Thread: My Definition of a Custom Razor

You got that right Mike , His advise on the custom makers was invaluable to me in choosing the ones I have , but I,m a long way from getting into his class! But it is a glorious quest to be sure to catch up. Tc

Originally Posted by guitstik

I still contend that "custom" is anything that falls outside of the purview of the mass produced factory razor. A "hand made" razor or a "custom" razor are one and the same.

Hand made and custom are certainly NOT the same at all. A custom made item may very well be made by a machine or robot. The only requirement for an item to be "custom" is for that item to have been made for you specifically.

A leather strop that is handmade is not advertised as a "custom leather strop", It is advertised as a " handmade leather strop". Honestly what is wrong with calling something handmade ?............ahhhhh I know why, it is because custom sounds more "special", its marketing hype, its purpose is to make an item more appealing to the consumer and allows the vendor to ask a higher price. People pay more because they are led to belive they are buying something super special, pure and simple.

At one time everything was handmade and these things were mass produced by hand. Not custom at all.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

At one time everything was handmade and these things were mass produced by hand. Not custom at all.

How many things that you can think of off the top of your head are hand made anymore? Not to many and what you do come up with are probably going to "boutique" items that are usually labelled "custom" or "hand made". If we get in Mr. Peabody's Wayback Machine and go back to just before the Industrial revolution, then yes, everything was made by hand so they held no special value other than that of the item itself.

Originally Posted by mike1011

Hand made and custom are certainly NOT the same at all. A custom made item may very well be made by a machine or robot. The only requirement for an item to be "custom" is for that item to have been made for you specifically.

I was not meaning to infer that "hand made" and "custom" were mutually exclusive terms. Take the term hand made. Those that make shaving soap by hand are making "custom soap" because no two batches will ever be alike and there is a specific market for those types of soaps, people like me who do not like the mass produced, chemically induced crud from a can. Mike, those leather strops, they don't have to advertise them as custom because that would just be redundant, it is simply implied. Both hand made and custom infer a quality to what ever they are attached to that is why so many people get upset when that "custom", "hand made" razor they bought has what they see as a flaw, such as not closing straight in the scales.

Ultimately I suppose the market decides current value, if enough buyers agree something is valuable the public auction will bid up the prices. At some point the price will exceed what people wish to pay. The value has then been established (at least temporarily).

Same to with descriptive nomenclature, absent some international body, society, or organization to define terms; it isn't unusual to see different terms used for the same thing.

Even the English language itself is not immune, today English is in use across the planet as a common business and technical language. Local differences in usage, meaning, spelling, and pronunciation can be striking (sometimes embarrassing and sometimes confusing).

I think I'm done with this thread too. I'm sticking to volume, production methods, and customer specification. So for me a custom razor is: made in low volume (includes just one or a few), using more manual production methods (as opposed to stamped out on a high volume production press or injection molder for scales), and created to a particular customer's desire.

No doubt some future marketing people will try calling a million unit production run 'custom' because they laser etch your initials on the product (using a high volume CNC laser); just because the term may let them charge more. This will get sorted in the market when no one bids up the value of the product because it has initials on it...

It has been a fascinating thread to read, and I learned a lot about razors. Thanks everyone!

Best,

Ed

Originally Posted by guitstik

I was not meaning to infer that "hand made" and "custom" were mutually exclusive terms. Take the term hand made. Those that make shaving soap by hand are making "custom soap" because no two batches will ever be alike and there is a specific market for those types of soaps, people like me who do not like the mass produced, chemically induced crud from a can. Mike, those leather strops, they don't have to advertise them as custom because that would just be redundant, it is simply implied. Both hand made and custom infer a quality to what ever they are attached to that is why so many people get upset when that "custom", "hand made" razor they bought has what they see as a flaw, such as not closing straight in the scales.

Originally Posted by guitstik

I still contend that "custom" is anything that falls outside of the purview of the mass produced factory razor. A "hand made" razor or a "custom" razor are one and the same.

I can only go by what you say

I have always enjoyed semantics and this thread is proving to be a lot of fun.

I was watching TV last night and the show was all about donuts...the history, how they're made, etc.

So on one hand we have Krispy Kreme, the Mac Daddy of the donut world. Almost completely made by automated systems and cranked out by the MILLIONS daily. One claim to fame is how each donut looks and tastes the same no matter. Hardly "hand made" and definitely not "custom".

Now we switch to Randy's Donuts in LA. Everything from mixing, cutting, frying, glazing, filling, and frosting is done by hand. Randy's by the way makes a lot of donuts. Not as many as KK but quite a few nonetheless. Now...does Randy's make a handmade donut? Without a doubt. Is it a "custom" donut?? I think not. Made by hand does not (in my opinion) allow something to be labeled as "custom" just because. Has to have some sense of "unique-ness" I would say...and that will vary a whole bunch.

How about?
"This is a nice razor"...or while shouting and waving it about..."This is a Custom Razor!"...or...while watching the drool coming from another shavers eyes: "Jake Someone made this especially for me."
It is customary to be nice but not very common!
~Richard