Wolfman Production Pushed Back.

The good old days when if you needed a razor you went into your local pharmacy and bought one for under $2 without hassle. Gillettes, Gem, Personna injectors they were all there. Now its someone's whim when you get your razor.

Not sure that's a fair characterization Jerry- I can still pick up a VDH razor at the local supermarket or just about any other mass produced razor in 1-2 days online.

Being hand produced and a one man show I don't believe it is an artifice or whim on Wolfman's side- just takes a long time in addition to having a day job.

I do admit I find other razors such as the Cobra, etc. to be more perplexing re: availability though.

You can't even compare a Chinese razor to a US razor made in the last century. It's not even close. It is not like he is giving these things away. Hand machining is labor intensive and time consuming but this is the direction James has decided to go. I agree his craftsmanship is second to none but it's not the only game in town.

I respect James, he isn't going to compromise the quality and there is only him doing it. Each one is a masterpiece, I think that folks would appreciate that when they eventually get one. There won't be any distinction in quality between the first razor off his bench and the 1000th razor. I think that is very cool.
Marko

You can't even compare a Chinese razor to a US razor made in the last century. It's not even close.  It is not like he is giving these things away. Hand machining is labor intensive and time consuming but this is the direction James has decided to go. I agree his craftsmanship is second to none but it's not the only game in town.

Get it- I'm not comparing regionally manufactured razors but rather razors that come off a production line [many of which happen today to originate in China and India] vs. hand made items.

The razors made in the US in the last century were not made by hand either [if referring to Gillette, etc.] and I am not aware of too many others that are readily available here today, particularly at a similar level of quality. Add the fact that the razors of the last century are in fact often not in current production and there will come a day when they are even more difficult to obtain and which I also cannot get at the local 5 and dime.

At the end of the day, the beauty of capitalism is that nobody dictates who we support or where we buy and the almighty dollar, euro and pound can help shape the landscape of the future.

What I am about to say may not make many consumers here happy, but if I was James from Wolfman, I'd raise the price even further. He's got to feel a tremendous amount of pressure clearing his backlog of 8 months of orders, with an endless amount of people just waiting to get on the list.

He could push up his razors to $800, $1,000, or even $1,500. Finding just the right higher price would clear out nearly all of the wait list, but there would still be enough people willing to pay the higher price to where he would keep himself just as busy, and the buyers would get their razors in a reasonable amount of time. Then, if business ever slows down he could lower the price to the level more people would be willing to buy.

And for those who may be outraged about such a potentially high price raise, well, this is exactly what some of the more well known straight razor artisans have done in the past...

custom & quality work takes time...especially when it's one individual doing the work, possibly as a side gig (I don't know James's story, personally).

You can't even compare a Chinese razor to a US razor made in the last century. It's not even close.  It is not like he is giving these things away. Hand machining is labor intensive and time consuming but this is the direction James has decided to go. I agree his craftsmanship is second to none but it's not the only game in town.

Get it- I'm not comparing regionally manufactured razors but rather razors that come off a production line [many of which happen today to originate in China and India] vs. hand made items.

The razors made in the US in the last century were not made by hand either [if referring to Gillette, etc.] and I am not aware of too many others that are readily available here today, particularly at a similar level of quality. Add the fact that the razors of the last century are in fact often not in current production and there will come a day when they are even more difficult to obtain and which I also cannot get at the local 5 and dime.

At the end of the day, the beauty of capitalism is that nobody dictates who we support or where we buy and the almighty dollar, euro and pound can help shape the landscape of the future.

What do you mean hand made? James makes his on a CNC (machining equipment) similar as Gillette did last century only CNC is computerized and the old machining was not. In fact Gillette razors was actually more labor intensive then what James uses not to take anything away from his work. A company called Charcoal Products which makes handles and now going to make heads uses 1945 machining equipment.

You can't even compare a Chinese razor to a US razor made in the last century. It's not even close.  It is not like he is giving these things away. Hand machining is labor intensive and time consuming but this is the direction James has decided to go. I agree his craftsmanship is second to none but it's not the only game in town.

