Thread: Mastro Livi videos

Mastro Livi School: A practical course on using and maintaining your straight razor. From understanding a straight razor to honing and shaving.

Part Seven: Maintenance of Straight Razor. Introduction to tools and techniques to be used for the maintenance of straight razor edge. Hand palm, strop, abrasive stones and pastes.

Mastro Livi shows the making of his Grifetto, a semi-artisan straight razor made from a stainless steel blade blank. The difference between Grifetto and Mastro Livi totally artisan made razor is just this blade blank. The rest of the making is totally hand made by Mastro Livi just like any of his artisan razors. Mastro Livi Grifetto is a stainless steel 6/8 full hollow straight razor with a round point, suitable both for beginners and expert shavers. It is available in six models: basic - with olive wood scales - Grifetto 60, cocobolo, African black ebony, mother of pearl and abalone.

Mastro Livi School: A practical course on using and maintaining your straight razor. From understanding a straight razor to honing and shaving.

Part Eight: How to Use a Straight Razor Strop. Leather strop types and their use for properly stropping a straight razor. Hanging strop, paddle strop and loom strop proper use, characteristics of each type and importance of stropping a razor in order to keep the edge smooth and comfortable for a long time. How to use abrasive paste and cream with a leather strop.

Mastro Livi School 8: How to Use a Straight Razor Strop
Hmm... I watched this video and I'm not sure what to think about this. Mastro Livi says that he does not recommend hanging strops and he does not recommend stropping on leather because leather has flakes?? and that causes the razor edge to be harsh. He also says that stropping on fabric not treated with paste is not recommended either because it makes a razor edge harsh and the bigger the weave the worse it gets. While this goes against what I thought I knew, it's hard for me to challenge this because all I have is one leather hanging strop. It is an SRD black Latigo. It has served me well but I have looked at the surface under a loop and it does appear a little flaky, I guess. But I get good results...I think. I've never used anything else. What do I know? Anyone else have any comments about this?

I will say that I have started using the palm of my hand between passes and I think it does improve the shave. So, for that, thanks Mastro! But I think I'm going to stick with my flaky hanging leather strop with an un-pasted fabric strop.

Mastro Livi School: A practical course on using and maintaining your straight razor. From understanding a straight razor to honing and shaving.

Part Nine: How to Use Mastro Livi Loom Strop with a Straight Razor or Kamisori. How to properly use Mastro Livi loom strop in order to correctly strop a straight razor or a kamisori. Common mistakes to avoid while stropping and how to ensure the best edge for your straight razor or kamisori for a very long time while getting the most comfortable shave.

Mastro Livi School: A practical course on using and maintaining your straight razor. From understanding a straight razor to honing and shaving.

Part Ten: Hand Palm Stropping. How to use the hand palm to strop a straight razor or kamisori. Hand palm stropping is a very effective technique in order to get a very clean, smooth, perfect and comfortable razor's edge for shaving. Common mistakes to avoid while hand palm stropping and how to ensure the best edge for your straight razor or kamisori while getting the most comfortable shave.

Part Eleven: How to properly prepare your skin, face and whiskers for the best shave and how to properly treat the skin, nicks and cuts at the end of the shave. Shave brush, straight razor, soap, alum block, pre-shave oil, aftershave and all you need to get the best shave ever. With barber Luigi Migni.

Antonello, thank you very much for the latest addition, I do enjoy these videos and appreciate the efforts that you and Mastro Livi put into them. (I believe the night before my visit last May, Mastro Livi and you had been working on one of those videos until 3 am.)

If I may make a request though; would you consider producing a video that concentrates on honing or "manutenzione straordinaria" as Mastro Livi calls it, even though this name suggests that this is not something that requires to be done on a regular basis?

Still, sometimes it needs to be done, and there is something about Mastro Livi's edges that I would like to understand better, replicate to the extent a collector can, and that goes beyond the velvety smoothness that Mastro Livi razors are known for: I noticed that his edges are much narrower than what we create on our hones.

Whether one tapes the spine of the razor or not; the geometry of a razor lying flat on a hone normally determines the geometry of the edge, but there is something about Mastro Livi's edge that appears to defy this.

I am not sure whether Mastro Livi is prepared to demonstrate his technique, as it was not covered in depth in a previous video on the subject of maintenance, but I think we could all benefit from such a video.


B.


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The video of Livi at the cutlery exposition was fascinating. Livi, two barbers, and even some shaved ham.