Every razor is a collaboration between I and the customer.
Some razor designs spark out of the fire, and I feel like my hammer and I guide the design home to the customer. These razors come from a familiar flow that I’ve come to love – steel bar to shaving.
Other blades require me to think differently about the aesthetics of a razor, challenge what I know and am familiar with, learn new techniques, and I wrestle these razors for many months. I wrestled this razor The design comes from a sketch given to me by the customer. It’s distinctly European, using motifs and colors and variety that my work often doesn’t express. Ebony, fine silver, titanium, camel bone, and san mai steel.
About 75% of the way though the crafting of this piece, I feel it clicked. I saw what the customer was seeing, and I absolutely love what was born, and how it helped my craft grow. Each side of this razor is a mirror of the other. Camel bone and ebony make for the substance of the scales, being delineated by fine silver. The liner of the razors is titanium. The steel is a san mai steel, using hitachi blue #2 for the core, and mild steel on the sides. The engravings are hand drawings given to me by the customer, and I translated them to the steel. Don Quixote and Sancho ride on one side, with a san mai mountainscape background.
