Thread: Vintage "Russia Shell" strop [+hardware questions]

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Nice vintage strop. AFAIK the term Russia, or Russian, refers to the curing method, and to the cross hatched pattern on the back side of the strop. My guess is that strop was made in the USA in spite of the Russia Shell branding. Other that scoring an old strop with hardware in poor condition (cheaply) I don't know about brass hardware. Some of the shaving suppliers might have new production hangers.

For rejuvenating the strop see this post by Euclid440 ; http://straightrazorpalace.com/strop...ml#post1609889

Thanks! I have actually rejuvenated it since those photos - a bit of mink oil and then a bit of lather. Seems to have worked well, it feels pretty pliable now.

AFAIK the term Russia, or Russian, refers to the curing method, and to the cross hatched pattern on the back side of the strop. My guess is that strop was made in the USA in spite of the Russia Shell branding.

At some point I recall reading that vintage Russian shell was cured with birch bark (producing a particular colouration?) - do you think it would have been made in the USA from Russian shell or made from US shell processed in the "Russian style"? It does indeed have a stamp on the "hand end" with a Pittsburgh, PA address:

Originally Posted by benhunt

do you think it would have been made in the USA from Russian shell or made from US shell processed in the "Russian style"? It does indeed have a stamp on the "hand end" with a Pittsburgh, PA address:

That is my guess. Here are a couple of oldies but goodies I have that are stamped Russia. Notice the flip sides have the cross hatch pattern that I understand is characteristic of 'Russian' strops, and the USA manufacturers. Checking another half dozen vintage strops I have (like any normal person) none of them are marked Russian, though some are marked shell, and none have the cross hatch on the back side of the leather. Another American company, Certifyd, that made the famed 'Red Imp', among many others, had a strop with the exact same Russian logo as the F.W. Engles pictured, and the cross hatching. I had one many years ago, but don't know where it ended up. Chances are Certifyd made the Engles strop, and maybe the Wester Bros too ! Anyway ...... I doubt they came from Russia. I could be wrong though, I was wrong once before.

Very interesting. Thanks for the additional info & photos. The one I've got seems like a pretty good strop once I'd restored it a bit. Feels a bit different than any of my cow-hide strops.

Originally Posted by benhunt

Very interesting. Thanks for the additional info & photos. The one I've got seems like a pretty good strop once I'd restored it a bit. Feels a bit different than any of my cow-hide strops.

Here is a post by the late Neil Miller, who probably knew more about strops/leather than anyone I've ever talked with ;

http://straightrazorpalace.com/strop...ml#post1508775

Originally Posted by Neil Miller

It is leather. It is the american version of russian leather - original russian leather had birch tree oil in it (to deter insect attack) and this smell was incorporated into the russia leather made in the US. It was nearly always a red colour - so the american tanneries died it red. The original had the flesh side scraped off by means of a draw-wire used in alternating diagonals, giving rise to the 'diamond' shape. The american stuff was rolled, one of the rollers being cross-hatched, although earlier examples were rolled on a grooved roller, tilting the strop one way (say 45 degrees) for the first pass and then the other way, still 45 degrees for the second pass, again giving a 'diamond' effect.

This both compressed the leather and gave a patterned side for abrasive paste to be added to. Compressing leather makes it very hard - like old style boot sole leather, so these strops were very slick (light on the draw) and neded an extended 'breaking-in' time.

As a point of interest, dyeing was undertaken after tanning was finished, and the hide laid out stretched on a frame before tooling commenced. In antiquity the hide was wetted with alum water and spread over a barrel, latterly a frame was used, but the hide still had to be softened in order to make it pliable enough to fit on another frame (the frame would have broken as it was made of wood) and once re-stretched it was tooled on the skin side (or grain side - the other side or innermost side - is the flesh side).

So, a typical russian-style strop has the stropping surface on the flesh side (the rolling or calendering buffs it to a shine) and the side we would normally strop on has the pattern on it.

Regards,
Neil

Thanks for pointing me to that. Fascinating info. I'm now curious to see what a Russian-made "Russia shell" would be like...

I assume the "Russia shell" I got should be actual (horse) shell, but I don't know how to tell for certain. (I have an Illinois cow-hide strop which has a horse head image on it....not literally false advertising, but certainly misleading). Figured this vintage "Russia shell" was worth $7 in any case....

Originally Posted by benhunt

Thanks for pointing me to that. Fascinating info. I'm now curious to see what a Russian-made "Russia shell" would be like...

I assume the "Russia shell" I got should be actual (horse) shell, but I don't know how to tell for certain. (I have an Illinois cow-hide strop which has a horse head image on it....not literally false advertising, but certainly misleading). Figured this vintage "Russia shell" was worth $7 in any case....

This is a question that is of interest to me as well. Not only Russian Shell, but shell in general. I've got a few old strops marked 'shell' other than the Russians I posted photos of. Now these are old-old strops and if they say 'shell' I assume they must be. What makes me wonder is the thickness of some of them.

Neil Miller's shell was a very thin strop. A couple of my old ones are thin, but a few are thick. That thick versus thin thing is what has me stumped. In thinking about it, back in the olden days when there were still dray horses and what not, there was no shortage of material.

Part of the horse went to the glue factory, part to the dog food factory, and the hides & shell probably went to the shoe and strop makers. That is my assumption anyway, that there was a lot more material available in bygone days. So if it is marked shell it probably is. AFAIK, most vintage strops from those days were either horsehide, or shell. Not much bovine used for strops in those day .......... I think.

I have two Russian horse shell strops. Both have a light draw, similar to English Bridal leather. One in particular holds interest for me since it is stamped with my last name. As far as I can tell, no relation and a seller of barber goods at the turn of the 20th century.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

This is a question that is of interest to me as well. Not only Russian Shell, but shell in general. I've got a few old strops marked 'shell' other than the Russians I posted photos of. Now these are old-old strops and if they say 'shell' I assume they must be. What makes me wonder is the thickness of some of them.

Neil Miller's shell was a very thin strop. A couple of my old ones are thin, but a few are thick. That thick versus thin thing is what has me stumped. In thinking about it, back in the olden days when there were still dray horses and what not, there was no shortage of material.

Part of the horse went to the glue factory, part to the dog food factory, and the hides & shell probably went to the shoe and strop makers. That is my assumption anyway, that there was a lot more material available in bygone days. So if it is marked shell it probably is. AFAIK, most vintage strops from those days were either horsehide, or shell. Not much bovine used for strops in those day .......... I think.

That makes sense. Though even where dead horse bits were less rare, the actual shell area is a fairly small bit of hide compared to an entire horse. And I don't know how strict labelling regulations would have been at the time, so I still wonder.

Hi Ben, I did notice on Ebay that some of the vendors strip strops and sell the hardware separate, yeah, I know, slimy buggers some of the sellers.

How about Making your own hardware? I have some brass casting to do, maybe I'll throw in a couple of quick made patterns and see if they turn out "wanted" or not.

Some good Oak or other hardwood and a screw with nut and you are in business. Good Hunting.

Originally Posted by FAL

Hi Ben, I did notice on Ebay that some of the vendors strip strops and sell the hardware separate, yeah, I know, slimy buggers some of the sellers.

How about Making your own hardware? I have some brass casting to do, maybe I'll throw in a couple of quick made patterns and see if they turn out "wanted" or not.

Some good Oak or other hardwood and a screw with nut and you are in business. Good Hunting.

I wouldn't have the skill or tools to make any brass hardware myself. It's actually perfectly serviceable as is, but the brass would be nice for aesthetic purposes.