Thread: Pilgrimage to Perugia (the write-up)

As promised, here’s the write-up to my visit to Mastro Livi’s workshop in Perugia on Tuesday 14 August. (Health warning: this is going to be a long post. Apologies in advance to those less than obsessive SRP members!)

The Mastro’s workshop is situated in an industrial area in the southeast of Perugia, a mediaeval city built into the hills. I had arranged to drop by his workshop to pick up in person the custom piece I had spec’ed out for him three months back (the spec was the result of research of Livi razors in SRP, as well as this thread.)

As I stepped into the small industrial building with simple signage “Livi Coltellerie” out of the blazing heat of the Italian mid-morning sun, the Mastro was stood behind a continuous glass-topped counter which stretched around the small front of house. He greeted us warmly and introductions were made all round (Luca, his son, emerged from the tiny single room office and his wife was also behind the counter).

Although the front section was small, it was surrounded by glass cabinets full of the Mastro’s razor work.


On the walls were hung mediaeval style swords, axes, and weaponry. A cornucopia of steel art! The old adage of being like a kid in a sweetshop never rang so true. The Mastro took me by the elbow and steered me to one of the cabinets and proudly pointed at the finished piece I had commissioned. It looked amazing and, being totally biased of course, it seemed to out-shine and out-straight every single one of the others in there. The Mastro unlocked the cabinet, took it out and handed it over to me (star wars geek analogy: like Luke getting handed his light sabre from Yoda, ha ha!) I opened it up, held it as if ready to shave, and marvelled at the sweet balance of it. Perfetto!

The blade
7/8 Round point, full hollow, Rose Damascus (ATS-34 and 440) with mother of pearl in lay on blade and tang, MOP inlay on worked spine and fossilised mammoth ivory scales with abalone inlay. My baby.







The Mastro spent some time explaining the components of the piece to me. My specification to him had stressed the sentimental importance of it as my wife’s 10th wedding anniversary present to me. The theme I wanted was “circles/round”, I’m not sure why I chose that. I guess the symbolism of the circles in our lives had something to do with it (relationship, companionship, the number ten, wedding rings, etc.). You know, soppy stuff. I had no idea at this time the amount of effort, the above-and-beyond trouble the Mastro had gone to in order to deliver this theme. That would come later.

The steel
(Much of the technical stuff that follows might be my misunderstanding, as I’m not a technical expert in anything and I was relying on my wife’s translation based on 2 years as a teenager in Italy more than 20 years ago. Anyone who knows any better please chime right in as I’d like as accurate as possible an understanding of my straight.)

I had written asking for Damascus steel in full hollow 7/8 roundpoint, the kind with the circular pattern in the blade as opposed to the straighter-lined kind. The Mastro had replied saying this would not be possible for what he called Damascus Rose. If I wanted the Rose variety I’d have to live with 5/8. Alternatively, I could have 7/8 in Blue Tonge (with straighter lines). I then made a bad decision: I said Rose was an important aesthetic in the piece, so 5/8 it would have to be. I then spent the next 2 months agonising over whether the rest of the design would look too crammed and busy on a 5/8 blade. If I got it wrong, there would be no changing it. But here I was, staring at what was clearly 7/8 (I own 4/8, 5/8 and 6/8, and this looked bigger than any blade I own). So what was going on here?

The Mastro had received my response to the choice he gave me… and decided to ignore it. The man had thought about my theme and the reason, and he clearly had understood that this would be a working piece as well as a work of art with huge sentimental value. And he didn’t want me to have to compromise. He went ahead and created a 7/8 blade for me in Rose Damascus (so, aesthetic and sentiment successfully delivered). But this left a very practical problem – delivery of the “working piece” part. In order to create 7/8 in Rose, he had to create a blade with a spine which was way too thin (I’m no master forger, so I have no idea why. If anyone does, I’d love to know!). “So what?” some might say. Well, the spine was so thin it would never hold a bevel at the angle it would create on a hone.

So the Mastro concocted a workaround, brilliantly simple and low-tech as hell. He created a steel cuff which would slip over onto the spine, like a sheath. This would do two things: protect the non-steel elements from the hone (i.e. the mother of pearl inlay) as well as raise the angle of the blade to the hone to precisely the right level. The Mastro explained this was the first such thing he had created for a blade and that, as far as he knew, it was unique.





I felt so humbled and a little embarrassed. The Mastro had taken to heart what I asked and created a simple innovation to a problem which until now he had either never encountered or had dismissed as not worth doing. I don’t know how long he spent thinking about the problem, but if it was no more than 5 minutes I’d still feel just as humble for someone to have taken the trouble.

He went onto explain that the steels used in the forging were ATS-34 (the lighter-coloured bands in the blade) and 440 (the darker bands). He was concerned that because the bevel ran through the middle of circular bands that the shave might feel somewhat rough or coarse since the steels would hone differently. The dark and light bands would lose metal at different rates, in theory. He suggested that extended stropping would help. (It was a misplaced concern I think, because it feels %^*&ing awesome to shave with!)

[Note: another thread from Mason (Ruckeriii) about Livi Damascus blades raises the issue of microchipping. I wonder if this explanation from the Mastro has anoything to do with that? Here's the thread.]

The modifications (aka PimpMyBlade)
There are circular MOP inlays in the blade (front and back) as well as on the worked spine. The circles alternate precisely in spacing between face and spine. The tang also has MOP circles at front of pin, and is entirely covered with MOP behind the pin.





The scales are fossilised mammoth ivory with abalone circular inlays on the front. The scales are made from a single piece, with therefore no need for a wedge.



