Thread: Mastro Livi... Is it just me?

Honestly I had to send several back they came with chips that was visible with the naked eye and on return they still had chips . I even took pictures and sent them to Diego so they could not use any excuses . Taking into consideration to return a razor it took probably a couple of months before I got it back and still had problems.

The only thing I can say is Mastro livi is getting older

And there for missing simple things . I asked Diego to check the edge with microscope. Guess what I still had problems with the bevel which was 100 percent down to the honing and maybe temper of steel .

Mastro livi remade me a razor that he admitted was a fault with the steel and I waited another 3 months for . His razors looks real nice but there is no doubt my ralf aust shave 10x better and hone up perfect with no defects and there a fraction of the price .

I guess you followed razor guys post on here ? I did and his post were very good and convinced me to buy livi razors he also said many time’s he has no part of the sales that Mastro livi sells .

I no fir a fact he was getting commission fir every razor livi sold Through his recommendation on srp

Yeah razor guy, he made a ton of videos for Livi and also run a Google page for him. All gone now.
I have noticed a new guy has emerged, he posts here occasionally. He has also remade some of the videos.

razor guy once told me he owned 100 vintage razors and still his livi razors shave much better and guess what Mastro livi new guy Diego told me exactly the same story that’s when I twigged on that something didn’t seem right .

I have nos dorko razors that are from the fifty / sixty s and they are in a different league to any livi I shaved with .

End of story, and I don’t think livi razors are worth the money and I have spent a lot of hard earned cash with livi staff .

I had a Livi shorty... custom made back in the early days of the Livi hype for someone else. But since I am a "shorty guy" when it came up for sale, I bought it.

Check out the geometry on the spine of this sucker...



Not a bad looking blade, though...



Wasnt my cup of tea, and I had to send it to Glen to get any decent edge on it... so I got rid of it pretty quickly.

Originally Posted by gary haywood

razor guy once told me he owned 100 vintage razors and still his livi razors shave much better and guess what Mastro livi new guy Diego told me exactly the same story that’s when I twigged on that something didn’t seem right .

I have nos dorko razors that are from the fifty / sixty s and they are in a different league to any livi I shaved with .

End of story, and I don’t think livi razors are worth the money and I have spent a lot of hard earned cash with livi staff .

I’ve never bought a custom razor, they are just not my cup of tea. But if you are going to spend that kind of coin, it better be perfection.

It’s very hard to compete with the quality of craftsmanship found on vintage solingen razors, especially with the fine extra hollow grinds. That is my benchmark, so if it’s not that good, I’m going to be disappointed.

Originally Posted by Badgister

I’ve never bought a custom razor, they are just not my cup of tea. But if you are going to spend that kind of coin, it better be perfection.

It’s very hard to compete with the quality of craftsmanship found on vintage solingen razors, especially with the fine extra hollow grinds. That is my benchmark, so if it’s not that good, I’m going to be disappointed.

A little off topic here (or at least a rabbit trail) but I know what you mean. I love all the big three (US, Solingen and Sheffield) but if I had to pick one it would be Sheffield (big W&B fan personally). Still it does seem to me that if one of them has more geometry or fit and finish issues it's Sheffields. Solingen razors do seem to be more consistently precise. Maybe I'm off base or maybe it's anecdotal but that seems to be my experience anyway.

Livi razors were originally pushed by Lynn Abrams. Years ago the razors were very nice pieces and my take on them was the style was "rustic" which many thought meant sloppy amd poorly made. That was not the case. I had several and they were all top notch shavers.

Then several years ago there started to be QC problems with his razors. I had a couple that had to be sent back with serious issues a blind man could see. Even Lynn stopped selling them at SRD.

If you watch really old videos still up on yt he is forging the blade's basic shape before fine tuning. In the later videos, he seems to exclusively use stock removal to shape the blade. On a big heavy knife, idk if it would make much difference, but on a thinner razor, maybe that accounts for some of the difference?

Originally Posted by PaulFLUS

I love all the big three (US, Solingen and Sheffield) but if I had to pick one it would be Sheffield (big W&B fan personally). Still it does seem to me that if one of them has more geometry or fit and finish issues it's Sheffields. Solingen razors do seem to be more consistently precise. Maybe I'm off base or maybe it's anecdotal but that seems to be my experience anyway.

Don't leave out my fine French blades...

Originally Posted by Badgister

I’ve never bought a custom razor, they are just not my cup of tea. But if you are going to spend that kind of coin, it better be perfection.

It’s very hard to compete with the quality of craftsmanship found on vintage solingen razors, especially with the fine extra hollow grinds. That is my benchmark, so if it’s not that good, I’m going to be disappointed.

I absolutely love my dorko razors they shave perfect
And feel so smooth and gentle I have one that Jamie honed for me and one , I honed my self both outstanding shavers .