Hi guys,
I've designed a nice hefty pair of razors just a little over 8/8 (28mm to be exact) from spine to edge with a 1/4 or a 1/2 hollow. the blade portion is 85mm or 8.5 cm long. I'm commissioning a custom knife-maker to make them from damascus that he makes himself using these components: 1070, 5160, 01, Cable, Chain. He says he's done a few one-off razors before, but mostly he makes art knives, daggers and folders etc, but says he has no problem doing straight razors. But I just wanted to ask you guys that know about the technical side of razor making, what key processes/methods/standards should I ask that he uses just to be sure he's making razors and not just razor shaped knives - or is it kinda the same thing...??? Sorry if these are real silly questions..

He says he can harden to between 60 and 65 and that he will differentially temper the blades so that the spine is more durable to knocks and bumps while the edge side of the blade is harder to retain a nice edge.. does this all sound right? I haven't heard of differentially tempered razors before, how should I direct him in this regard?
He also says he will give me some special kind of wax that will seep into the damascus to protect it over time - does this ring a bell with anyone?

And finally just on my design side - how thick should the thickest part of the spine be for a razor this size? - does it matter? and also what angle should the spine be to the cutting edge? (this goes hand in hand with the previous Q I suppose..)

Thanks for any input with this, I just don't want these to be glorified knives shaped like razors - you know what I mean..I'd like to use them as my daily shavers and want to be sure I can hone them up to a nice perfect edge.

Thanks again guys.