stainless steels on the market.

AUS is based on SUS 420J2, one of the stainless steels defined in the Japanese Industrial Standards, with increased carbon content and the addition of Vanadium and Molybdenum to improve hardness, toughness and wear resistance.

This steel is regarded as a relatively inexpensive steel material available not only for home use, but also for professional chefs. They range from AUS-6, which is inexpensive and has low hardness, to AUS-10, which is expensive and has high hardness.

(Source: How to select, use, grow for knives and whetstones. Shibatashoten Co., Ltd.)