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That spring may not be as bad off as you think. They should be floppy as they have a lot of turns to make before they bring in all the leather. They also require quite a few turns needed to...

A couple thoughts:
You may be able to separate the pieces of the container by squeezing the barrel together at one end toward the slot, It may be a rim on the inner piece.
If you have an old time...

Good pictures of the interior of one on the 'bay:
Vintage-Antique-Victorian-sterling-silver-ornate-barber-sharpening-leather-strop

From a great leather worker I found that if you see-saw a piece of strop leather, with pulling pressure, back and forth around a table leg or similar fixed cylinder you can increase the flexibility...