Old strop, Worth the $ or not?

[The*Cincinnati*Kid]

I have been looking for a quality strop, but its been hard to find one on my budget. I found this strop on ebay for $22.50 plus S&H, Would love to hear your guys thoughts on it. It is advertised as "Ladies and Gentlemen, we are pleased to offer this week, from an outstanding private collection, an antique Barbers Razor leather & canvas Strop with metal hanger." It does not appear to have a name on it that I could see.

Condition mint unused.

Measures: 20 1/4" long; 2" wide

Thanks.
Louis

 

[Gunner777]

I'm usually a bit skeptical on these types of items on ebay. It really doesn't look that old to me and with no markings how would they know it's an antique???? Then again it's only $22. How much is shipping though?

 

[The*Cincinnati*Kid]

He wants 12.50 :thumbdown: but im going to ask if it will be less, cause he is in the US. If the shipping is $4.50 i would like to have it:thumbup:

 

[Guest]

That one looks gone. I have one like it (a vintage German "Herold"). Dirty linen, and wavy leather, not to mention that it is probably dried out - I would not buy this thing. How about DIY?

 

[Gunner777]

Yea that's what I thought. They usually have high shipping on low prices and that tells me a lot right there. I'd pass if I were you!

 

[Gunner777]

Good idea and making your own is fun

 

[Smythe]

I have NEVER had ANY good luck buying "vintage" strops from ebay.
Maby my eyes are not as good for strops as they are for vintage razors, but I would end up with crumbling leather, and no matter what is done... disintegrated leather cannot be revived.

So now I have quite a collection of metal fastenings... I guess I could go DIY.

 

[danjared]

I got a nice Sears Roebuck vintage strop on eBay, but I had to do some restitching, which was very time-consuming.

 

[TM280]

Hi Louis,

It's up to you what type of chance you want to take, but I can offer my two cents. Hard to say what condition the leather is in, but there are no obvious cracks, the bends are nothing to worry about, and it does appear to be unused. It could be stiff as a board, but that is not a problem to deal with, just some work.

It appears to be exactly the same model as the old Scorchers, down to the leather detail. Only without a stamp. Could be why it was never used, never stamped, never sold?

If you got a good strop out of it, the price is good, if not, well, one can buy a good strop for only twice as much. But think that this is a somewhat shorter strop, only about 10" good stropping length.

regards,
Torolf

 

[altshaver]

Unfortunately, ours is not a cheap hobby. One option that may prove cheap is to get a replacement leather for SRD's strops. Then go to hardware stores and see if you can find hardware that will work with this strop leather. Also, you could see if someone on the forums would PIF you some hardware for your strop. You could also look at the BST pages on the various forums for deals on strops. Personally, I would feel better about buying a strop on the BST forums as opposed to buying a strop off of eBay. Deals on eBay are hard to come by.

SRD replacement leather:

http://www.straightrazordesigns.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=36&products_id=808

Vintage Blades also sells replacement leathers, but you'll just be limited to Latigo in this case:

http://www.vintagebladesllc.com/vshop/xcart/product.php?productid=1056&cat=102&page=1

If I get any other ideas for a cheap but nice strop solution, I'll post them. Good luck!

 

[wdwrx]

The second best solution I've found is to look for a leather supply place, or a saddlery and tack shop. I've bought some really nice pieces of leather for considerably less than I've paid for some of my strops, and i can honestly say that there is only the slightest difference in quality, and in some cases, more quality is available. Just choose carefully, and understand that you probably wont be able to use all that you buy.
In my case, I've found that latigo is latigo. If the leather is clean and free of defects, the stuff Vintage Blades uses or Tony Miller for that matter, is still just that.... latigo leather. I've got a TM latigo that is really crappy looking... the leather is ripply and uneven. The strop is still effective, but for the retail price, not all that.

Louis, if you are interested, send me an email, and I'll give you a piece of Latigo that will make a nice strop. You'll have to find some method of hanging it, (Or I can do it with a hokey sot of way..)