Handle parts for an Illinois #3359 strop?
Hi All,
I inherited my Grandfather's M.E. Reppenhagen Diamondine No. 7 razor when I was 15 in 1975. There was a fair amount of stain on the blade but no nicks, and the scales were broken. The razor came with a "Krystalon" stone. I thought it was a cool piece of gear, had no idea what I would ever do with it and promptly stored it all away.
A few years later, I was rummaging through the back of my drawer in the bathroom one morning and rediscovered the razor. I tested the blade with my thumb and was impressed with how sharp it was. It was much sharper than I had ever been able to get my Buck sheathknife. I had only used a safety razor up till then, but I gamely lathered up my face and proceeded to carefully try to shave the flat of my young cheek.
Yeeooww. That blade did nothing but pull my bread, "chatter" across my face, and scrape off a layer of skin. I put the blade away and figured those old timers must've been pretty tough bastards. Thank god for modern conveniences like my Schick cartridge razor.
Fast forward few decades, and I am deeply into hunting knifes and take pride in the quality of an edge I can put on my Phil Wilson Selby Skinner in CPM 10V with my set of diamond hones and Buck Honemaster. I love a sharp tool. I can get the Selby and others in my collection sharp enough to shave the hair on my arm. My hunting buddies are always impressed with the quality of the edge on my skinners.
Last year, I was kicking around the mountains of West Virginia and I accompany my girlfriend into an old barn converted into an antique shop in a tiny mountain town. There are a bunch of straight razors for sale next to some old strops. I remember the old Reppenhagen now sitting in my desk drawer as a curiosity, and the number it did on my face. Hmmm . . . maybe that old razor would shave better if I stropped it? Plus, I could strop my knives, too. I plop down $20 for the best looking strop of the bunch, an Illinois Razor Strop Co. #3359, marked "Genuine Horsehide" with a heavy cloth second side. It is 2.5" wide and 24" long. The strop looked like it had seen relatively little use, but it did have some nicks and gouges. The cloth on the second side had clearly been loaded with a now dried out polishing paste. Most notably, though, the strop was missing the handle and the hardware to which the handle attaches.
I take the strop home. I lay it on a table and retreive the Reppenhagen from the desk drawer. I carefully strop the razor about 10 strokes on each side. I test the blade with my thumb and don't notice any difference. Not eager to repeat the drubbing the Reppenhagen gave me 30 years ago, I put the razor back in its honored place in my desk drawer. I try stropping a freshly sharpened knife, and don't notice any improvement, either. I conclude that there is more to stropping than just drawing the blade across the leather, but I have no idea what and no idea where to learn. I put the strop in storage with the rest of my knife sharpening equipment and forget about it all.
Last week, I somehow stumbled across SRP. Wow! Since then, I have done a lot of reading and quickly learned that I don't know anything about how to use a straight razor, or a strop, etc. There is a whole new world of sharpening techniques for me to learn, plus a whole new level of sharpness to achieve.
I pull out the old Reppenhagen. I can now tell that it is a full hollow, 6/8 blade, round point, with black celluloid scales, and quickly decide that I will send it to one of the pros listed on SRP for new scales, and blade cleanup and rehoning. I pull out the #3359 strop and decide that I need to replace the handle so I can start to learn how to strop a blade. I might even try to do some strop restoration, but first I need to source a handle.
Which leads me to my question: anyone have any suggestions on where I can get a new handle for my Illinois strop?
Thanks!
--shinbone
