Thread: My Definition of a Custom Razor

When I was talking with Robert Williams about the SRP Limited Edition straight razor he said something like, "It will be a good deal, a custom razor for $350.00." Now these are virtually identical save the inevitable variances that come with a razor made by hand one by one, by an individual craftsman. I suppose some would argue that since they are virtually identical, they are not exactly fulfilling the definition of 'custom.' OTOH, the individual who is making them thinks they are.

IIRC the 1964 edition of Gun Digest was the one that had the article on 'custom knives.' I was 15 at the time and read about W.D. Randall, Merle Seguine, F.W. Moran, Bob Loveless, Olsen and I think Buck. Now some of these were one man operations, others were small factories, but the article classified them as custom. They were not factories in the sense of Dovo, and while some of them were catering to individuals with specific designs worked out between them, others turned out their own knives and sold them to long waiting lists of customers.

AFAIK this article in that Gun Digest was the first to really call attention to this esoteric group of craftsman, and was the vanguard of the popularity of custom knives. Custom cars, Big Daddy Ed Roth, Von Dutch come to mind. Some were truly one off creations but most are stock vehicles reworked by the builder. Customs nonetheless. I guess the definition of custom is elastic and some things are more custom than others.