Custom straight makers vs. Custom restorers vs. Hobbyists

It seems to me that there are 3 types of custom straight makers.
1. The Straight maker who makes everything start to finish
2. The straight restorer who starts with a blade and makes custom scales. They might also do work on the blade (jimps, fancy spines, &c.)
3. The hobbyist who can re-pin a razor and make custom scales, just as a hobby.

My real question is this, who are these people? I checked the wiki and did some google searches. There doesn't seem to be a comprehensive list anywhere.
From what I've seen, the #1 people are all too busy to do any work right now.
The #2 types interest me, I have a few ideas I'd like to toss out to them and see what comes up.
The #3 people.... you guys are good. Really good. I've seen some exceptional work out there. Maybe you'll consider becoming a #2 type?

I'm looking for something for September for my birthday. That's a whole 6 months down the road. I figure I'm going to drop a bunch on a nice razor, why not get one made just for me?

I've been poking around the restoration forum and I've seen some excellent work. But i'm afraid to contact them because they aren't vendors.

Any ideas? (no I'm not going to attempt it myself)

I'm sure you could still contact them via PM if they are not vendors. The worst they can say is no, and they might have some suggestions on where to go or who to ask.

legion said:

I'm sure you could still contact them via PM if they are not vendors. The worst they can say is no, and they might have some suggestions on where to go or who to ask.

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That would be OK? I don't want to break any rules.
I guess I have to have a second look.
There's lots of awesome work done out there.

Nah. The rules only say you can't offer any commercial services on the forums unless you are a vendor. Guys contacting each other privately to ask for help, swap stuff, ask questions, that's fine and it happens all the time.

legion said:

Nah. The rules only say you can't offer any commercial services on the forums unless you are a vendor. Guys contacting each other privately to ask for help, swap stuff, ask questions, that's fine and it happens all the time.

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Oh geez. I've been wrong all these years.
*sigh* thanks for clearing that up for me.
At least this will help others looking for the same answer.

Or, could find a really cool, but a little rough razor and do it up yourself. It's easier than you think!

I guess I'm a #2 on your list, but that's just because im too cheap to pay someone to do it for me I run a very busy razor restoration service, and my only customer, a very handsome chap called mdunn, keeps buying cool but rusty blades for me to fix up - so i used this great resource of b&b to learn how!

mdunn said:

Or, could find a really cool, but a little rough razor and do it up yourself. It's easier than you think!

I guess I'm a #2 on your list, but that's just because im too cheap to pay someone to do it for me I run a very busy razor restoration service, and my only customer, a very handsome chap called mdunn, keeps buying cool but rusty blades for me to fix up - so i used this great resource of b&b to learn how!

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Ah HA! I knew someone would come along and say do it yourself!
Maybe. I have little to no experience with making anything other than dinner.

Really, guys who sharpen and restore are not razor makers and truly custom makers do work to specification however there are few of them. Most true makers do made to order or production runs and many only do part of the process. Many send out for heat treatment or even grinding or for scale production.

If you follow the forums you learn through word of mouth who the guys are who do good work whatever you need being done.