If I felt humbled with the blade, what the Mastro said next made me crack one of the biggest smiles ever. He pointed at the abalone circles and explained in Italian to me. Through the common international language (of gesticulation) and some familiar words I knew in Italian, I listened as he told me that he understood it was a big occasion for my wife and I -- ten years. He had thought about this and had decided to create one inlay for every year we have been married. He asked me to count with him in Italian as he pointed at each circle. Uno, due, tre, quattro, cinque, sei, sette, otto, nove, dieci. Yep, damned if the guy hadn’t really outdone himself and just made me his new best friend!

A demo of his work
Next up was a real treat. We left Katie and the kids out front. The kids played with the Livi’s 1-year-old cat on the counter top while Katie and his wife chatted.

First I was shown round his equipment, then he took from his pocket a small piece of mammoth ivory in the shape of a mini scales (one half). He explained that he was going to show me how he creates the inlays. The Mastro pulled out a box of whole abalone shells and explained that only the small centre is used (the part with the best patterns) before discarding the rest. He took a small square of shell prepared earlier to use on the mini-scales.

• He clamped the ivory in a vertical drill and drilled a set of circles, one on top of each other, starting with the smallest drillbit and working up to one the size he wanted (about three later). I’m guessing gradual drilling like this minimises the likelihood of damage to the ivory.
• He took the bit that fit the new hole exactly, turned it upside down and glued the piece of abalone to the bottom of the drillbit. He then took this to a series of wheel grinders until the square of abalone was a perfect circle with no part sitting proud of the drillbit. Drillbit template, I guess!
• He then took the bit to an iron block and used a jeweller’s hammer to tap the abalone off the drillbit. Two tiny taps and it popped off onto the surface.
• He used more glue to stick the inlay into the hole. It was a perfect fit. He took the inlaid ivory to the buffers and belt grinders and produced a great polish. The whole thing took about 15 minutes.

Wow, one down, nine to go ha ha. I came out of the workshop with a grin on me like the Cheshire Cat. Finally, he etched my name into the ivory and stuck it to the side of my blade’s box as an identifier and permanent reminder of what I had just seen.



The Mastro then etched the blade as I had asked in my spec to him. He had left it until we met so that he could ensure the wording was exactly right, without risk of ending like one of those fatal comical errors.

There were photos all round and during this time we got to talking about SRP, Lynn’s visit and support, and other names that we both knew. One was Marco Belloni to whom I have to say the most enormous thanks for taking the time to translate my spec to the Mastro and acting as a go-between by email.

The other made me laugh out loud. Luca started to say a name: Ivan Koorai! Ivan Koorai! And the Mastro joined in, big grins, as if I should know this great guy to them. I told them I could think of only an Ivo on SRP, but not Ivan. Then the penny dropped. Steelforge, the grand high master of Livi collecting (excepting Lynn of course -- but that’s a kind of given on this forum, right?). Of course! I explained our mutual virtual friend was, in fact, none other than our Iwan. Both Luca and the Mastro looked at me as if I was insane when I pronounced Iwan’s name correctly. I started to explain, then thought better of it. I mean, Ivan Currie’s pretty cool too.

The Mastro then showed me the box of Fazzini regrinds (see this thread). The conversation got onto sharpness and he took my blade and started doing very fast laps up and down on the biggest b*stard loom strop I have ever seen, covered with a green coloured paste. You could have batted for England with one of these! He then did the TNT, and went back to another few passes (about a dozen) and proceeded to pop hairs on the back of his hand like no tomorrow. I guess I wouldn’t be needing that coticule I packed with me!






The crazy man then showed me some hand stropping. Rapid, fast like a blur, up and down on the palm of his hand. My eyes must have popped and my mouth hit the ground because his wife had started to laugh at my reaction. Let me tell you, that is not something I intend to emulate, ever. I then looked at Luca as if to say “Come on dude, back me up here. Your Dad is nuts!” He just stood and looked at me like we were watching him do nothing more than wash his hands.

There were more photos and goodbyes.



As Katie got the kids into the car he couldn’t resist dragging me off to the yard out back. Pulling back an iron gate, he told me this is what he did when he wasn’t making razors. He revealed an old Lancia rally car before declaring “Mastro Livi – World Rally Champion!” and bursting out laughing. At weekends he would compete with other rally drivers, Luca too. What a character!

The Mastro and his family were exactly as Lynn has described. Warm, generous and hospitable, with a good sense of humour. What I was really struck by was how dedicated he was to putting beauty and art into what are otherwise everyday objects. Nothing has to be strictly utilitarian in design. There’s room for high beauty even in knives and razors. And why the hell not, eh?

The Mastro wanted me to encourage others to visit. He is truly proud of what he does and enjoys meeting his customers personally. I’m only the fifth to make the visit and I got the feeling he would have been just as happy and hospitable if I was the 500th.

As we left in the scorching heat, we made our way past the historical and grandiose city of Perugia. Looking up at the ancient stone battlements and churches, I realised I’d remember this every time I shave with the blade. 10 years of marriage, a family vacation, and meeting the Mastro to pick up my Livi custom blade. Yep, it ranks in the top 10 experiences of my life.

(Final note: I know I can be long-winded as hell sometimes so apologies if this was a bit of a journey to get through. Hope you guys enjoy it. M.)

Bravo! Great story Mark. Well told. I'd love to make the Pilgrimage myself. Hopefully soon.

Jordan

Thank you for sharing with us.

Great story, thanks for sharing! I wish there were more craftsmen that had this attention to detail and quality...

Great posting....and congrats on the blade

BTW.....Yoda never gave Luke his saber :P