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

Is it just me, or are his razors waaay overpriced for what they are?. I'm sure they shave great, but the fit and finish on his razors seems mediocre at best. From sloppy angles on the blades and scales to angle grinder spine work, he seems to cut so many corners. Marking the blades and scales with an electric engraver just seems super cheesey to me too.

He charges a high price that people seem to be very willing to pay. So it's clear that others see great value that I don't see. I'm curious to hear what others think about the "issues" that I see.

Buy what you like! Some people love his razors and will pay big bucks for them. It's always about what someone will pay.

Bill is correct. I have never been a big fan of Livi, but he does have a following. I can’t say what others think, perhaps you need to try one to appreciate them. It’s nice to see people make a go of things even if I’m not one of their customers.

I've had several of his razors and still have a few. I can tell you on Eboy, try and sell his razors and you get peanuts so not everybody thinks so highly of them.

His makes his razors with a rustic look to them. Some mistake that for poor quality. However, the quality is there if you examine the razors and they are superlative shavers. Having said that I don't know if he is still making them or his son is but the last one I got a few years ago was poorly made and went back. I've heard quality is not what it used to be.

They were originally pushed by Lynn Abrams and he sold them at SRD but eventually he stopped selling them.

I have one of his razors.
It's one of the lesser expensive "Grifo" models.
It is a great shaver with a nice stainless blade.
The quality is not what I expected.... mediocre at best.
Kind of poor fit on the red and white inlay. My grandson could have done better.

Pete <:-}

I think I have seen one I liked and it was older. I don't like the style of most customs I see. Then again, I don't like a lot of radical design in anything.
Just me.
Most of the ones I do like the looks of have a semblance to old factory-made Sheffields.

Jamie has some which I think are simply gorgeous. I forget who made them.


No matter the look, the quality must be there. I have had a few that looked nice to me, but the steel was iffy.
I seem to prefer the more understated designs of the makers I like. Knowing (of course) that the quality will be there.

Originally Posted by sharptonn

I think I have seen one I liked and it was older. I don't like the style of most customs I see. Then again, I don't like a lot of radical design in anything.
Just me.
Most of the ones I do like the looks of have a semblance to old factory-made Sheffields.

Jamie has some which I think are simply gorgeous. I forget who made them.


No matter the look, the quality must be there. I have had a few that looked nice to me, but the steel was iffy.
I seem to prefer the more understated designs of the makers I like. Knowing (of course) that the quality will be there.

Some of his razors made 15 or so years ago used custom steel. I have one made from Takeda Damascus Steel and he was also using a Stainless Damascus Italian based. I forget the maker.

My 2011 8/8 RWL34 went off to Glen's earlier this summer to correct the shoulder / heel junction. One of my first SRD strops took a beating from the protruding side of the shoulder until I soon adjusted my strop stroke to compensate. The razor sat unused as a result.

Oh, yes, I was 2 for 2 with Livi. The heel of a Livi New Grind which was developing a tiny fish hook straight from the maker needed Glen's freehand rotary tool re-shaping expertise this summer as well.

As a newbie enamored with the romance / nostalgia of Livi, I had not noticed the imperfection 'til Glen pointed it out during a visit in 2012. By that time, I had already bought a second and last (i promise) Livi.

Live and learn.

Originally Posted by Speedster

My 2011 8/8 RWL34 went off to Glen's earlier this summer to correct the shoulder / heel junction. One of my first SRD strops took a beating from the protruding side of the shoulder until I soon adjusted my strop stroke to compensate. The razor sat unused as a result.

Oh, yes, I was 2 for 2 with Livi. The heel of a Livi New Grind which was developing a tiny fish hook straight from the maker needed Glen's freehand rotary tool re-shaping expertise this summer as well.

As a newbie enamored with the romance / nostalgia of Livi, I had not noticed the imperfection 'til Glen pointed it out during a visit in 2012. By that time, I had already bought a second and last (i promise) Livi.

Live and learn.

That was always my gripe with Livi's razors, the way the heel & stabiliser were done. I think it's common with knifemakers turned razor makers.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

I've had several of his razors and still have a few. I can tell you on Eboy, try and sell his razors and you get peanuts so not everybody thinks so highly of them.

His makes his razors with a rustic look to them. Some mistake that for poor quality. However, the quality is there if you examine the razors and they are superlative shavers. Having said that I don't know if he is still making them or his son is but the last one I got a few years ago was poorly made and went back. I've heard quality is not what it used to be.

They were originally pushed by Lynn Abrams and he sold them at SRD but eventually he stopped selling them.

My Livis were probably made in the 2014 to 2016 time frame.
I used to have 7, but am now down to 6, and among my 70 odd razors I consider them the least remarkable shavers.

I was once smitten with Livis, partly influenced by the propaganda of a member from Livi’s home town who used to be very active singing Livi’s praises on forums, but came to realize soon enough that they are just not that great shavers.
Think of the “The Emperor’s New Clothes”, if you like.

Admittedly, they are highly individualized and customized creations, each razor unique, but great razors they aren’t.

There may have been a time when Livi deserved all that praise, but my razors are clearly not from that period. I couldn’t care less if they were made by his son, something Livi once violently denied, as long as they were good razors.

This is all not helped by the edge that Livi puts on his razors. After having restored quite a few razors myself, I once thought it shouldn’t be too difficult to put a decent edge on a brand-new Livi that had arrived unfit for the job and got more and more frustrated with my unsuccessful attempts, when all I should have done is wrap the razor up after the first shave, sent it back and ask Livi to make this thing shave or refund my money. I booked that under “lessons learned”.

Livi has repeatedly blamed customers of “overhoning” when they complain of below standard edges. That is easy enough, but he just never seems to ask himself why people would want to start honing his famed creations so early and so much. While I admittedly overdid it with one of his creations out of increasing frustration, I sent all remaining Livis a few months ago to a renown razor maker in Germany to look at them and give me his assessment (most of them were after my above-mentioned experience never honed by me) and his verdict was damning: highly uneven, inconsistent edges.

So now I have six remaining Livis that shave better, but still not that great.
I don’t enjoy using them and I can’t bring myself to sell them to some unsuspecting sucker who, when he finds out how they really perform, might think it was me who ruined these fabled razors.


B