Get it- I'm not comparing regionally manufactured razors but rather razors that come off a production line [many of which happen today to originate in China and India] vs. hand made items.

The razors made in the US in the last century were not made by hand either [if referring to Gillette, etc.] and I am not aware of too many others that are readily available here today, particularly at a similar level of quality. Add the fact that the razors of the last century are in fact often not in current production and there will come a day when they are even more difficult to obtain and which I also cannot get at the local 5 and dime.

At the end of the day, the beauty of capitalism is that nobody dictates who we support or where we buy and the almighty dollar, euro and pound can help shape the landscape of the future.

What do you mean hand made?  James makes his on a CNC (machining equipment) similar as Gillette did last century only CNC is computerized and the old machining was not. In fact Gillette razors was actually more labor intensive then what James uses not to take anything away from his work. A company called Charcoal Products which makes handles and now going to make heads uses 1945 machining equipment.

you're talking about a large company vs 1 individual though.

You can't even compare a Chinese razor to a US razor made in the last century. It's not even close.  It is not like he is giving these things away. Hand machining is labor intensive and time consuming but this is the direction James has decided to go. I agree his craftsmanship is second to none but it's not the only game in town.

Get it- I'm not comparing regionally manufactured razors but rather razors that come off a production line [many of which happen today to originate in China and India] vs. hand made items.

The razors made in the US in the last century were not made by hand either [if referring to Gillette, etc.] and I am not aware of too many others that are readily available here today, particularly at a similar level of quality. Add the fact that the razors of the last century are in fact often not in current production and there will come a day when they are even more difficult to obtain and which I also cannot get at the local 5 and dime.

At the end of the day, the beauty of capitalism is that nobody dictates who we support or where we buy and the almighty dollar, euro and pound can help shape the landscape of the future.

What do you mean hand made?  James makes his on a CNC (machining equipment) similar as Gillette did last century only CNC is computerized and the old machining was not. In fact Gillette razors was actually more labor intensive then what James uses not to take anything away from his work. A company called Charcoal Products which makes handles and now going to make heads uses 1945 machining equipment.

Doesn't Charcoal import Zamak heads unless something has changed?

As to the CNC, you're right, but I was not referring to hand shaping billets etc. James does hand finishe/polish all his stuff which you don't get with production line razors.

Not my image but James's shop:

[Image: KyUzHa2l.jpg]

Regardless, great dialogue Jerry and thanks for the discussion!

Sure, Wolfman might not be the only game in town and he does use modern machining equipment but the amount of hand finishing he does is second to none. I have a few razors, some ikons, a couple of Feathers, some EJs and an ATT - the Wolfman blows them all away. The ATT is like a precision tool in your hand while the Wolfman is like a piece of art... that does the job of a precision tool. Seriously, if ATT were to spend a few more hours on every razor they might be able to achieve the quality of finish that Wolfman has - thats one reason why you can buy an ATT and have it tomorrow (or in 3 weeks if you're in Canada) and a Wolfman takes a bit longer. Its all in the details.
Marko

Sure, Wolfman might not be the only game in town and he does use modern machining equipment but the amount of hand finishing he does is second to none.  

Mark has touched on what could happen in this situation. We're taught that "nature hates a vacuum". There is a vacuum developing in the ultra high end of DE razors. Actually, James is the only game in town when it comes to the
ne plus ultra in DE razors. The market, as demonstrated by his product, is larger than he can or is willing to fully service.

Capitalism can and will service that market when it is discovered by other craftsmen that the market is there. As good as James is, he is not unique! Equally talented machinists, if convinced of the profit potential will move in and begin fulfilling the pent up demand. Maybe Stan, at ATT, will put a man on that will solely do the fine finishing work necessary to command the price of the finished product. Or, an entirely new entity might spring up to compete in the field. As I've previously mentioned, James himself, might take on a finishing person and train him to do the job the way he wants.

Pampered consumers that we are, all we have to do is sit back and see what shakes out!