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I posted this in the Razors section as well as I picked up a couple of razors with this strop.
This came with an ES PE SR for $10.00 (asking $12.00).
It has BIBER on the front of the handle and GARANTIERT ECHT ALOE 1 on the back. On the leather is ECHT WILD-JUCETEN.
The back appears to be balsa wood
Anyone have any information on this product? Age? Value? Worthiness?
We don't discuss value on the site. The wild jucenten bit i think refers to the tanning process. Sorry not much help
GARANTIERT ECHT ALOE is German for guaranteed real aloe
ECHT WILD-juchten (note spelling change) is German for real wild Russian leather
Biber is(?)/was a German company and has been around a long time. I don't know how long they have been around, but hopefully someone else does.
The strops of theirs that I have seen all had CrOx on one side.
These are very common. For the state it's in (based on the one picture), I'd say that you didn't overpay and the seller didn't undersell.
As Cris, most of the ones I have seen were treated with chromium oxide on one side. With a bit of love, minor hand sanding and mink/neatsfoot oil it may very well become serviceable again.
If there is any surface damage to the leather, I'd suggest carefully and lighthandedly sanding it out with no less than 600 grit sandpaper or 1500 MicroMesh. After that rub it down with a moist cloth to clean off the residue and open up the leather just a bit, then rub a (very) small amount of mink/neatsfoot oil in the palm of your hands and apply as evenly as possible. Let it dry overnight. If the leather is still a bit stiff, repeat the oil application as often as necessary.
They are very common as Pithor says.
They seem to be a product of the Biber-Drogerie, Munich, Johannisplatz 20 which appears to have opened around 1900, but the design predates this and was common all over Europe.
Biber made a number of strops, from the paddles to looms to small unalterable looms. The lineage seems to have been directly followed by others including Herold.
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Using 'Biber' as a search name is not as useful as it may seem, as the word is a german/hebrew nickname meaning a 'bever' (eg a hard-worker) or just the animal - not so surprising when you look at some of the flattened designs with flat handles which are a dead ringer from above (OK, OK, they look more like a steam-rollered bever)!
