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Vintage "Old War Horse" strop, is it horse leather?

The kaleidoscope description is the shape of the "grains" if you will. It reminds me of the pieces inside the child's toy in terms of shape.
Not the best analogy but what its always reminded me of.
If your strop has signs of the surface anywhere on it - say light and dark areas, scars, etc. it reveals that it is not in fact muscle tissue but the actual hide or skin of the animal.
I seem to remember Mike (Modine) had one from "Hides to Art" that showed striations near the handle end. It was butt horse hide.
If we remember that it is a fibrous muscle beneath the skin it will be consistent throughout.
Mag photos would be good to see.
 
I'll try and do some photos before I go away to Norway in a week. If it has to be when I get back, someone keep reminding me, lol.
 
Be sure to pick up some of Torolf's horsehide while you're there. ;-) (My source for the horsehide strop referred to here.)
I would love to, but Scrupleworks (if I remember the name correctly) is a bit outside my budget, given that a day's food shopping in Tønsberg is closer to 50 quid than 5 quid (my wife is from Norway, so we go for 2-3-4 weeks at a time, which is murderous on the bank balance).
Still, Scrupleworks - as I remember, again - looks to be "inexpensive" for Norway. It's a small country, so I'm hoping to bump into him somewhere... maybe charm him into giving me a free sample one day, lol.
 
You could always say that you're trying to restore a small paddle. That works sometimes. Norway sounds a bit like Switzerland. Whenever I've travelled by train between France and Italy, I've always been advised to buy a sandwich before entering Switzerland, and then eat it there while waiting to change trains.
 

steveclarkus

Goose Poop Connoisseur
The kaleidoscope description is the shape of the "grains" if you will. It reminds me of the pieces inside the child's toy in terms of shape.
Not the best analogy but what its always reminded me of.
If your strop has signs of the surface anywhere on it - say light and dark areas, scars, etc. it reveals that it is not in fact muscle tissue but the actual hide or skin of the animal.
I seem to remember Mike (Modine) had one from "Hides to Art" that showed striations near the handle end. It was butt horse hide.
If we remember that it is a fibrous muscle beneath the skin it will be consistent throughout.
Mag photos would be good to see.
I have a horse hide strop that is likely over 70 years old since the mfg. closed shop 70 years ago. Anyway, the strop consists of two leather strops. One simply looks like any other leather but the one marked "Finish" is different. It looks like thousands of tiny worms crawling east/west in the leather. Is this what you are referring to when you say "kaleidoscope"? That is the piece that I assume to be shell and is the faster of the two.

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I have a "deep cut" strop by Certifyd that looks like that. This is similar to most Shell but most are sanded down further or processed so the "strands" are not really strands anymore.
So yours is not really typical but most likely Shell. Mine that looks like yours is actually loud for a strop with a thin grind razor. It is VERY effective.
I assume you are talking about what it looks like through a loupe? If you look at yours and look deeper at the underlying structure - that is what most Shell looks like.
Describing the kaleidoscope reminds me of the shape of the pieces within. They are granular that has been sanded and is a very tight structure. It does not resemble hide.
I hope that makes sense.
 

Chan Eil Whiskers

Fumbling about.
I believe they are shell horse hide.
If you have a loupe look at the leather (working side) if you can see a pore structure (pockmarks - small craters) it is cow.
If it looks like a kaleidoscope (without the colors) it is horse. If it is the same on the backside- it is shell - generally.
Hope this helps.

Could you explain what you mean here (quoted below) better?

If it looks like a kaleidoscope (without the colors) it is horse. If it is the same on the backside- it is shell - generally.

What does the word generally mean here?

When I examine my English bridle leather strop I can see the pore structure you describe. Looking at it with a 10X lighted loupe.

I'm looking at a strop which the vendor (a trusted gentlemen known to have considerable integrity) says is horse shell hide. I can definitely see the kaleidoscope pattern on the working side. On the backside of the horse strop (not intended to be used for anything by the strop's construction) I see neither the pore structure of the cowhide nor the kaleidoscope pattern; I'm not sure how to describe what I see, but it's neither.

Is there more to the story of how to tell shell and horse apart?

Thanks,

Jim
 
Could you explain what you mean here (quoted below) better?



What does the word generally mean here?

When I examine my English bridle leather strop I can see the pore structure you describe. Looking at it with a 10X lighted loupe.

I'm looking at a strop which the vendor (a trusted gentlemen known to have considerable integrity) says is horse shell hide. I can definitely see the kaleidoscope pattern on the working side. On the backside of the horse strop (not intended to be used for anything by the strop's construction) I see neither the pore structure of the cowhide nor the kaleidoscope pattern; I'm not sure how to describe what I see, but it's neither.

Is there more to the story of how to tell shell and horse apart?

Thanks,

Jim


This is just how I see them. I am not a leather guru. I have had horse, cow, Shell and cordovan strops and have looked at them all under a good loupe.
Is what you are seeing on the backside look like crisscrossing fibers? If it is it will be harder to see the underlying structure or kaleidoscope pattern.
 

Chan Eil Whiskers

Fumbling about.
This is just how I see them. I am not a leather guru. I have had horse, cow, Shell and cordovan strops and have looked at them all under a good loupe.
Is what you are seeing on the backside look like crisscrossing fibers? If it is it will be harder to see the underlying structure or kaleidoscope pattern.

I've officially looked at it so much that it's made me crazy even crazier.

My lighted loupe has a battery which isn't the best. I have to look a bit and then turn it off to allow the battery recovery time. Anyway, I know I can see the kaleidoscope pattern sometimes at certain focal points, but my ability to see it now is compromised (even on the finished side).

Instead of clearly seeing anything I'm looking now with eyes and a brain which have become crisscrossed.

Sometimes I may be seeing an emergent pattern (or buried pattern or incipient pattern) within the other stuff I see on the unfinished side. The unfinished side of my strop is unfinished enough to feel and look (to the naked eye) a lot different from the finished side. I'm sure its lack of finish is part of the picture I'm getting.

I'll look at it again under stronger light to see what I see.

It's not like this is a big deal. I like the strop regardless (plus I trust the vendor) but I'd like to know more. Thanks for replying to my question and helping me with this.

Happy shaves,

Jim
 
Finished Shell, for me, has the kaleidoscope look (as does horse) but it can also have the heavy strand look to it. Its muscle fiber, but you can sometimes see through that to see the underlying surface if it was finished finer or if more of the fiber was removed.
It can look like what you imagine a wool sweater would look like under a loupe (not what one actually looks like) if you know what I mean. Lots of crisscrossing fibers.
All that matters is it is efficient and fun to use, enjoy.
 
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