1930s Cooper MonoBilt flip-top DE razor

Discussion in 'Safety Razors' started by IAmTheJody, Dec 24, 2011.

  1. IAmTheJody

    IAmTheJody Gillette-i Master Staff Member

    Normally I post photos unless it's a unique razor and needs to be seen in operation. This is one of those. Snagged this the other day for $14 shipped. I actually got to use it last night and was very impressed. Very nice shave. It won't replace my Muhle 2011 R41 but it'll stay in my rotation. Unlike some of the Cooper 3-piece razors, this one does take modern DE blades.



    Sorry about the bad lighting. I had a lamp on, the main room light on and the blinds open on a 4-foot long window and was surprised to see the video still came out so dark.
     
  2. battle.munky

    battle.munky Has the menthol.munky on his back!

    A vintage razor and you can shave with it!
     
    IAmTheJody likes this.
  3. GDCarrington

    GDCarrington Burma Shave

    Nice example. Coopers are hard to come by and that one is a good haul.
    I have a 3 piece Cooper that happens to take a modern blade. It provided a good shave as well.
     
    IAmTheJody likes this.
  4. alpla444

    alpla444 That's sweet!

    Another great vid:), Got some new headphones for christmas, just tested em on you vid great sound;)
     
    IAmTheJody likes this.
  5. Etoyoc

    Etoyoc Backwards

    Yup... those coopers are pretty neat. I had one and then sold it like an idiot.
     
    IAmTheJody likes this.
  6. Jaymo

    Jaymo Active Member

    Nice razor, Jody.
    So, do you have trouble shaving around that mole on your left cheek? I had 4 of them, 2 on face, 1 on neck, 1 under chin that I used to cut every time I shaved. I ended up having to have them all removed.
    I used to have one on my chin, too, but the Fusion removed it. :0
    I'm glad I had them removed, because now I can shave without bleeding.
    At the time I hated it, because my insurance didn't cover it, and I had to pay for it out of pocket, but I hated cutting them even worse. Bled like a stuck pig.

    Is that a quick disconnect mechanism in the head? Cool.
     
  7. IAmTheJody

    IAmTheJody Gillette-i Master Staff Member

    I don't have any problems with the mole on my cheek because it's so thin, almost even with my skin. It's the one on the left part of my neck that gives me trouble. I figure if I keep shaving it enough, eventually it'll be thin and even with the skin as well. But that's the one I nick the most often and have to get out the blowtorch to cauterize it to stop the bleeding. Kidding of course but it does bleed much if I hit it.

    When you twist the knob at the bottom of the handle, it closes 2 pinchers on the inside of the handle that grasp the tit on the head cap to hold it tight. No quick release or anything like that.
     
  8. Jaymo

    Jaymo Active Member

    Yeah, I kept hoping I'd just shave them off, but it didn't work out that way.
    I think an R41 would have taken it off a lot cheaper than a dermatologist.
     
  9. battle.munky

    battle.munky Has the menthol.munky on his back!

    :scared007:
     
  10. Bird Lives

    Bird Lives Future Root Beer King of Turkey

    That Cooper Flip Top is killin looking..It also doesn't really look used very much.....that guy's a new one on me...thanks for sharing.....love to see it in action....:)
     
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  11. fishcrow

    fishcrow Birdman of TSD

    Nice haul, great looking razor.
     
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  12. AwNix

    AwNix Member

    I was watching some shaving videos and randomly came across your stuff. Very cool find! I'm just responding because the Cooper w/ it's head on a hinge is very similar to the KING Oscillator. I was wondering is they were made by the same company. I know there's an older thread here which lists all the Cooper razors people here know about.
     
  13. 178-bplatoon

    178-bplatoon Well-Known Member

    Thanks for the video Jody. I first heard of the "monobuilt" here at the den on posts by "planofman". Now that you've showed me a video of how it works and that some of them at least will take a modern DE blade. Thanks for inflaming my R.A.D. again, just when I thought it was under control.....:)
     
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  14. macaronus

    macaronus Sir Nice-a-Lot

    Great haul, Jody! Congrats! Nice vid, by the way. Not too dark for my taste: the open comb (and the chrome on the whole in fact) stands out great against the darker background. Thanks for posting, mate.
     
  15. ElliotR

    ElliotR Member

    Thanks for that video - I have never seen one of those in action - that's a great design.
     
  16. PLANofMAN

    PLANofMAN Eccentric Razor Collector Staff Member

    Moderator Article Team
    Not all razors that people claim are monobilts actually are monobilts. I've seen at least two other razors from Cooper that people claimed were monobilts, but they were just regular 3 piece razors. Jody ended up selling that particular razor in the video, and I bought it. I've been looking for a backup monobilt razor ever since. For me, it is my #1 razor, followed closely by the shake sharp and the fatboy comes in at a distant 3rd.
     
    IAmTheJody likes this.
  17. 178-bplatoon

    178-bplatoon Well-Known Member

    So basically only the "one piece" razors from Cooper are the "Monobilts" correct? Just out of curiousity will the 3 piece Coopers take a modern DE blade?
     
  18. PLANofMAN

    PLANofMAN Eccentric Razor Collector Staff Member

    Moderator Article Team
    If I remember correctly, there were several varients of the Cooper 3 piece razors. Either the earliest or the latest ones were compatible with Gillette blades. At some point, Cooper added diamond shaped posts or a thicker center post or both...

    Nevermind. I got tired of scratching my head and scratched Google's instead.
    http://theshaveden.com/forums/threads/cooper-razor-anyone.22798/
     
    178-bplatoon likes this.
  19. Monkeylord

    Monkeylord The Lather Lord

    The razor looks great i hope you enjoy it :)
     
  20. Shaver X

    Shaver X Well-Known Member

    I don't think the lighting detracted from the video. The razor you were showing us is readily visible, and you were still able to present the information to us. The video camera might have been ajdusting the light levels as per the highly reflective razor.Out of all the videos on YouTube, yours is the only one the search results turned up for the Cooper Monobilt. Thank you for posting it!

    You already have started an informative and relevant YouTube shaving video collection. Have the mods/administrators here ever considered creating a Shave Den YouTube channel? The various videos members have created could form the foundation of the channel, with your videos as the genesis. As other Shave Den members create new videos, they could be added to the channel. Just a thought for whatever it's worth.
     
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