what to look for when buying used strop

I was wondering if anyone could tell me what I need to look for when buying a used strop.what makes a strop unuseable

what do you think about this strop

http://cgi.ebay.com/Old-DUBL-DUCK-Le...p-MAN-O-WAR-NR

It's on my watch list. I was going to try to get it cheap - but so much for this now...

I think the leather will need (lots of) work to get it back to life - this is why I was not thinking of bidding too much. But then again I am no strop specialist.

Ivo

There are many great strops that come up on Eboy for a song, don't overpay because it says DD or some other name. A strop is a strop, whats more important is the condition. The leather shouldn't be dried out or have cuts and abrasions in it. Better yet buy a new one from tony he has some great specials and his strops are top notch. A decent one on Eboy will still run you probably $20 or so, so check out Tony's site.

Sure, I second this advice.

I already have a strop from Tony (and plan to be getting another one, but not sure what yet). I just am drawn to the vintage realm lately - vintage razors, brushes, strops... NOS or not. I would like to try a couple of vintage strops just to see the differences and how they work on my razors.

Not that I won't use the new ones...

Cheers
Ivo

Hi all,

Just thought I'd bump this thread - I'm just getting started, and was planning on buying a strop from whippeddog, but I saw a beautiful one at an antique shop for a few bucks today. You can tell it's very old, but the leather is still super rich and smooth. There's one noticeable cut in it, but it's about an inch from the end, so avoidable. It's got a fair amount of scratches and whatnot, but not big enough to really feel. The other part - woven canvas, I think? - felt pretty smoothed down, and i wasn't sure if that would be an issue either.

Anyway, I might go back and buy it tomorrow, but was curious what folks' thoughts were on buying an old strop if the leather still felt nice, and what to look out for (from reading, it seems like cuts, wrinkling and dryness?).

Thanks!

As mentioned, condition of the leather is important and hard to quantify from photos on eBay, ask questions and or close-up photos.
No surface imperfections to the working face is best, but the back gives a better clue to condition. Look for small/tiny crack/splits at 90 deg to the edge and along the edge and can be small in length or up to 3/8's or more. These denote over dry leather and there is no cure. sometimes these only show when the strop is bent convexly.
As to the linen side, cleaner the better and still with the manufacturers linen treatment present. All old linens go a bit yellow and is I think due to the treatment aging naturally.
I think other points are obvious so I wont mention.

Hope this helps.