That Monobilt looks a bit of a mess - won’t the blade be very wavy?
There may be better slants out there, and I'm sure there are. The Valencia for sure is much higher quality than Gillette's standard razor offerings. I am also equally sure that most, if not all, the people who choose to turn a vintage razor into a slant will find that it improves the shaving properties of the razor. Whether it makes it better than existing slants, I will leave that judgement to the end user.
Whatever it was, I swore off all slants until I could find an open comb brass slant. Those used to be fairly rare. Vintage ones certainly still are.
In a side by side shave, I felt the slantified Cosmo was the better shaver, but that could just be me being a confirmation bias muppet.
That's a very good question. Slants in general are a bit hard to photograph. Do it wrong and they look like a normal razor, do it right, and they can look broken.That Monobilt looks a bit of a mess - won’t the blade be very wavy?
I guess it’s difficult to tell from photos online. The edge of the cap on the old type you first posted a picture of looked quite straight to me and the whole razor looks like a ’genuine’ slant but the Monobilt looks a bit like it’s been squashed, which it has I guess.That's a very good question. Slants in general are a bit hard to photograph. Do it wrong and they look like a normal razor, do it right, and they can look broken.
Cooper MonoBilts were designed around Cooper blades, which are close enough to Gillette style DE blades to be interchangeable. However, they had a wider center hole than Gillette's blades. Any modern DE blade will exhibit a slight wave on one side when loaded into a MonoBilt. It does not affect the shave. A person can hole punch the center of the blade if it really bothers them.
Slanting it actually took out that wave. If you spotted this razor in an antique store, you would be hard pressed to believe the razor was not originally made as a slant.
I see what you are saying. Partly it's the angle of the photograph, and partly due to the design of the MonoBilt itself. They are a very flat razor to begin with.I guess it’s difficult to tell from photos online. The edge of the cap on the old type you first posted a picture of looked quite straight to me and the whole razor looks like a ’genuine’ slant but the Monobilt looks a bit like it’s been squashed, which it has I guess.
All I'm saying is you can ignore threads you don't want to see. I ignore entire subforums. It really cleans up my new posts list....but then we would miss out on weighing the pros and cons of modifications to vintage razors. Just because I disagree with the OP of this thread doesn't mean that he does not have a very valid point.
I do feel rather troubled by making the MonoBilt into a slant. While not a rare razor, it is an uncommon razor, and if it hadn't of worked I would have felt terrible. Since it did work, I still feel somewhat conflicted, since it was one of my favorite razors before I slantified it. Tomorrow's shave will determine whether it was a stroke of genius on my part, or a terrible mistake.
If repaired/replaced, it wouldn’t be the original baseplate that was assembled with it and would come from a later SR so I decided against it. Can’t imagine it would be too easy either.
It does shave well, but I prefer the smoothness of my other OT baseplates.
Try Etsy. I bought a 1957 vintage one in January at a reasonable price in decent condition. There were others available at the time, but I haven't looked since then because I am satisfied with mine.I have been looking for a while for a 1950s Gillette ball-end Tech with a solid etched logo on the head to replace the heirloom one of my late Dad's l gave to my #1 son. Scarce as hen's teeth to get one that even has a faded logo etched on it @ a reasonable price l have noticed when l look for a new to me Tech on the 'Bay, eh? Anything that looks O.K. seems WAY $$$ too rich for me at this moment to pull the trigger on.
Base plates were the same till ~1911. The crimp has to be replaced, but the repair can be made "invisible".
Shame on you!...Build that strategic Gillette stockpile. Put em in a big pile and squat on them like a dollar store Smaug.
@efsk has a wide knowledge of and much experience with slants, and he has said that the Valencia is one of the better slants out there, or words to that effect.
Thanks both, much appreciated.And you're right that @efsk has some serious chops when it comes to knowing slants. Dude's got MY respect, for sure.
This whole thing is hilarious. Who cares if he likes to mod old razors? The truth is most of them are not that valuable and not that rare. If you want to preserve them, then go out and buy every single one. And who cares if people don't use their vintage razors? I have a lot of old Gillettes, many of them in original cases, that I don't use. Some of them have never been used because I can find modern razors as good, or better, than the Gillettes. If you don't want me to do this, you should buy them all up before I get them. Stop your crotchety old man whining and put your money where your mouth is. Build that strategic Gillette stockpile. Put em in a big pile and squat on them like a dollar store Smaug.
No. We've no plans to try either.Have you tried anything in a different material like aluminum or stainless?
Obviously zamack would be out.
I didn't know you guys had prophets on this forum.Hi,
Oooh. Shiny! Must. Resist. Looking. For. One.
It does look like someone took an Old Type Thin into the workshop and gave it a twist.
Stan