Thread: Illinois double sided strop

I found this at a thrift store in my area. It has a finishing side which has very little draw....and it has a sharpening side that has a texture to it and has an amazingly resistive draw.

anybody have any information? How many strops on the sharpening side? Is it for everyday?

thanks,

tim

I can't help, I have more questions. I think I'm in a similar situation. I hope you don't mind if I piggy-back on your post.

I got a Latigo strop with mesh from SRD. It's two straps, one mesh and one leather. The 2 straps are attached at one end and 2 separate handles on the other ends.
On the leather strap, there is one side that looks rough, like the "Sharpen" side in the pix.
The other side of the leather strap looks "polished" and slick, like the "Finish" side in the pix.
So - it looks alot like the one shown, but mine doesn't have the handy "sharpen on this side" stamps.
Which side do I use? Only one? Both? Do they do different things?

Any help is appreciated.
TIA
Jeff

No worries.....hope to get some info from some people who know.

For the OP I would do 25 sharpen and 50 finish. And should be fine every day. The sharpen side is usually just like a linen side.

For the Srd strop you use the outside surfaces. 25 mesh then 50 on the polished side of the leather.

To the OP, They made a gazillion different strops My latest is in the 4xxx range.
That said, the "Phillips screw driver" patterns on the sharpen side are to hold a bit of black oxide and allow it to spread along the entire strop during use.

The smooth side is in need of some love!
Here is a catalog of the information for that available on SRP:
Strop Renewal Threads

"Slowly, slowly catchee monkey!" Don't be in a hurry and add oils and such very sparingly and over a long time period. A few weeks delay is a low price for a great working vintage strop!!
~Richard

I have a similar old Sears strop that I got because it was inexpensive and interesting, which I may or may not use some time in the future. It is very old and dirty, but in good shape from the looks of it. It obviously received lots of worthwhile use.

Probably one day I'll clean it up and take a closer squint at it. Probably a more honest answer for you, Geezer, is that I'm inclined to stay tuned and find out what you figure out. I have a lot of confidence in you.

My guess is that the average 19th Century/early 20th Century shaver had limited honing equipment compared to what we have and that sharpening side helped keep the edge clean of metal shavings that may be larger and more irritating than those we get after a few laps on our high-grit finishing hones.

Originally Posted by CaliforniaCajun

..snip...
Probably one day I'll clean it up and take a closer squint at it. Probably a more honest answer for you, Geezer, is that I'm inclined to stay tuned and find out what you figure out. I have a lot of confidence in you...snip...

The OP was the one needed the answers... this time!
The wiki has the answers and I have used quite a few of them myself. I have a few works in progress at the moment and will still use the information I found there.
Cheers
~Richard

I have the Illinois #827 strop and it actually has very heavy draw, it's also a great strop.

What I was told about the #827 at least, was that it required an initial treatment of Fromm Strop Conditioner...however if this is an older strop, it just may require some restoration, there are lots of threads on that, the Advanced Search link under the Google Search will serve you well...

Thx. I read the wiki. I found some good information there.

I put a thin layer of leather conditioner that came with my lazy-boy leather couch. The bottle says it is synthetic conditioner. It soaked in real fast. The strop is real thirsty.

Thanks for the information

Tim

Sorry for the delay. It's been an unusually grueling year-end.
Thanks for the info! As a n00b, I am worried about doing something wrong and ruining my shave and/or razor.
I appreciate the help.