Thread: The True Story of Mastro Livi "Classic" or "New Grind"

Originally Posted by Wullie

Well, sort of. Without picking the fly poop out of the pepper, metal molding is done with molten metal which is poured into a mold.

Closed die forging is just that. The metal is heated to a plastic state and then hammered/pressed to the shape of the die. It is "molded" by the dies, but the process is not known as molding.

Great sport eh?

The edge you spoke of is known as flashing. That term applies to both molding and forging. It is very noticeable on rough blank and does look like a seam from a mold. The flashing is usually removed in either a trim die or by grinding.

A poured blank would not have as much strength as a forged blank. Forging compresses the steel and shrinks the molecules to make a blank tougher.

Having been around the closed die forging industry, I would imagine that those blanks were punched from plate and then forged.

Hope this helps.

Very clear, thank you. It was clearly my mistake with the translation process. My apologizes to you all.
The blanks, as suggested by Mastro Livi, have been made by forging steel, then put it in a "closed die" and "molded" by a trip hammer.
Thank you for clarifying the differences of the two methods.

Wow, I love watching a master at work. I can really understand how it all comes together now. Enjoy your razor and thank you very much for the information and video.

Originally Posted by razorguy

Very clear, thank you. It was clearly my mistake with the translation process. My apologizes to you all.
The blanks, as suggested by Mastro Livi, have been made by forging steel, then put it in a "closed die" and "molded" by a trip hammer.
Thank you for clarifying the differences of the two methods.

Sono io che ti devo delle scuse. Sei traduzione era così preciso che non mi rendevo conto che l'inglese non è la lingua madre.
Ben fatto, signore!

Willie

Originally Posted by Wullie

Sono io che ti devo delle scuse. Sei traduzione era così preciso che non mi rendevo conto che l'inglese non è la lingua madre.
Ben fatto, signore!

Willie

You really have no need to apologize. It is me who must say thank you for helping me to understand your language better. I am not an expert in metallurgy (my job is really different and has nothing in common with steel and metallurgy) and all I should do is to show my gratitude to you for clarifying a concept I did not properly express in English. And you did the right thing in making me notice what I wrote was misleading in some ways.
You also gave me the chance to learn something new, so, once again, thank you!
By the way: your Italian is excellent and probably better than my English!

What a great story. You have done a bang up job on all of this. I actually saw the video first, my son had posted it to my wall the other evening. I thought it was great, but now to read your story just completes it. Your research and writing truly brings this story to life. Thank you very much sir. Well done.!
Allan

Thank you pipeguy!
I am very glad you appreciated both the video and the story I wrote in this thread. I am glad you folks here are appreciating all that. I believe sharing is very important and I have always believed Mastro Livi has a story and talent worth telling the world. He is a remarkable artist and man. I wish you all to personally meet him one day soon. You will not regret that moment.
As for the "classic" razor, this is a story I believe to be important for the history of straight razor making and Italian straight razor tradition. Last but not the least, there are many people out there - including me, the lucky owner of the last "classic" - who own this razor, so I thought they would have been appreciated to know the story of their razor.
This is my little contribution to the history of shaving and to our community.

Originally Posted by razorguy

You really have no need to apologize. It is me who must say thank you for helping me to understand your language better. I am not an expert in metallurgy (my job is really different and has nothing in common with steel and metallurgy) and all I should do is to show my gratitude to you for clarifying a concept I did not properly express in English. And you did the right thing in making me notice what I wrote was misleading in some ways.
You also gave me the chance to learn something new, so, once again, thank you!
By the way: your Italian is excellent and probably better than my English!

I cheated, I used google translate.

I speak and read some Spanish and very little Italian. There are some similarities between the two. Just enough to get me in trouble.

Thanks again for sharing your story about the Master.

Originally Posted by Wullie

I cheated, I used google translate.

Well, it seems google translator did a pretty good job at this time.

Originally Posted by Wullie

I speak and read some Spanish and very little Italian. There are some similarities between the two. Just enough to get me in trouble.

Don't worry, we Italians too have sometimes troubles in understanding our own language. Not to mention Spanish! Although the two languages share the very same Latin origin, it is not always that easy for us Spaniards and Italians to understand each other. Speaking very slow may help, sometimes.

Originally Posted by Wullie

Thanks again for sharing your story about the Master.

My pleasure! I hope to contribute more about Mastro Livi art and I hope you all will appreciate it.

Originally Posted by razorguy

Well, it seems google translator did a pretty good job at this time.



Don't worry, we Italians too have sometimes troubles in understanding our own language. Not to mention Spanish! Although the two languages share the very same Latin origin, it is not always that easy for us Spaniards and Italians to understand each other. Speaking very slow may help, sometimes.



My pleasure! I hope to contribute more about Mastro Livi art and I hope you all will appreciate it.

The Spanish I speak would get me thrown out of a bar in Spain. What I speak is Mexican Spanish. It is a mix of Indio, Spanish, and English. The true Spaniard "cachupins" aren't very forgiving when it comes to that.

I have some acquaintances from Barcelona and we converse in English.

This is my new Mastro Livi's razor, called "new grind", and we saw the beautiful video posted by razorguy. In particular, the razorguy's beautiful one was the last made by the mastro and mine is the penultimate. there is another one which is in the mastro livi's personal collection. I wanted it very essential, without works on the blade and with the handle olive. Tonight I'll try it with the razorguy's bay rum after shave. I think it will be a memorable shaved!!