Thread: My Definition of a Custom Razor

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.

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