Vintage shell strops and couple of horse hide

**Toroblanco** · 03-09-2018, 03:45 AM

Love those Japanese strops! Very nice gentlemen, very nice. I like finding the old vintage ones in good shape and bringing them back to life. To me it is very satisfying rehabing them and using them once more. Good to see other members enjoy it as well!

**ajkenne** · 03-09-2018, 02:46 PM

I like my old Japanese Kintaka as well. Closeup shows Japanese Kangi on bottom. Also states in the Certifyd logo that it is a "French hide". Kanayama strops often state this on their shells. It has a great fast draw and is supple. I will only hand rub that old beauty. Some of my others have just needed an application or two of Williams lather, then hand rubs. Still others with cuts needed progressive sanding to 1200 grit to get them back into shape. All need and get routine hand rubs to keep them nice. The condition as found determines how to proceed with restoration. Lots of restoration methods including Saddlesoap, Neatsfoot oil etc, are suggested here in SRP. Deternining the right approach is challenging, as there seems to be many options, and not a single solution. Whatever works for you is probably the right answer.

**Toroblanco** · 03-09-2018, 07:53 PM

Nice, it even has Naomi stamped on it! I have not seen that before or realized he did that. Great find! Thank you for posting that very nice strop.

**ajkenne** · 03-09-2018, 10:20 PM

Originally Posted by Toroblanco

Nice, it even has Naomi stamped on it! I have not seen that before or realized he did that. Great find! Thank you for posting that very nice strop.

Not sure what the Kanji says but others have attributed this as his stamp as well. I found it translated somewhere in this forum. Just looked at some old posts on this topic and someone astutely indicated that within the Certifyd stamp on the photo above you will see the letters "NAOMI" in place of the "G M. Mfg Co" seen on most all Certifyd stamps. I would say this strop is indeed made by Naomi Kanayama! How cool is that?

**alex1921** · 03-10-2018, 03:11 PM

Great. I never noticed Naomi's name in the cross

I got a 0P and a 2P. 0P came NOS with some dirt and just took some cleaning. The other one was in a worse shape. Required sanding and Balistol/Horse oil over the past many months but its up and running like a charm. Final sanding at both bottoms just done as you can see in the pics.

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**ajkenne** · 03-10-2018, 03:41 PM

No doubt who made your strops either Naomi Kanayama! Beautiful restore on those old beauties. Bet they work great.

**alex1921** · 03-10-2018, 04:17 PM

Originally Posted by ajkenne

No doubt who made your strops either Naomi Kanayama! Beautiful restore on those old beauties. Bet they work great.

Thank you for your kind words. Yes I love those strops. I wouldnt have been able to fix them without all the help I got on this forum. (Euclid440, Cotiga and Gabriel Sanchez)

**thebigspendur** · 03-10-2018, 04:24 PM

The certified logo was trademarked and owned by that outfit so if kanayama made them it was a contract job by them. Possibly he made them for the Japan Market only which is why his initials appeared on the strops..

**Toroblanco** · 03-10-2018, 06:19 PM

Way freaking Coooool! That is bad a**! To me sometimes it it those little things that make things so much more special. Nice job Alex! and Euclid440 has helped me many times with his posts. I have learned alot from him and other members.