Thread: Inquiring minds want to know

We love to look at all the custom made and custom class razors made by those true artisans out there we are all familiar with.

So my question is, has anyone ever seen a vintage Custom type razor ever? Did they do them? I don't mean scales we have all seen those but the business end.

When did custom razors begin to be made?

You do see sets of razors with different blades and handles, all by the same maker, taken along by a travelling rep to show what was available - a reps set by John Heiffor of Paradise Square (ca1861 - 1919), Sheffield, springs to mind. I have no doubt that customers could mix and match blade types and handles. A kind of 'custom' razor, if you like.

Expositions are another time when 'one-of-a-kind' razors were made. For instance I have a large and a miniature razor with a deeply engraved and gold-filled engraving of the 1851 Exhibition buildings at Crystal Palace.

The great Norfolk Knife, made by Joseph Rogers, was also made for the 1851 Exhibition and is another custom made one off.

No doubt they were made long before this - we have razors specially made by cutlers to the King in both England and France - the King of France is said to have pleaded with one maker, retired, to make him a commemorative set.

So how long have custom razors been about? As long as there have been artisans and as long as there have been people with deep pockets is the answer, I guess.

On another tangent, in France especially, the village blacksmith would forge razors as and when required. Hammered out of steel and clad in cowhorn with bone as a wedge. Cheap and cheerful - to our eyes some 200 yrs or more later - but custom made, nevertheless.

I think you have to analyse what 'custom made' means. To some it means that you commission something from an artisan and it is made to your requirements, but this is very seldom the case. More often it is a limited set, hand made, in a particular style. You get to choose from a ready-made number of razors that were made without you in mind at all. In these circumstances the best you can hope for is a bit of minor tweaking. At the very least it is ordering scales and blades as you see fit. I don't really think anything has changed.

The book that Tarkus supplied scans of (by Renzo Jardella) is a rich source of razors only available to those who had money, for instance, and goes back quite a way in history. Butterfly razors are another niche market piece and may be regarded as custom jobs.

Even the humble regrind of a wedge-like razor to a more modern hollow is a type of custom job.

IN many ways you might just as well ask someone how long a piece of string is...

Regards,
Neil

Originally Posted by Neil Miller

You do see sets of razors with different blades and handles, all by the same maker, taken along by a travelling rep to show what was available - a reps set by John Heiffor of Paradise Square (ca1861 - 1919), Sheffield, springs to mind. I have no doubt that customers could mix and match blade types and handles. A kind of 'custom' razor, if you like.

Expositions are another time when 'one-of-a-kind' razors were made. For instance I have a large and a miniature razor with a deeply engraved and gold-filled engraving of the 1851 Exhibition buildings at Crystal Palace.

Pics?

For anyone else:


The butterfly razor, which were speculated to have been made during the napoleonic wars by prisoners



The great Norfolk knife (Will need Neil's confirmation of this)


As for the definition of a custom, I think the question means, when were certain razors made which had a significantly different style to others of that era? Such as the "dropped" blade, the double edged razor, double bladed razor, DePew, etc.

Some of those that I listed weren't custom jobs, but just to explain what I mean about being significantly different to others of that era.