I have all three sizes travel,small,medium. There all lovely strops, if I had the choice I,d say the small is ideal.
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I have all three sizes travel,small,medium. There all lovely strops, if I had the choice I,d say the small is ideal.
Ive had mine for a few days now. Very happy with it, the draw is unlike anything else Ive used, like stropping on silk. The CrOx is heavily applied but I rubbed it with a clean cloth to get some of it off.
Construction wise its basic but aren't all strops, attention to detail is not quite there but it does the intended job exceptionally well.
Like Dave said does it perform better than other high end strops. Probably not but its nice to have something different than my usual hanging ones.
Im glad I got the small. Shown with a 5/8 Globusmen.
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Now that I've had my small Livi loom strop for a month or so, I am kind of wishing I had gotten the medium. Here's why.
Despite thinking I was exercising great care, and using Mastro Livi's unique stropping method, I have managed to get 3 or 4 superficial cuts on the far end of the strop. Mastro Livi on his video say not to worry, as you can just avoid putting your razor on that part of the strop. Of course, you have then lost some real estate for stropping.
On the small strop, the surface area is already small. If I follow his advice, I've eliminated a good inch or more of the end of the strop forever.
So, a medium or larger strop would give you much more linear surface so that if you nick up the end (especially when the strop is new), you have a proportionately larger remainder to use.
I have both. The medium is the every day and the small for travel. The medium for me is the perfect size.
Yeah, I got to see a small Livi strop of Obie's at Rolodave's wonderful meet up earlier this year and it convinced me that the medium is the size that I would prefer. I've also seen a large at Lynn's place and that one seems to be a bit longer than I would consider to be necessary.
Now that you say that, I think that is exactly what happened. I had not put 2 and 2 together until reading your reply. I think I probably must have lifted and tilted the razor at the end of the "away" stroke and thus cut the far end of the strop by the toe of the razor. The cuts are on the right half of the far end of the strop.
Maybe I will try to use a more conventional stropping motion -- a simple x-stroke but not try to get the razor completely off the edge of the strop.
Thanks!
I actually strop on the Livi exactly the way he shows - going very slowly and right to the point of the razor, ensuring the heel is also hitting the strop on alternate strokes - I think the key to Livi's stropping method is the age old truth regarding stropping - speed kills.
I go very slowly on the Livi and make sure the loom has the proper tension....
Also a good point -- I am sure that I probably have increased the speed a bit as I got (over)confident in using the strop. I recall how nervous I initially was about cutting up my nice new strop so went almost comically slow, and no cuts to show for it.
I agree wholeheartedly - for some reason, the bevel gleams after coming off the Livi, and as he also mentions, seems that 20-30 laps is more than enough.
I've cleaned it once, soft rag, dab of lighter fluid, then sweeping up in one direction on the strop.
Dries almost instantly, then a couple of strokes with the palm of the hand and good to go.....
Richard and Phrank, do you strop Mastro Livis way with your other strops? Ive tried regular x strokes and Mastros way and to me found no difference in outcome only a heightened risk of nicks.
I'm a bit of a speed demon on my other strops, really no aim, hope for X-strokes, but just work the edge on the strop.
The Livi, I go for form, very slow and precise, almost like using a hone, and as mentioned, I essentially take my time and literally watch the bevel go from dull to very shiny and clean....
Ok, I've just gone and ordered the small loom strop.
Insured shipping was like an additional 66% :dropjaw:
I just hope my Robert Williams sharktooth kamisori isn't finished this month otherwise it will bread and water for a large portion of the month. ;)
I got an email from the local DHL office this morning asking me to kindly explain for customs clearance what is a loom strop.
Of course I then gave them the customs tariff code which closely resembles what a loom strop is and at the same time ensuring that there should be no import duty. :D
Perugia to Johannesburg in 3.5 days!
The thing about the "Livi way of stropping" is that is not the way that he teaches stropping. In his teaching series of videos, he demonstrates a much more standard stropping method which includes keeping the spine on the strop at all times and rolling over the spine.
This suggests to me that this is a case of "do as I say, not as I do."
