Razor stroping contraption. What do I have here?

[VonMises1881]

I work at the Post Office and thus deal with a lot of Ebayers shipping their wares. I'm always telling customers to be on the lookout at yard sales and flea markets for vintage shave gear and to give me a heads up. Anyway, this guy comes in and says, "Here's an antique razor sharpener. I don't want it so you can have it though I know it's worth some money." After trying to talk him into letting me pay him something, to no avail, I thankfully took the item. Now the thing is, I'm not going to sell it because it was a gift but can I use it? What do I have here? I can describe it if need be but I'm hoping the picture will be enough to allow someone in the know to give me the straight dope. Thanks in advance.

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[mdunn]

its a hone for DE blades. However it wont work on new blades because theyre thin and coated these days, not old thick ones

 

[VonMises1881]

So in order to use it I'd have to intentionally seek out old blades. Hmm. I want to at least try the thing so I'm going to use it on my next blade that's ready to be pitched just to see what happens. Actually, what will happen?

 

[mmack66]

You have a paperweight.

 

[aquilla]

i think theyre called kriss kross sharpeners, they wont help almost any new blade but a used dorco or other such blank blade wont look out of place in it and when you do crank it the (hopefully) smooth and energetic action of it is enough to warrant "pretending" it does work on the same blade just to stare at it with quiet amazement ive brought a few stropping and sharpening "contraptions" for that reason alone one like that is next on my list. just try to keep your fingers away from the blade, they tend to flip the blades in a less than safe manner.

 

[r0ckrat]

Using a new blade might gum up the stropping medium due to the coatings in use. See if you can find a few Marlin blades, as they seem to shave great and aren't coated (made pre-1950). If you have trouble finding a decent older blade to try, check Joe's antiques (he's a user here, but I forget his username) as he usually has some Marlin blades listed on his website.