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These will both take a bit of work, but I think they'll turn out well. Especially the one on the left, "Genuine Russian Finish". The other, a Dubl Duck "Imperial Russia", is kind of scratched up. I'm positive they'll both be useable after restoration, but I don't think I'll be able to make them very pretty again.
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You may be surprised. Get it on! ;)
I'm looking forward to seeing how this progresses. As it has been said you may be surprised. Give it a Go! :tu
You have two very nice strops there, they should both cleanup well, that they were “Russian” tanned helps. The bottom one may be much older and have actually been tanned in Russia and of shell, there is some wording stamped under Russia.
The Duck probably not, but still “Russian” tanned and of good quality but maybe not shell, both are good thick strops. The backs of both should be ribbed. The ribbing is from the stuffing process.
The bottom one looks to possibly have a Kanayama stamp at the bottom, which would be interesting. The Russian tanning is an oil stuffing process, some say were tanned for up to 11 months, which is why they may have lasted so well so long.
I keep an old ¼ inch thick ribbed backed Russian tanned Certifyd in the shop, that is my daily driver when honing. It took months to rehydrate, and rolling, but is now as soft and floppy as an old sock.
Go slow, re hydrate before cleaning, so as not to get the leather too wet and rot the leather. You can sand a new finish and even refill the gold stamps with gold foil to make look like new. It is not difficult just go slow adding about ½ a teaspoon of oil, Ballistol or Neetsfoot at a time, then wait a week or two before adding more.
There are several good posts, but holler if you need more help.
Very nice find.
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Euclid's right on all fronts...when restoring strops (or razors for that matter!) 'slow' is 'fast'. Both of those will be very nice strops. I have a Duck strop similar to that one and it strops a treat!
WP34
It's very similar, but it says "Illinois Razor Strop Co - Chicago". There is some other stuff, but I can't quite make it out, the lettering has deteriorated too much.Quote:
Originally Posted by Euclid440
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Nope, not a Kanayama / Kanoyama it’s an Illinois Razor Strop Company Chicago, but still Old School Russian tanned and probably Shell. Still a very good strop.
Back in the day, makers bought their leather from tanners, the top stamp or they were made for a particular company. The Russian CCCP stamp is on strops from many strop vendors. Illinois is a stop maker, but I doubt Double Duck made their own strops.
Today some makers buy from Horween, a premier leather tanner, known for shell tanning, many of those strops have Horween and makers stamps.
The same eagle as the Kanayama, but not a Kanayama stamp. I once bought an old strop from an eBay auction, with a fuzzy photo of a non foiled Kanayama stamp. Turned out to be a very old Kanayama that cleaned up a treat.
Story on the name is, the name is/was Kanayama, the stamp was ordered and arrived with a misprint (Kanoyama), they just shrugged and use it anyway.
Here is a cleaned-up stamp photo.
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