I cannot find the particular video I remember, but here is one with his loom strop. He (and I) advocates an x-stroke on the strop and the video that I saw included that. The video I recall had him leaving the spine on the strop but the one below does not. This one is closer to his standard slapping, but slowly with control.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9MJ_IMUGHk
After two weeks using the Loom, it's obvious to me that either my stropping technique was not the best in the world, or the Livi Loom is an extraordinary strop. The blades are sharper and the shaves are smoother. I'll return to my Kanayama strop sometime to see if I can up my stropping game. I can't tell when that time will be-I'm enjoying my Loom stropped shaves too much.
You are NOT helping the fact that I passed on a great deal on a Livi strop in the classifieds a few days ago. However, I'm glad for you that you are getting great edges. Stropping is critical to great shaves!
Now that I've had my small Livi loom for maybe 6 weeks or a little more, I have basically relegated it to weekends as I have managed to cut it up at the far end more than I would like to admit.
I find the CrOx side to be the most helpful by far. I think in the long run I will likely just use that side and continue to use my Walkin' Horse hanging strop for daily use.
If I had to do it all again, knowing what I know now -- I would either not buy the strop (but maybe feed the SAD by getting another hanging strop) or I would get the medium, so that if I did cut the ends, there would still be a lot of strop left to use.
For me at least, the small turned out not to be a good choice.
You have cut your Livi strop a few times, but have you been cutting any of your other strops?
I've been using my small version exclusively for the past couple of weeks.
I've refreshed a couple of edges on the CrOx side and the leather has done duty replacing my locally produced hanging strop. I've slowed down substantially when I strop on the Livi and it still looks as good as new (and long may it last).
Yes, the medium would have been ideal but no use crying over spilt milk.
Do you have any idea why you cut the loom strop and not the hangers?
I found if the strop is horizontal there is a better chance to cut it. I found angling it either front or handle up makes it easier. Lynn has a stropping video showing him using the Livi strop. Before you use the razor, try finding the right angle using a butter knife so you don't damage your strop. It is a different technique then a hanging strop. I use an X stroke but different then the Livi. I start at the top and keep the blade perpendicular to the strop and as I come down the strop I gradually move the blade toward me. When I get to the bottom of the strop there is about one inch of the blade on the strop. This keeps the blade from rolling and makes sure all of the edge has been on the strop.
In my case it was trying to use the Mastro's technique of sliding the razor completely off the strop at both ends. If the spine is lifted even just a little bit as you slide the razor laterally, you get a nice little 1/2" cut as the toe heads off the edge of the butter-soft strop material.
His website and google+ page are missing in action. Hopefully he is ok...
Perhaps it's the Christmas rush, and his website is over run with traffic . . . .
Why would the google+ page be gone then?
Right. I can't get any of the links to work. This does not strike me as a good omen.
The site for the knife business his son runs is up
I've only used the medium-sized loom strop for a couple of weeks now, but I do have some
initial impressions. I like the length. It seems just right for me: plenty of surface to work with,
but not so long as to be unwieldy.
I'm not real happy with the CrOx linen side. It feels way too rough and scratchy. I think I'll try
removing some of the heavy coating and see how that goes.
The leather is as everyone described: super smooth and soft. It really puts a nice polish on the
razor edge.
One thing about the leather side that got my attention: after a dozen of so strokes on a freshly
honed edge (12K), I really began to notice a definite "suction". I've almost never noticed that
feeling on a cowhide strop, and only occasionally on a roo hide, but on this leather it is a regular
event. That may be an attribute of the softness and flexibility of the leather, which makes for a
full contact with the entire edge. There's lots of feedback.
Whatever it is, I like it. I'll even go so far as to say that stropping is easier than using a hanging
strop. I'm really glad that I bought it.
Paul, yes the Cr Ox is put on way too thick. I think Mastro Livi used a lifetimes worth in one application. I just used some kitchen towel to remove as much as I could. Just keep going with the towel until little to none comes off.
Maybe at a meet I go to someone will have one for me to try, I'd love to see what the difference in feel is. Tc