Thread: strop condition HEM

Hi,

I've recently gotten into the straight razor scene, and i did so buy buying some second hand stuff at an antique store. While i'm getting my razor up to speed with the hones i've bought i'm wondering if the strop i got at the antique store is doing more harm than good.


It's in average condition, it has two nicks on it, one rather large one at the end where HEM is written (and under this is embossed genuine horsehide). And there's another minor one at the bottom which feels smooth to run my fingers over. The other side is terrible. It has this ruff embossed pattern of dots down the center and lines on the side which make it quite ruff, there are also multiple gashes down the end that you hold and chips on the sides, and the top has a few chips.

I'm attaching some photos for you to get a better idea.

The strop is a bit dry, when i first got it it was very dry and i put some olive oil on it which seemed to work ok (ok, so how bad a move was this?). It's starting to dry up again now and on the smooth side (which is the only side i use) there seems to form a hump when i strop which means only a small part of the blade touches the strop and i have to rely on using an x pattern to get a good coverage on the blade. I think this is partially due to the stiffness of the leather, perhaps i need to get some linseed oil? i assume no one would ok my use of olive oil?

So i'm wondering if i could be doing any damage to my blade using this strop (from the nicks, hump in the leather or just plan stiffness)

Thanks for any input guys

orfeo

ps: if you think a new strop is in order, are there any economic options out there? i like the look of tony's strops but i feel they will probably be out of my price range ($40) - i guess something like this http://www.classicshaving.com/catalo...944/817097.htm