Thread: Mastro Livi loom Strop

double posting -deleted

Originally Posted by beluga

First the good news:
I deeply admire Mastro Livi's creativity and genius and his strops, which I still own the medium and travel versions of, work admirably well.
In fact, I am struggling to find a strop that comes close and replicates this silky feel during the shave and I do hope that either a Kanayama or Scrupleworks will fit that role.

Now the bad news: Mastro Livi's creativity is - at least in my experience - not matched by an equal amount of quality control.

Unfortunately, this applies both to Livi razors, which I own as well, and to his loom strops.

Regarding the loom strop:
In the first week the travel loom strop lost already one of the nuts in the upper plate that tensions the strop as neither of the two nuts were properly tightened, which is admittedly not a big thing and was remedied easily.
But within less than a year the thread in the same plate on the medium-sized strop is getting worn away by the thread in the handle.

I should mention that after stropping I tend to loosen the screw 2-3 turns to reduce the tension on the strop, but IMO a quality loom strop should be able to handle this without wearing out prematurely.
Well, at least cheapo Herold loom strops do...

I just noticed the last problem only a few days ago and have tried to lubricate the screw and check the adjustment of the base plate, but to no avail.

So the end result?
I still have the strop - at least until the Kanayama or Scrupleworks replacement arrives.

I also acknowledge that Mastro Livi's creations are to a large extent handmade and hence small variations and the need for adjustments should expected, but this should not impede their functionality.

N.B.
Before anyone suggests sending items back to Mastro Livi to be rectified:
(1) That is only practical within the EU, when you do not have to deal with the vagaries of Italian Customs {paying import duty on arrival on my side, then paying Italian import duty plus 22% VAT based on brandnew value on return to Italy for repair, and finally paying import duty again when the item is returned to me}.
(2) That makes only sense should Mastro Livi acknowledge that - based on several e-mails since when the razor was new - the item has some inherent flaw - which he regrettably failed to do.


I am truly sorry to be the bearer of bad news, and I know that Mastro Livi has a loyal following here and on other forums, but if I pay top dollar, I do expect that the goods not only look good but are also fit for the purpose.



B.

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I have his large loom and have had several of his razors and have had no issues other than sometimes needing to be honed before first use with his razors.

In general when you buy any Italian made product be it cars or other, logic in construction and reliability is often times absent.

I had issues with 2 custom razors. The blades did not close correctly in the scales. I sent one back and it cost me $70 and came back better. Another one I took apart and put washers in. It would have been to expensive to send back. These issues should have been corrected prior to the razors being shipped out. I guess two out of 7 isn't bad.

Originally Posted by jkatzman

I had issues with 2 custom razors. The blades did not close correctly in the scales. I sent one back and it cost me $70 and came back better. Another one I took apart and put washers in. It would have been to expensive to send back. These issues should have been corrected prior to the razors being shipped out. I guess two out of 7 isn't bad.

In my opinion, with the price of these razors, there shouldn't be any issues at all!

Seriously? 2 out of 7 is a 28.75% rate of flaws straight from the maker! For what he charges for his razors, there should *never* be problems with such basic razor crafting skills as pinning and centering the blade. You should not have to treat a top dollar custom razor like an eBay special and rebuild it to make it function correctly.


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I agree completely that, for the money he charges, Mastro Livi should deliver goods that went through a thorough quality control, arrive in a condition that allows the buyer to use them, and that Livi should stand by the goods he sells.

In my case, that was a CarboInox razor that provided an entirely unsatisfactory shave from the first day on, that I tried to make shave-ready by honing myself (just like thebigspendur did with his Livi), that refused to take an acceptable edge, that a well respected Solingen-based German razor manufacturer found unable to put an acceptable edge on as well, and that Mastro Livi tried to explain away as "excessive honing".

Even though I had explained the problem in the first of several e-mails shortly after the razor was delivered, he obviously never bothered to ask himself why on earth an expreienced straight shaver would want to repeatedly hone one of his brand-new razors shortly after delivery.

I shave every day with a straight, own about 70 razors that I manage to put keen yet comfortable, "silky" edges on and that I hone from time to time as the need arises.
About 15 are second-hand Friodurs where I had to begin from scratch by setting the bevel.
So this is not new to me.
Only two razors never took a keen edge.
One was a Friodur that I had bought unseen and that I found to have a crack in the blade and the other one is this brand-new Livi.

When Livi presented me with his cop-out explanation, I checked with the Solingen razor maker whether it could have been my honing attempts that had made a bad blade worse.
His answer was not to worry about it; the blade was in his assessment just "junk".


There you go.

I used to sing Livi's praises, but not anymore.


B.


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I have honed many Livi razors through the years I can't say I'm a fan of his work personally.

I don't mean to pile on, and I rarely bring this up since it's history now. My only 2 Livi purchases were pure disappointment. A new grind with rolled edge and heel hook, and a custom with a chipped toe/point upon arrival. Since I was a beginner, the vendor felt I was responsible for the damage although neither blade had seen a strop let alone the hones.

Like a friend says often about Italian cars (in agreement with TBS), that is just the sort of thing one might expect from Italian artisans.

And, to think I was about to pull the trigger on his Loom Strop. I think I will aim for a Kanayama instead.

I think we have heard reports his son has pretty much taken over the razor making and that has been going on a few years now which is probably why these issues have come up. The Razors I have and have had from him go back several years and they had no issues. The QC on these newer ones seems to have slipped.

Same exact thing happened to me. When Lynn couldn't hone it I knew there was a problem. I was told when I sent it back that improper honing ruined the blade.