Thread: Wondering about the Mastri Livi style of honing...

Watching this video over and over again I get the feeling that the Mastro Livi razors are not sold as shave ready and must be honed.
Can anyone here who recently bought a Mastro Livi confirm or reject my feeling?
Thanks.

Sharp is a very subjective thing. I touched a Livi up for someone who thought is wasn't quite shave ready, I thought it was fine. I did 10 laps on .25 and 10 another on .125 diamond spray and he's in love again.

As far as Livi's honing technique, I've seen old timers do it similarly and get excellent results. I've seen these same cats slap the shit out of razor on their strops and the razors shave great. It's all about what works.

Originally Posted by Bayamontate

As far as Livi's honing technique, I've seen old timers do it similarly and get excellent results. I've seen these same cats slap the shit out of razor on their strops and the razors shave great. It's all about what works.

Ditto that. As long as the fine work gets to the edge of the razor and wipes out everything prior, and the edge doesn't get abused on the strop, the edge should be good. It might be a bit finer if someone follows all of the rules, but the difference between 3 times as sharp as it needs to be to shave and 5 times as sharp as it needs to be to shave would have to come to the user.

Ham handing a razor worries me for two reasons:
* flexing the razor under pressure for a beginner
* rolling a strop a bit on an edge for pressure and wearing the edge more blunt than it needs to be

On my very finest hones, as long as I don't put excessive razor flexing pressure on the razor, they are not that sensitive to technique - as long as they work the metal all the way to the edge. Hones that aren't as fine or forgiving (like oilstones or some synthetics), I don't get as good of an edge without minding the pressure.

But if you develop an every day routine that works every time and quickly, then why bother with other folks' rules. (that obviously doesn't apply to beginners, because they're probably not going to luck into a great edge ham handing a razor around on the stones and strop).

Originally Posted by Slur

Watching this video over and over again I get the feeling that the Mastro Livi razors are not sold as shave ready and must be honed.
Can anyone here who recently bought a Mastro Livi confirm or reject my feeling?
Thanks.

As I stated earlier in this thread, both my Livi's came with woderfully smooth and sharp edges.