I have enough problems with a 7/8
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I have enough problems with a 7/8
Yesterday has been a special day. You probably remember about the shaving set I want Mastro Livi to make for me and the very first piece of this set has been the "Pennello Italiano" (Italian Brush). Yesterday was the time to make the second element of this set and this element was the well known Mastro Livi loom strop. I am not going to talk about the high quality of this tool as everyone knows about its performance and efficiency. The loom strop, of course, has the very same handle structure of the "Italian Brush" and, as a matter of fact, this is the "Coramella Italiana" (Italian Strop). It is a medium size Mastro Livi Loom Strop, a size I have chosen because I already own both the small and travel size.
The handle is quite different in shape from the brush and this is mainly because you hold the two of them differently. The handle has, of course, the usual "Italian Flag", made of Jade (green), White Turquoise (white) and Coral (Red) and it is made of Amboyna Burl, Pau Violeto, Juniper, Makassar Ebony and Olive Burl.
I of course took pictures of its making and in the next days, like I did for the "Italian Brush", I will publish them and I hope you will appreciate watching Mastro Livi making his world famous Loom Strop.
Ladies and gentlemen, here it is my Mastro Livi Loom Strop "Coramella Italiana"!
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Mastro Livi Loom Strop "Coramella Italiana".
Each Mastro Livi Loom Strop comes in its wooden box and a stick of his well known chromium oxide paste.
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Mastro Livi in his laboratory holding my "Coramella Italiana"
Antonello. Stunning work as always. I'm looking forward to your choice of razor to complete this wonderful set.
1955 - 2015. Sixty years. It was 1955 when Mastro Livi honed his very first straight razor. Since then, Mastro Livi worked on straight razor maintenance, honing and making both for professional barbers and private users. This year - 2015 - Mastro Livi is therefore celebrating sixty years of experience and career in artisan straight razor making, honing and maintenance. I asked him many times how many straight razors he made in the course of this long time, but he could never give a reliable answer. One thousand, two thousand or even more, he does not exactly remember.
Mastro Livi released Grifetto about one year ago and to start celebrating his sixty years of daily work in straight razors, he decided to make a special edition of Grifetto and called it "Grifetto 60" which he recently released to the market. It is a beautiful straight razor having the very same stainless steel blade used for Grifetto but with different scales. Grifetto has olive wood scales - a typical wood in Italy - whereas Grifetto 60's scales are made of camel bone with a middle olive wood insert in which are inlaid three small dots recalling the Italian flag and in which is written "Grifetto 60".
To the left of the plate you can see Mastro Livi hand signature and to the right you can read "60 Anni" (60 Years in Italian) and, below, 1955 - 2015.
The back of the tang too reads "Grifetto 60", of course hand written by Mastro Livi including his signature on the front side of the tang.
The quality is, as usual, the well known Grifetto performance and the fancy scales add an exclusive touch to this razor. Scales are hand made by Mastro Livi, whereas the blade is made from a stainless steel blank and then personally ground by Mastro Livi himself. As a matter of fact, Grifetto blanks are made by Mastro Livi in his laboratory and are used for the production of Grifetto and Grifetto 60 only. Custom straight razors are still - and have always been - hand made by Mastro Livi, from the raw bar to stropping.
Mastro Livi Grifetto 60 is now part of my collection and it officially is the twentieth Mastro Livi straight razor I own.
- Blade: 6/8 Full Hollow, Round Point
- Steel: Stainless Steel
- Scales: Camel Bone with a middle olive wood insert in which are found three dots recalling the Italian flag: Jade (Green), White Turquoise (White), Coral (Red).
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Grifetto 60 in Mastro Livi's hands
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Mastro Livi in front of his private barbershop holding Grifetto 60
That is beautiful Antonello!!!!!
You know it's my birthday on Monday Antonello. ...hint hint
Attachment 213690Attachment 213691Attachment 213692Attachment 213693Attachment 213694 Here are photos listed on eBay of the Mastro Livi 6/8 round point, RWL 3 steel and steady poplar scales I purchased. Can't wait to take it out for a shave. Was told this is a rare razor. Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn once in awhile.
You got me by 5 dollars congrats. I hate when eBay tells me what amount I lost out too lol it would be so much better to not know.
It looked kind of plain but I thought it was still below market value. I didn't realize how good the razor is until the Razorguy told me it is very rare. I was surprised there was only 3 of us bidding. I have a 6/8 on order so I really didn't want to go over my highest bid. Hope you have better luck on the next razor auction.
It was a great deal but I just bought a Mastro Livi so I told myself I'd go to a certain point and no higher it just so happened to be 5 dollars lower then you lol
Is this your first Mastro?
You know I felt the same way. I have a custom on order and really wasn't sure I wanted to go above a certain point. At the last 30 seconds I added $15 to my final quote and it was enough. This will be my Third Mastro. I won a 6/8 Spanish point on eBay, I have another 6/8 Spanish point on order and the one I just bought. I keep saying this is enough until the next one. I convinced myself they are a good investments. The first one I bought on eBay was a real steal. This one is also a good deal. The custom, well I am paying the going price but it is what I wanted on a razor. I managed to sell off a Boker, Aust, Genco and some other shaving products so I rationalized it wasn't costing me that much.
We should say every Mastro Livi razor is rare. As a matter of fact they all are unique pieces as they are entirely handmade and Mastro Livi does not like to copy or make razors he already made in the past. He himself believes his razors must be unique pieces. Not to mention to copy others! Grifetto is the only exception, of course and, in this case, it is a very different razor in many ways.
