I just won a "NEW" strop off the Bay. Is it usable?
- Thread starter L8yBud
- Start date
Looks really nice, don't know anything about them though.
Nice score!
Nice score!
Looks pretty good to me. Many nics or slices I. The main body of strop? I would clean it up and dress it or oil it by the way it looks.
Dont knwoit but is looks great.
I woudl take a moistened cotton t shirt and wipe down the leather, you would be surprised how much crap you get off.
If it looks dry put a drop of neatsfoot oil on your palm, rub the drop all over your hands and with that amount massage the oil into the strop. A little oil goes a long way.
Oiling a strop can make a huge change in the draw, try this out before you start making changes.
I woudl take a moistened cotton t shirt and wipe down the leather, you would be surprised how much crap you get off.
If it looks dry put a drop of neatsfoot oil on your palm, rub the drop all over your hands and with that amount massage the oil into the strop. A little oil goes a long way.
Oiling a strop can make a huge change in the draw, try this out before you start making changes.
- Thread starter
- #6
That looks really cool. Nice score.
That looks quite fantastic! Very nice score! Should work brilliantly after a tiny bit of TLC
Nice score and beautiful looking strop.
I would try to find out what it is made out of before applying anything to it. If it is shell, wax would be in order rather than oil. Look very closely at the surface using a bright light and magnification and see if you can see any grain or ridges. If it is shell, it will be quite smooth and have a very even surface. Horse hide will be quite dense, hard to compress and the grain will be very tight. Cowhide, especially the outside of the skin, will look a lot like a leather belt's surface and will have a more open grain as well as pores where the hair used to be. I think it will be worth taking a bit of time before adding anything to the strop; if it is soft and flexible, you probably won't need to add anything at least for quite a while.
Brian
I would try to find out what it is made out of before applying anything to it. If it is shell, wax would be in order rather than oil. Look very closely at the surface using a bright light and magnification and see if you can see any grain or ridges. If it is shell, it will be quite smooth and have a very even surface. Horse hide will be quite dense, hard to compress and the grain will be very tight. Cowhide, especially the outside of the skin, will look a lot like a leather belt's surface and will have a more open grain as well as pores where the hair used to be. I think it will be worth taking a bit of time before adding anything to the strop; if it is soft and flexible, you probably won't need to add anything at least for quite a while.
Brian
The real question is.. Do you have a red imp razor to use on it?
Yep, definitely agree with that. It's a nice strop and it would be a shame to spoil it by anointing it with too much or the wrong stuff - remember it's always much easier to add stuff later than to take it off.
Me? I'd probably just gently clean off any dirt and apply nothing more than a rub with my palms, maybe a few times over a few days, before trying it. (In fact, I recently picked up an old ScrupleWorks strop that I suspect is shell, and that's all I've done to it - and it's very nice).
Great find
Very nice. I am looking for a vintage strop. What did you pay for this?
I urge you to avoid vintage strops unless you are buying for decorative purposes or can feel the strop prior to purchase. You can't see how hard and dry a vintage strop is or see all of the nicks and other defects that will harm your blade. I have a 1out of 5 ratio of good to junk vintage strops buying from pictures. For the money I spent I could have had a couple really nice Cordovan shell strops.
Thanks for the tip. I was curious about those very points. Appreciate your sharing your experience.
