Why Is A Safety Razor called A Heavy Piece Of Machinery?

So, I was reading an article a few weeks ago for ArtofManliness about how to choose a safety razor and somewhere in the article it said you'll be switching from a lightweight piece of plastic (multi cartridge razor) to a heavy piece of machinery (safety razor; obviously). My question is why are they called machinery? I'm guessing because they have mechanisms on them that make the doors on the head open and close. Still, I'm not sure why.

 

Well..I Guess these Could be Called a Heavy Piece of Machinery..They Aint Stamped Out Plastic for Sure..

Billy..

 

Well, they are all machines. Metal is heavier than plastic. So, most traditional safety razors are by comparison heavy machinery.

 

In physics parlance, the definition of "machine" is a tool or object that transmits a force, or directs the application of said force. They're playing word games with it around razors.

Example: A pry bar is a "machine" to a physicist.

 

I'm with my fellow Jim on this!

 

Tool would probable be a better choice of words. Razors like the auto strop though could be machines with the gears and all.

 

I've never referred to a razor a piece of machinery, nor have I heard one called that before now. It's just someone's poor choice of words.

 

I would have thought that, since this is the Art of Manliness site, this was intended to equating plastic cartridge razors to toys and safety razors to the real deal. Similar to playing with Tonka trucks to using actual heavy machinery.

 

Agree. The article writer probably felt "machinery " was a more manly term.

 

Could be just another fragile hipster, possibly a struggling journalism major, who hasn't actually used one but wanted to pontificate in manly fashion in an article.

 

Now, an electric shavers is a REAL machine (that don't work too good).

 

They make a cool sound though............

 

It was just a metaphor to illustrate how a safety razor is not only more substantial than a plastic razor, but is an engineered, well made tool. Maybe to some not the most apt metaphor, but I got the point.

 

+1

 

Sounds like typical AOM. He often plays with words to hype things up to being more than they sometimes are. I read most of his blog posts and sometimes he's spot on and other times youre like, "Ok. Come on, dude."

 

Agreed; a safety razor is a tool not a piece of machinery. There's a video on youtube called How To Correctly Set Your Gillette Slim Adjustable and he said you're probably putting strain on an already old piece of machinery, which is stupid talk.

 

something like a precision instrument for the removal of overgrown hair folicals?

 

I believe you hit the nail on the head. I'm guessing the term had to fo with how a razor shave, ie plastic stuff that require pushing and pulling heavily vs. a se or de razor where the heavier razor does the work. So saying "a heavy piece of machinery is just a quaint way of saying you're going to a real razor.

 

A tool, like a DE razor, helps you to accomplish a certain task, just like a screwdriver does.

A machine, like an electric razor, takes over a task from you, just like a car does.

I guess the people who call a safety razor a machine do not like shaving. Otherwise they would call it a tool.