In your case, that razor is quite rare because Mastro Livi has rarely used stabilized poplar for making scales and, for this reason, there are not so many around with such scales. As far as i can tell, a RWL34 blade, with that design and 6/8 in size, has been rarely made by Mastro Livi as most of his clients - including myself - seem to like larger sizes, such as 7/8 or 8/8.
It would be great to see all the three Mastro Livi razors you have once you receive the one you have ordered.
Just arrived my 6/8 round tip RWL 34 blade. The scales are fantastic and it is lighter then my other Livi's. It was not shave ready and I worked on it for a half an hour using my Suehiro Gokumyo 20k stone. Could not get the edge to bite or shave arm hair consistently. I dropped down to my Shapton 16k and did some light circles and laps. Started to get better. Then went back to my 20k and it grabbed my thumb and shaved arm hair. Will shave with it tomorrow. Is this something special with the steel that it is harder to hone? My other Livi took an edge with no problems. 7 laps and it was ready to go. Attached are photos. They really don't do this razor justice.Attachment 215299Attachment 215300Attachment 215301Attachment 215302
Although you say pictures don't do justice to your Mastro Livi RWL34 razor, they however show a beautiful razor indeed.
RWL34 is, in my opinion, a very good stainless steel for making razors: I have some of them and they all are incredible shavers. Mastro Livi says RWL34 is a hard steel but it is however easy to hone.
I read you tried to hone it with a 20k and a 16K: I do not know about the edge condition and whether it was dull or had an edge in bad conditions. In this case - and I am sure you know it - you may consider using a coarser hone?
As far as I can tell, Mastro Livi can easily hone a RWL34 razor in less than five minutes and using a 3k hone, Belgian coticule and then his well known chromium oxide paste.
I will however be glad to read about your comments on how this razor shaves.
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Mastro Livi polishing the loom strop handle
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Mastro Livi polishing the loom strop handle
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Mastro Livi mounting the handle to the loom
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Every Mastro Livi loom strop is marked with his mark
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Mastro Livi applying the preliminary layer of his chromium oxide paste to the linen side of the loom strop. He says you don't need that much and you should avoid avoid applying too much of it
Tried to shave with my new 6/8 and it tugged so I stopped and used my other Livi. I am sending it out to Doc226 who I believe is one of the best at honing I have used. I don't want to screw around with such a fine razor and know if Doc works on it when it comes back it will be a perfect shaving instrument. A man has to know his limitations and this is one of them. The weight and the blade point are really nice. Didn't think I would like the round point but it feels so good in my hands. The the scales are like looking at Christie Brinkley. Will never get tired of casting my eyes on them.
Trust me, those scales are absolutely unique. I wish I could have a razor with those scales. Mastro Livi does not use that wood anymore because he cannot get any of good quality, that's why he is not using it anymore.
I sincerely wish you will get your Mastro Livi razor honed to perfection in order to enjoy this masterpiece.
I was very surprised I couldn't get an edge on this. My other Livi had blade problems and I used Shapton 8k, 16k & 30k and got a fantastic edge. I tried the same thing on this razor and nothing. I looked at the blade under a glass and the bevel looks even and smooth. I am sure Doc will get it to top form. This sure is one hard steel to hone.
The amount of time and cost to send it back to Italy was the major influence. I have used Alfredo Gil for other razors and he does an amazing job. His turn around time is about a week and he is located on the Eastern seaboard. I would not trust this razor to anyone other then Alfredo or Mastro Livi.
Fair enough. I also misread your location as Berlin in Germany not USA. ..lol.
Sent my new addition Mastro Livi out to Alfredo for a refresh. Couldn't get the blade to cut the way it should. Just got it back and it shaves smooth as glass. Nothing like a finely honed Mastro Livi in the morning. Curious. The RW34 steel in this razor seems to be firmer then my other Livi's. The extra hollow shave well with a different feel and this one seems to shave like a half hollow. Anyone else have this results. It feels and shave great just very different. Actually I like it shaving against the grain.
I too like shaving against the grain and I find RWL34 very effective on this regard. Having shaved with quite a lot of steels used by Mastro Livi, I guess each of them performs differently and gives a different result, although all of them impeccable.
In my opinion, RWL34 seems to be a little more aggressive than the stainless steel used for Grifetto and it certainly remains one of my favorite stainless steels.
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My first Livi. After the first shave You can tell how excellent these razors are.
What does Grifetto mean in English.? Thanks Harry
Here you can find the story of Grifetto name. It is in the second part of the message: http://straightrazorpalace.com/razor...ml#post1409451
A great story and a great name and meaning. Thanks
I just got a grifetto! It should be here in a few days and then I get to add some pictures to this thread:)
Enjoy it. A great shaver. Just the start. I am now waiting for my custome livi in about another month to go. Good luck with yours I know you'll like it.
[QUOTE=razorguy;1558223]Wow! What Mastro Livi custom razor you have in order?[7/8 round point yellow buckeye scales, jimps and some spine work, QUOTE]
[QUOTE=razorguy;1558243]Sounds interesting. You never know, I may also watch the making of your razor in case I go to Mastro Livi laboratory. ;-)[/wish I could!.according to SRD I will have to wait 1-2 mos.,but Iam patient..QUOTE]
I found my new to me RWL34 was not an easy hone, as well. Coming off the Chosera 1K, I was cutting hairs and passing the TPT, but I could see microchips coming off the G20. I paid a lot of money for this guy, so I didnt want to take any chances... so off to Glen it went.