What's new

Krect Spiral Curve slant razor

When Phil announced on his FB page that the next Asylum razor project after the Evolution was going to be a clone of the Krect Spiral Curve, I immediately started looking for one to try out to see why he thought it was one of the best slant razors. I found one on our eBay and it arrived today. I knew from the pics that this was not going to be in great condition and that an ultrasonic cleaner was not going to improve things. However, it was cheap enough and it looked like I could get a good shave with it.

DSC01420.JPG
DSC01423.JPG



Once cleaned up, I preempted Weck Wednesday and loaded a blade into the Krect. The head design was similar to a Gillette New in that there was a bar that ran on both sides of the screw on the top cap and the base plate had long holes (instead of a trough). The head assembly was also very slim, unlike most other slants, but was definitely torqued. When a blade was loaded, it went almost to the edge of the base plate, and there was that skewed blade alignment which most slants have.

DSC01425.JPG


I lathered up with my Fine Santal Absolut and built a thicker than normal lather to make sure my face was well lubricated. Because of the thin top cap, I started out WTG with a very steep angle. The head slid effortlessly around my face and the first pass took out most of my whiskers. My ATG pass was also a steep angle, but not as steep as the first pass. Again the shave was smooth and effortless. After two passes, I found that I could have stopped there, but did a touch up anyway with an XTG.

Overall, I am very impressed with the razor. I am seriously thinking of getting a Gunkote finish put on the head just so it does not deteriorate any more than it already had. Of course this will be just a short term solution until Phil gets around to releasing the Asylum version.
 
One of two vintage US-made slants that I'm aware of (Schotz being the other). I might have to try the Asylum when it comes out.
Yes, come to think of it, the US was not a big time slant razor producer. Well, with Gillette being the 3000 lb Gorilla in the bunch and saying that "You don't need slants, just change your stroke.", I'm surprised that we even had two. I noticed that in the case of the Krect (and to a lesser degree, the Schotz), the US designs were very thin like the Tech and New and primarily just torqued the blade instead of having the top cap be thicker and have angles in it. I definitely will spend more time getting to know my Krect.
 
Brother gvw755,

Your Krect Spiral Curve is a somewhat rare razor dating from the 1930's. You seem to like it. I would consider re-plating it, rather than buying a new version which may or may not be equal to the original design. Then too, I'm guessing the cost of the re-plate would not differ greatly from the cost of the new version.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the reveiw. My Krect is one of my favourite slants. Wonderfull shaves.
@Salty O'Rourke Don' t forget the Pacific, an American made DE-razor with the head on a balljoint so you can place it in any which angle.
 
Any idea when Asylum will roll their version out? Pre-orders possible or other details?

I'm not on Facebook.
Last month right before the release of the Evolution, he leaked out news that the next project was going to be a Krect Spiral Curve slant. Assuming that it was about 6 months between the release of the RX and the Evolution, I am thinking (hoping) sometime in Fall, maybe late Fall since he is fooling around with a limited production Brass Evolution right now. As in his past releases, there is no wait list or pre order, he just tells folks he's going to post sometime soon and you just got to watch for it. This one I WILL be watching out for as I am totally impressed with my beaten up razor.
 
I had a Krect Spiral curve when I was living in Seattle in the late '80's. I had run across it at an estate sale. If I recall correctly Krects were made in the Seattle area in the '30's(?). As I recall it was a very good razor, but I lost it during a relocation. I wont break my 2017 sabbatical, but if Phil is offering them in 2018 I would give it a go. Especially if its made of stainless and the build design and quality is equal to my Asylum RX.
 
I had a Krect Spiral curve when I was living in Seattle in the late '80's. I had run across it at an estate sale. If I recall correctly Krects were made in the Seattle area in the '30's(?). As I recall it was a very good razor, but I lost it during a relocation. I wont break my 2017 sabbatical, but if Phil is offering them in 2018 I would give it a go. Especially if its made of stainless and the build design and quality is equal to my Asylum RX.
That's it, you are officially off my Christmas Card list (but don't take it personally because I'm Buddhist and don't send out Christmas cards)! The Krects were made in Oregon (Portland I think) around the 1930's. The same company also made the Berkeley Adjustable razor which was a regular razor with a shim bolted to the base plate and you could adjust the shave by turning a couple of quarter turns. No fancy dials or moving plates.

IMG_0131.jpg
IMG_0132.jpg


Gotta love the old designs.
 
Is their a difference between Oregon and Washington? Just kidding....I live in the upper Midwest and hear that from tourists that think Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan are all the same. :001_huh:

It will be interesting to see Phils take on the Krect design. The one you picked up is the traditional 3 piece design. The Krect I had was the lug type, a very unique design. The pic chongo posted looks like the one I had. Its a lug / hook set up and the blade actually provides the spring action to hold it all in place. With no blade it flopped around and looked like junk. Once I put the blade in it tightened up and worked great.
 
Yes, that's the version I have. More photos of it in the thread, follow the link.

It's a unique razor, and it works very well. It's great news that it's being reproduced.
 
Top Bottom