Whaler 87 custom razor – PKSA ceramics, traditional shaving and photography

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Vision

I named it Whaler 87. Whaler because its “drop-like” shape and curve lines resemble a cartoon whale. It is for men, not for fish, so rather Whaler. 87 is not to celebrate my age, but rather to demonstrate its changing size, starting 7 at the heel and ending in 8 inches at the nose.

Design

Let’s try with my own design. Just for fun and for addressing my personal needs and lessons learned from the past.

Profile = 1/4

When it comes to the blade profile I enjoy both full hollows (as in Filarmonica 14) and quarter hollows (as in Reynolds). However, the appreciation for full hollow comes for smaller blades, while 1/4 seems to be very concrete and appropriate for larger razors and work the best for hard whiskers.

Size = 7/8 up to 8/8

Size is always a balance between look and weight. How it happens that Spanish use mainly 8/8 while German 5/8? I appreciate all sizes but my preference targets 7/8.

Steel = whatever but with a bit of history

There are endless and hot discussions on types of steel used for razors. Real combinations are multiplied by various ways of naming the same. Most of the voices are not based on deep understanding and practice but just guesses and wishes. I leave the selection to the maker. This is his job to balance: hardness, sharpness/keenest, ability for tampering, corrosion, polishing etc.

For me, it would be perfect to get a piece of steel with some history, not just commercial product. Something like old sword or file, or …old vehicle cardan shaft etc.

Shape = smiling profile & whale’s shape

There is no mystery in the shape of my design. It derives from Reynolds, W&B, Erik Anton, Wostenholm and others. Wide smile is the primary condition for my good shave. I tend loosing ability to shave with straight straight-razor. This is why I love Saito ones. Subsequently, I wanted to experiment and exaggerate a bit in the overall shape to resemble the whale. It translates into round endings (very safe contrary to many other modern designs) with heavy size nose. Nature is always the best source of inspiration. Beautiful animal!

Finish = back&white classic

I will also try to keep the shades patter of many whales – black on the top and light below the “water line”. All these mirror finishing comes a bit boring after bit of time.
I look for a kind of rustic, if not rudimental, finish (black coating, rough edges). The scales should remain in the contract to the blade – preferably white with dark inclusion and definitely made of natural material.

Here is the theoretical design for of the blade. Paper takes all. No doubts that its execution by the actual maker will bring some important changes. Will see soon, hopefully. This is a kind of artisan product, so bringing here personal flavours is over sticking to the raw design. The finishing of the blade, scales and pins can be done in thousands of ways and materials. I start with my own idea for finishing as presented below.