Thread: My Mastro Livi razor, at last: a wonderful life experience!

Originally Posted by jodypress

That's a truly gorgeous razor. Mastro Livi's Damascus really does get better and better the more you use it. I'm getting the hang of hand stropping too. Very satisfying.

I completely agree with you, Jody. Mastro Livi's Damascus does get better and better the more you use it. And I can tell the same about his stainless steel and damasteel razors.
As for hand stropping, it works wonderfully for me, cleaning the edge to perfection. Great job!

I've owned quite a few Mastro Livi razors in the past, sadly these are all sold but I really wish I'd kept them (especially my old Takeda damascus which is probably not available any more).

But this razor for razorguy, is without question the nicest Mastro Livi razor I've ever seen, in fact the nicest razor of any kind I've ever seen. Congratulations on your purchase.

I would order one exactly like this if I had the funds, but sadly I don't.

That's very sad you sold your Mastro Livi razors and, yes, you are right, Mastro Livi does not use Takeda damascus anymore so I guess the one you had was a truly exclusive and magnificent razor.
As far as I can tell, Mastro Livi is currently using the Damascus steel he personally makes and occasionally Camillo Silvano's Damascus steel. I asked him about this and he confirmed he is not using Takeda Damascus anymore.

Having said that, I am very glad to read about your appreciation for my latest Mastro Livi Damascus razor and, this is very flattening to me, you also consider this to be the nicest Mastro Livi you have ever seen. Wow, I own it!
To tell you the truth, I too love this razor, in particular, for the shave it can give. Gorgeous razor!

However, never say never, I am sure you will own a Mastro Livi again and you will enjoy it a lot. Fingers crossed!

This is an amazing story, thank you for sharing your journey.

Originally Posted by Taborcarn

This is an amazing story, thank you for sharing your journey.

Thank you! I am glad you appreciated both the story and the journey!

It's Christimas time so I thought it was the right time to think about a gift for myself. Being a passionate traditional shaver, with a passion for Mastro Livi straight razors, I thought this was the best gift ever. Some weeks ago, I asked Mastro Livi to make this new razor and this afternoon he finally phoned me and said he could start making my new razor. It has been the right chance to go to Mastro Livi's workshop and take some pictures of this new razor, both for my memory as well for the pleasure of sharing this experience with you all.
I am therefore posting some pictures of the making of my new Mastro Livi razor and I hope you will appreciate and enjoy them as much as I do.
This new razor's blade is going to be a RWL34 stainless steel, 8/8 full hollow with a French point. I absolutely love how Mastro Livi uses RWL34 stainless steel and I wanted this new razor to be made with this steel. I have another Mastro Livi razor made of RWL34 steel and I am very happy with it: it is a magnificent straight razor always giving impeccable shaves. That's why I wanted this new razor made of the very same steel.
Mastro Livi started cutting the blade and giving it the initial shape. We decided we will meet again tomorrow and hopefully he will finish making my new razor. I am very excited to know I will soon have another extraordinary Mastro Livi straight razor, a remarkable masterpiece like all the straight razors made this great Italian craftsman and artist!
For the moment, I am posting the pictures of the work in progress, hopefully posting the rest tomorrow. I guess this is going to be the very best Christmas gift ever!

The raw RWL34 stainless steel bar from which Mastro Livi cut the blade for my new razor. He actually cut two blades from this bar. Bottom blade is going to me my razor, top blade will be used for the making of razor ordered by another client



Mastro Livi cutting the blades



The two blades cut from the raw steel bar. The blade to the bottom is going to be my Mastro Livi razor

Mastro Livi cutting the blade and giving it the initial shape

Almost done shaping the blade



The initial shape of the blade is now finished



Drilling the hole for the scales

At the end of forging and hammering



Polishing and setting the final shape of the blade

Initial grinding of the blade





At the end of initial grinding