Gem automatic stropper

[rapperley]

Hi. I've got a Gem automatic stropper that came in a set with my Gem Jewel, but not the strop itself. Does anyone know if a valet strop will fit and work well? If so, do you know where I could buy one from? Antique razor supplies are hard to come by here in NZ...

Cheers
Richard

[spinyeel]

The Valet strop works just fine.

[rapperley]

Thanks! I don't suppose you know if anyone is making new strops that will fit?

[rocketman]

Mar 12, 2010 12:27:50 GMT -5 rapperley said:

Thanks! I don't suppose you know if anyone is making new strops that will fit?

I have never heard of anyone making new ones. What you could do though is try and find an old fashioned shoe repair person who likely has various pieces of leather that would suit and then you can just get it cut to a useable length - 12-14inches. (There is a thread here somewhere regarding Wilkinson razors that talks about strops - I believe there are dimensions on there for the Valet strop.) You could have them stitch a hem on the top and just run a cord through it for hanging. It would be your very own "Rapperley Strop".

The thickness is fairly important to get right, but if you bring your stopper along you could test a few thicknesses. Shoe guys are very knowledgeable about leather quality and such and could recommend the best choice for a blade stropping leather. They also have heaps of scraps typically that they are more than happy to sell.

I have made several bench strops this way for straight razors. We have this ancient old fella out my way who makes shoes and he was rather interested in helping me out actually. His prices were pretty good as I was taking scraps off his hands. The first one I just bought the scrap and cut it myself. I had him cut them after that!! (My anal nature makes me unhappy with crooked cuts!)

Alternately, just keep chugging on eBay until you pick one up. I actually purchased a razor from NZ and it didn't take too long to get to Canada (miracles do happen!)

Good luck!

[rapperley]

Thanks, that is a great idea.... there is a shoe repair shop just round the corner from me, so I might explore the idea. I assume the leather needs to be untreated?

Did you buy a razor from NZ online? Where from, out of interest?

[rapperley]

Actually, just read a thread in the ever ready section, and it seems most of you don't feel there is much point with coated blades.... is it worth experimenting with, or should I just spend the strop money on a new razor?

[rocketman]

Well I must admit that I personally have had little success with stropping single edge blades. From the Rolls to the Valet, the Ever Ready, and a Gem jewel style stropper, I have not found that they are really worth the time. New blades are such good prices and of such good quality, that shaving with a dull blade just so I can feel good about having stropped it myself kind of went by the wayside rather quickly.

I think the stroppers are great to have around as they are very unique and interesting pieces of history. But, when it comes to practicality, they are probably best left in history. Just one exception, I keep on trying with the Rolls because it is just so much darn fun!!! (This is just my opinion though.)

As to the razor I picked up from NZ, it was NEW Bostonian set on eBay from somebody in Invercargill. The postage was pretty high I recall, but the auction price was really good, so it worked out.

[wchnu]

I would agree.. I have a Ever Ready stropper and I can not tell that it ever does any good with blades. Fun to have around and the Valet strop that I have looks good in the shave den... but other then that no use for me.

Fuzzy

[mbwhoosh]

Agreed, I prefer to use a fresh blade and pay the exorbitant price of $0.15 rather try and strop a blade to get a few more shaves out of it have them be inadequate just my opinion.

I do however strop my wedge blades such as the Rolls rocketman mentioned because they are not meant to be disposable ....I just don't use the rolls mechanism as it takes forever

the autostrop razors were made at a time when making these blades was still new and they were more than likely expensive at the time. So as an attempt to save some money they would strop a blade to try and get the most out of each one. Kinda like how you use to shave with a dull cartridge blade because it was so expensive to replace it.

Now though they are so cheap I really don't see a need to try and stop a blade unless it is a wedge or vintage blade your trying to get the most out of.