Thread: What is your definition of a custom razor?

32T: I'm just trying to understand some of the thoughts and reasoning behind some of your post. For instance, why do you consider Charlie Lewis's razors custom productions but not those produced on special customer order from PRC.

I get the feeling you don't like me asking questions about your post. I'll respect your #46 post. Just remember when you make comments in other threads, they may come home to roost an you may be asked to defend them.

Originally Posted by feltspanky

32T: I'm just trying to understand some of the thoughts and reasoning behind some of your post. For instance, why do you consider Charlie Lewis's razors custom productions but not those produced on special customer order from PRC.

I get the feeling you don't like me asking questions about your post. I'll respect your #46 post. Just remember when you make comments in other threads, they may come home to roost and you may be asked to defend them.

reread post #11

this is my definition of Custom

A person designs from scratch (weather detailed or roughed) a razor and has it made by another party or them self as a one off, then that would be a custom.
So who finishes the job adds scales etc is also not important as long as they are not a set previous design or premade option as such.

EG: I sketch a design from my imagination, I ask Bruno to make the blade portion, then either one of us or a 3rd party (say Glen) makes the scales & finishes the razor to my original unique design.
this a custom as many have in their collections

if someone copies this design & makes another it is not a custom, it is a copy,

But is the original still a custom???


I think that just changing or selecting different existing options for an existing razor or design may be classed as customizing but definitely not custom in the full sense
this is JMHO
eg I ordered my new production car, I chose all the available options I wanted & some that were not on the options list to change it as I wanted when I ordered it,
This is not a custom car, it is a production car with optional extras, as there could a 100 cars of the model with the exact same options list as mine somewhere in the country.
just because I haven't seen one doesn't mean it isn't out there.

the same would apply with a premade/production razor with optional scales etc.


JMHO & YMMV

I dunno. Lots of guys build custom cars which are truly one-of-a-kind. Things are done in a way which no one else has done.

Some do it for a customer using a customer's ideas. Still, working within the customer's wishes, the builder must do what he does and compromises must sometimes be made. Many builders don't want to and will not do certain things. After all, his name is on the car. Some build custom cars with no buyer in mind and soon find an ass which fits the seat perfectly. I deem either a custom if it is truly unique.

As in razor makers, some build what they want and soon, someone will have to have it. As long as it is unique and not produced in numbers, I consider it a custom made razor. The maker built it as he saw fit and is proud of the outcome, current buyer or not. If truly a fine maker, someone will come along and just have to have it.

I suppose what some have commissioned turns out to be a monster with issues. Cars or Razors.
A great maker will not be concerned with a customer's weird desires as much as what his name goes on.

I have a Charlie Lewis razor. I did not commission it, nor have any input on it's features. But when I saw it, I wanted it.
I know there may be some he has/will make which may be close, but not quite the same.
I definitely consider it a custom razor. JMO

To me the bottom line comes down to this. For something to be custom, for all things, not just a razor, you the customer have a choice. This choice in what you are getting, makes the end result custom. Whether or not someone else can choose the exact same options as you doesn't make it any less custom. Many of you are trying to place the "custom" aspect on some mighty pedastal, making it out to be much more than it is. Stop putting the "pussy on the pedastal"!

Originally Posted by prodigy

To me the bottom line comes down to this. For something to be custom, for all things, not just a razor, you the customer have a choice. This choice in what you are getting, makes the end result custom. Whether or not someone else can choose the exact same options as you doesn't make it any less custom. Many of you are trying to place the "custom" aspect on some mighty pedastal, making it out to be much more than it is. Stop putting the "pussy on the pedastal"!

I don't know that it is about making something more than it is or putting anything on pedestals, it is all about accuracy of definition. Is a razor that is basically new but has been honed NOS?

Originally Posted by edhewitt

I don't know that it is about making something more than it is or putting anything on pedestals, it is all about accuracy of definition. Is a razor that is basically new but has been honed NOS?

Open another can of worms!

I feel if a razor has been made by a buyer's wishes it was custom made for them. As long as it is unique, it will remain a custom, even as sold to another..
The same goes for a unique razor built for the maker himself. Made as as he wishes. As he sells it, it still remains a custom.
Unique is what sets a custom apart for me.

One of a kind Item,cannot and will not be replicated.

A grumpy self-righteous old man once said that you're all ignorants who can't make up definitions as you like and must learn to use his definitions because they were already accepted for knives.

I say what you chose to call it doesn't matter nearly as much as the razor itself.

When I look at a razor I consider how good the design is both from functional as well as my personal aesthetic criteria, and how well it is executed, how much skill, effort and care has gone into it. Rarity, uniqueness in design as well as materials certainly play some role. My input is probably a fairly small part; for example a certain razor by Charlie Lewis is perfect and I suspect that any contribution from me would have only made it less.

Several years ago a friend of mine worked with a custom razor maker to create a unique design, after six months of back and forth they got to something close, but my friend got fed up with the process being too difficult and decided he doesn't want a razor from that custom maker as a result of it. So he cancelled the order, lost his substantial deposit and the razor maker started making the razors in that new unique design which were quite popular. The point is that, not every story has a happy ending for both sides even when there is substantial customer feedback.