Quote Originally Posted by beluga View Post
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.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
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.