Thread: Making a living..

I was going to message a few people privately to ask this but I figured that more than myself might be interested. I was curious as to how many if any make their living as a razor maker. This comes mostly from hanging out here and B&B and seeing some of the work put out by people.

The two that stuck out to me were Charlie Lewis and Alex Jacques. Not that there are not other's just as talented these are just the ones I've come across first and wondered "Do they do this for a living?" and if so how did you get there.

I see work that inspires me and am always curious about the backround of that work.

If this is in the wrong forum sorry, I just figured since it had to do with razor makers this would be the best spot.

thanks
Bruce

Nope,

Charlie

I think if one was to try and make a living making custom razors alone,one would starve to death.

It's a pretty simple formula

1. Get a really good paying dayjob, or,
2. Have had a really good dayjob with a great pension, retirement plan, trust fund, or,
3. Win the lottery, then,
4. Make razors until the money is all gone.

Christ sakes Mike I am still laughing at that one...

Think of it this way, to make a living at it you have to move a large volume of razors. If your doing something that is different every time there is no volume...lol.
If someone was a "mini" Dovo and use one style and could have those blanks cut/stamped/waterjet/whatever...... Then you may be able to work it but it was still be a struggle at best.

Hey Bruce,

I am not a razor maker although I am dying to make one from scratch. I do make my living from what I make and things I engrave. As a long time self employed artisan-craftsman here is what I see.

There are plenty of people out there who are plenty good enough. There are some extremely talented people on here. Being good at what you do and being a hard worker is not enough. You also need a market that is large enough to support full time craftsmen. Along with being large enough, that market has to have a large enough percentage of its folks who appreciate the artistry alongside function. The straight razor market just isn't that big ..... Yet. Will it ever be maybe, maybe not. But from what I see it seems to be growing in popularity.

From what I see, the custom Razor market is where the custom knife market was in the late 70s. There are several quality craftsman out there but the only place they get exposure is in a fairly closed loop of folks already interested in SRs. Once the knifemakers stepped out of their group and knifemaking started getting exposure in the public market it took off and that market has steadily been compounding since about the mid 80s. Now there are several custom knife related forums, magazines, custom knives have been featured in movies, etc. Now there are several knifemakers making a full time living off their knives. Many support artist like myself also make their living off that market. About 75% of what I engrave is custom knives. 15% guns and 10% other stuff.

If the razor market ends up growing like the knife market did, someday it will be possible. But now the market is just too small from what I can see.

Let a major celebrity like Russel Crowe or Hugh Jackman make a big deal of using a SR in a movie and it will pique interest. Let that type of thing happen in various venues and who knows what kind of growth it could spur in the razor market.

Ray

Forgot one.. Marry into money..

I was just curious.. I don't really have a good gauge on how big the actual market is. I assume most people buying into the hobby are not looking to spend the cash for a full on custom just to try it out. Then you subtract those that don't stick with it and I guess that does leave a limited pool of people to sell to...

Better yet,come out of a rich womb,or get into one
I have a few customs (very few) Tho all users,I look at them as artwork,as such I find it comforting that the artisan that created them may one day become rich and famous and my investment will be worth hundreds of times more than I paid for them.
This will happen with the best of the best for sure,sadley as with most artwork,this will happen long after both of us are far into our dirtnaps

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

Better yet,come out of a rich womb,or get into one
I have a few customs (very few) Tho all users,I look at them as artwork,as such I find it comforting that the artisan that created them may one day become rich and famous and my investment will be worth hundreds of times more than I paid for them.
This will happen with the best of the best for sure,sadley as with most artwork,this will happen long after both of us are far into out dirtnaps

I came out of a rich womb, but it's been tough finding my way back into one.