Thread: A Slice of Pi

Yesterday my Bruno custom arrived - my Pi razor.

It's kinda a long story in some ways, but not really in others. See, I asked Bruno if he could make me another custom (I have another from him from a few years ago). We went through the usual details - size, scale material, blade profile etc. And then I threw him a curveball (actually, probably more a knuckleball really):

Jimbo: "Hey Bruno, it would be cool if the scales could be inlayed with the Pi symbol!".

Bruno: "Um, OK sure."

Jimbo: "Oh, and by the way, I want the inlay to be coticule."

Bruno (sotto voce): "Damn Aussies"

Bruno: "Yeah sure Jimbo, I'll give that a crack."

Long story short, after a couple of iterations Bruno managed to use crushed coticule to inlay Pi on both sides of some beautiful ebony scales, and IMO opinion they look fantastic! (Pictures to follow at a later date - I have work all day today and I am posting this from the train).

The blade itself is beautiful - it is kind of a matte finish, but also kind of glossy/shiny too - I really like it. It's a curved blade with a lovely profile and fairly hollow ground. It's a perfect weight.

The scales are ebony with coticule Pi inlays - IMO the scales are a work of art, even without the Pi inlays. Smooth, thin, tremendous pinning and attention to detail, and they work perfectly with the blade profile to give the overall impression of a masterful piece of work.

To top it off, Bruno's mother made a box to house the razor in out of cork - it's a beautiful piece of work.

In addition to all that, when I opened the parcel out dropped another razor as well! A kamisori-shaped blade, rustic along the lines of Charlie's early work. In fact I thought it was a kamisori style blade to start, but Bruno pointed out it needs honing on both sides which is fine by me since I have no experience honing them. It was an awesomely generous thing to do, and is a reflection of what we already know about Bruno - he's the man (and always right).

Anyway, we'd done a deal on the Pi razor that I would hone it - so, all excited, I awoke this morning at 4am, got up and honed it. It didn't take long at all, and it took a very very good edge. The shave was one of the better ones I've had in fact - beautiful hand-feel, the edge was crisp and smooth, manoeuvrability was perfect.

Anyway, it's all getting a bit long to read, so let me just say that I give this razor 3.14159265358979323846 out of pi. Thanks Bruno!

James.