Cooper Monobilt Fliptop razor revisited

[Pinan]

This little dandy was included in my $55 razor lot from last week. It was a bit of a mess, but once cleaned up I thought you'd all like to see it. I have seen only a handful of posts on these. The mechanics work flawlessly, and it accepts standard DE blades (I know that some Coopers did not).

For those not in the know, The bottom of the shaft is a knob that turns to tighten the "jaws" in the center of the shaft onto that ball-type appendage hanging down from the cap. This cinches everything together tightly. You can see the "jaws" in picture # five. Very cool.

From what I have read, this is 1930's something razor. Anyone know for sure?

Enjoy!

 

[froogle_jimmy]

Wow, that is a very cool razor. Cant remember ever seeing one like it. Hope it shaves as good as it looks

 

[Peter_A]

Wow, that is a very cool razor. Cant remember ever seeing one like it. Hope it shaves as good as it looks

+1, very cool indeed. I've never seen one like that. Let us know how it shaves.

 

[Haegar]

I'm another one who finds this razor very cool. Who would not!

Thanks for taking those pictures which explain very well how it works.

 

[brucisidro92288]

Awesome design concept. More complicated than it needs to be, but as an engineer, I have to approve. Where's the fun if everything is always designed to perform only it's intended purpose in the most efficient manner?

 

[chongo gordo]

Nice, and it's an OC as well. You got your money's worth on that lot.

Have you shaved with it yet?

 

[shanman]

i like mine very much, great shaver for me.

 

[Pinan]

More complicated than it needs to be . . .

Yeah, that's so true. It has too many parts, and it was a pain to get everything lined up just right (had been tweaked some how). The thin metal piece between the handle and comb is almost superfluous, but gave them somewhere to put the hinge, instead of directly on the comb....yeah, odd. But it's in great shape and a somewhat rare piece of shaving history, so.....cool!

chongo gordo: I have not shaved with it yet. I'll give it a go next week.

shanman: Thanks for the input!

Thanks everyone. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

 

[Rob72]

Awesome design concept. More complicated than it needs to be, but as an engineer, I have to approve. Where's the fun if everything is always designed to perform only it's intended purpose in the most efficient manner?

I'll have to disagree there. From the 1920s into the early '50s there was a lot of the country where keeping track of loose parts could be a challenge(i.e., there was a lot of outdoor plumbing and shaving in a room where the floorboards might or might not be fully joined). In comparison to Gillette models of the time, with comparatively fragile TTO doors, the Cooper is a tank. It's a durable 1-piece razor that takes "modern" blades and has enough blade exposure not to get clogged with 3-5 days growth, as well as being less maintenance-intensive than a straight.

 

[Rob72]

The thin metal piece between the handle and comb is almost superfluous, but gave them somewhere to put the hinge, instead of directly on the comb....yeah, odd.

It allows you to pop the top and rinse thoroughly by holding the blade in place, and allows control of the blade- you flip the top open 180* and lift the blade from the hinge-side. Far less chance of dropping your blade.

 

[kingfisher]

That's a pretty sweet find. Thanks for sharing the photos with us.

 

[brucisidro92288]

I'll have to disagree there. From the 1920s into the early '50s there was a lot of the country where keeping track of loose parts could be a challenge(i.e., there was a lot of outdoor plumbing and shaving in a room where the floorboards might or might not be fully joined). In comparison to Gillette models of the time, with comparatively fragile TTO doors, the Cooper is a tank. It's a durable 1-piece razor that takes "modern" blades and has enough blade exposure not to get clogged with 3-5 days growth, as well as being less maintenance-intensive than a straight.

I'll be clear. This razor is VERY VERY cool. And I'm not going to argue that 1-piece razors do not have their virtues because of course they do. All I was saying is this: there is and was more than one way to create a 1-piece razor with the technology of the time and this design is more complicated than it needed to be.

That's a large part of the appeal and beauty of this razor. I like that the inventor, George Hofmann, did not necessarily set out for the cheapest or most efficient method of creating this razor. Instead, what he did was create a very "sexy" (sorry, Mods, I am not 100% certain where we stand on this word) solution to the problem.

I'm just coming from an aerospace mindset. If I am designing a component or subsystem to solve a relatively simple problem and come to Preliminary Design Review with something on this relative level of complexity, I would be shot down by everyone in the room. That's why I LOVE this razor. Efficiency and cost, while important, were not all that was considered in its design.

@Pinan:
If you haven't already, check out the sweet patents that outline the design and concept of your excellent new acquisition: US1879900 and US1980202. The photos therein are really neat!

-Bruce

 

[BSAGuy]

That's really cool. I have never seen or heard of these and I learned a lot. The posts on old and uncommon razors here are my favorites.

 

[Pinan]

It allows you to pop the top and rinse thoroughly by holding the blade in place, and allows control of the blade- you flip the top open 180* and lift the blade from the hinge-side. Far less chance of dropping your blade.

All true. Still, the probably could have done it with less parts. That center piece is easily bent/distorted. The rest of the razor is very strong.

It struck me as "what can we do to stand out against that Gillette giant?" LOL.

Again though. Way cool to have. I'm glad that it accepts standard blades.

 

[Ollie4ISU]

I have a similar Cooper. Mine also accepts standard blades. I find it pretty aggressive, more so than all or nearly all of my Gillette razors. I think it is due to the fact it doesn't flex the blade as much. In my case, the flatter the blade, the more aggressive the razor feels.

 

[Pinan]

I have a similar Cooper.

Thanks for the post! Nice box. Wish I had one!