Vintage Strops?

Hi

I've got my first straight razor on it's way and I'm just getting to the hobby. I can understand buying and using a vintage razor but is it the same for vintage strops?

Steel gets worn down but I figured the leather of the strop would dry out over time.

If a vintage strop can be used, what would I look for in an Ebay description to help me make a smart choice?

Brand names? Some type of wear patterns?

Thanks for any help

Mark

A lot of old strops have perished leather or leather that is very dry, wrinkles and folds from being stored folded-up, nicks and cuts from the razor, stitching coming apart, plus other nasties. Having said that, a lot of them can be used.

If the picture shows a deep crease, for example where the strop has been folded in half and stored flat over the years - forget it.

If the leather is perished and crumbling - forget it.

If the cuts and nicks are very deep and over the surface of the strop rather than mainly at the sides - forget it.

However, dry leather can be made supple again with neatsfoot oil, a less than perfect surface can be saddle-soaped, treated with pumice and reconditioned and small nicks can be lightly abraded with fine wet'n'dry paper so the edges don't catch the razor.

Your best bet is to buy from someone who uses strops. I do, and I have reconditioned quite a few old ones and found them perfectly adequate, if not better than more modern examples. Some of the better brands I have had experience of are Roma, Black Beauty and the Carborundum Co. The last two are more durable, being made of a thicker/better leather. The leather on the black Beauties is particularly thick and nice to use.

Hope this is of some help!

Regards,
Neil

I have a half dozen vintage strops that I have gotten off of ebay. If you go that route I would suggest you ask the seller if there are any nicks, cuts, creases or age cracks in the leather.
They often know little or nothing about strops and usually post inadequate photos. If I am the high bidder on a strop I always ask them to ship it in a box that is large enough that they don't have to fold the strop up and put a crease in it. IMO you would be better off going with one from Tony Miller of from SRD. Vintage strops are cool if you get a good one but no better then a new one IME. Just my 2 cents.

The vintage strops may well have real linen, and are more often salvageable than the leather sides. Also many of the old strops are the same length as new ones, so you can take the linen from a vintage strop and clip it with the leather from a modern Illinois #127, which have decent leather but terrible linen.