Thread: Mastro Livi good honing?

well as the maker I would have expected him to use tape to minimise hone wear however little on an expensive custom, however I only tape my wedges so for full hollow grind apart from looks I'm not sure on the neccicesity.
but IMO I really don't thinkg this'll be a shave ready razor, maybe someone who's got a Livi'll chime in, unless they got it through SRD (don't know if he only sells through them) as Lyn would hone it making the assessment redundant

I think it just goes to show how obsessive we can get with our straights...I am pretty sure in the old days they didn't get OCD about the stones they used, or the taping of spines...I never saw a coticle in my grand fathers bathroom..Nor did I see japanese stones and I never saw him tape his blade...Heck, I never even saw him bring his razor out of the bathroom for a honing session...He would buy a razor, hone it on a stone that looked like a barbers hone (that was under the bathroom sink) and then strop his razor on one strop that still had dinosaur hair on it, and then set the razor in the medicine cabinet to be used...I think we just might bea little over the top on how we treat our razors..If my grndfather saw me today with my bevy of razors and stones he would shake his head and tell me to crack windows while I was using the airplane model glue...

The overall honing strategy is excellent. He clearly defines both the polishing step and the finishing step of each stone.

At one point he breadknifes to remove a potential burr . . . yuck.

Otherwise good stuff.

He is a little too rough on the pasted stropping for beginners. Although the overall pressure is probably okay, a beginner would surely screw this up using that technique. But, he is no beginner.

I can see no reason to use tape in this situation.

Originally Posted by The_Pastor

- He doesnt tape the spine
- He doesnt really check the edge in the light or with he thumb
- The honing takes only 4 minutes

Could this honing be sufficient? Could this razor be maximum sharp and smoothe and ready to shave with?

1. No tape - I wouldn´t want my razor/s to be honed like that. The spine/back will get a lot of hone wear (I´m a user + collector).

2. I think he knows/feels if everything has gone well or not.

3. 4 minutes - yes, lol.

I don´t think this brutal technique gives the best edge possible. I haven´t had the pleasure to try Lynns honing (wink, wink, notch, notch... lol), but two other very fine hone masters (I think Master Livi is a master in making razors by the way) - Sham/hi_bud_gl and Neil Miller, both members here and both can hone amazing edges.

I´ve tried many razors and these two gentlemen delivers the best work in my oppinion and I would eat my furry cap (it´s been aorund -20 celcius here lately) if they used a technique remotly related to Master Livis. Just my two cents and thoughts though.