Thanks chongo, I went through the link. I remember that razor well now. Yours look just like the one I had. Really a unique razor. I remember I loved the low profile head design. I currently use an ATT Slant. It would be interesting to compare the 2. When my sabbatical is over I may have to nose around eBay a bit for and old original....or pick up Phils.
Krect Spiral Curve slant razor
- Thread starter gvw755
- Start date
Thanks chongo, I went through the link. I remember that razor well now. Yours look just like the one I had. Really a unique razor. I remember I loved the low profile head design. I currently use an ATT Slant. It would be interesting to compare the 2. When my sabbatical is over I may have to nose around eBay a bit for and old original....or pick up Phils.
I would offer a tip for owners of the Krect Shave cam action slant razor. With no blade in, and in storage, the head is loose and inelegant. Therefore I store the razor when not in service with one shim loaded. When I use the razor I remove the shim of course and load a blade. That way, the razor always looks spiffy. BTW I would advise against loading a blade and a shim to make the razor more aggressive. I believe that would overload the cam action design.
The Krect Shave slant razor was filed for a patent in 1933, and the patent was granted 12-31-35. The trade mark was first used in June 1936. I presume the razor left the retail market in the late 1930's, a victim of the Great Depression, or at the latest when WW2 arrived. The inventor was one Chester A. Gratiot. His business office was in downtown Portland at 1220 S.W Stark. And the factory was located at 3005 NE Sandy Blvd. I recently visited these sites. The former factory is a nondescript medium sized building that today seems to be some sort of a wholesale business dealing with small appliances.
I only have the cam action model, though I wouldn't be opposed to someday owning all three versions. I wonder if they all shave the same? My speculation would lean towards Yes. The Krect Shave cam action razor is a tad mild for my coarse beard, even though it is a slant design. The aggressiveness of the Kreck Shave slant razor is similar to say a Gillette flare tip razor. However, when loaded with a fresh Feather blade and with good facial prep it gets the job done.
I consider Mr. Gratiot to be an outstanding engineer, a genius, and his razors were worthy of more popularity.
On the macabre side I Googled around and even found Chester A. Gratiot's headstone in a Portland cemetery.
The Krect Shave slant razor was filed for a patent in 1933, and the patent was granted 12-31-35. The trade mark was first used in June 1936. I presume the razor left the retail market in the late 1930's, a victim of the Great Depression, or at the latest when WW2 arrived. The inventor was one Chester A. Gratiot. His business office was in downtown Portland at 1220 S.W Stark. And the factory was located at 3005 NE Sandy Blvd. I recently visited these sites. The former factory is a nondescript medium sized building that today seems to be some sort of a wholesale business dealing with small appliances.
I only have the cam action model, though I wouldn't be opposed to someday owning all three versions. I wonder if they all shave the same? My speculation would lean towards Yes. The Krect Shave cam action razor is a tad mild for my coarse beard, even though it is a slant design. The aggressiveness of the Kreck Shave slant razor is similar to say a Gillette flare tip razor. However, when loaded with a fresh Feather blade and with good facial prep it gets the job done.
I consider Mr. Gratiot to be an outstanding engineer, a genius, and his razors were worthy of more popularity.
On the macabre side I Googled around and even found Chester A. Gratiot's headstone in a Portland cemetery.
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"The aggressiveness of the Krect Shave slant razor is similar to say a Gillette flare tip razor. However, when loaded with a fresh Feather blade and with good facial prep it gets the job done."
I don't know that I'd characterize it like that. It seems the Krect razor has a very narrow angle of effectiveness, but if you hit it, the Krect works very well, one pass results in a clean swath. A slight degree off, and you get no blade contact; it's weird like that. Whereas, I need multiple passes with a Gillette flare tip or Super-Speed to get a decent shave, they just don't work well for me.
I don't know that I'd characterize it like that. It seems the Krect razor has a very narrow angle of effectiveness, but if you hit it, the Krect works very well, one pass results in a clean swath. A slight degree off, and you get no blade contact; it's weird like that. Whereas, I need multiple passes with a Gillette flare tip or Super-Speed to get a decent shave, they just don't work well for me.
My statement was based on the assumption that the shaver would be using the optimum angle for each razor.
Sign me,
YMMV
Sign me,
YMMV
I don't recall how aggressive or mild mine was, but that was so many years ago and my beard has changed. I suspect if I tried one now I would find it on the mild side. I do remember the narrow angle of effectiveness you are describing. It was a funny razor in that once loaded with a blade it looked like their was no blade exposure. If you nailed the angle, it gave a good shave. If you missed the angle by a hair (pun intended) all you were doing was scrapping lather off your face.
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- #27
Well, after determining that the Krect Spiral Curve was a keeper, I decided to do some damage control by sending the head off for coating. I contacted Scott at North Shore Razors, and he hemmed and hawed and told me stuff like he couldn't make any guarantees that the coating will prevent further deterioration or that the geometry would be the same after he did his deep cleaning before coating, but in the end he did it. I wasn't interested in a show piece and so no Black Chrome and Red, but just the standard silver. It definitely looked better than my OP picture. shaved with it tonight and it felt a little rough, but I attribute that more to a blade that was about two shaves from being tossed and me needing to find the right angle again after it being away for nearly two weeks. Still a great shaver.
Hopefully this will last me until Bullgoose releases the Asylum version.
Hopefully this will last me until Bullgoose releases the Asylum version.
- Thread starter
- #28
Second shave last night with the recoated Krect head. This time I changed to a new blade and went slow to find the correct angle. I remembered the Krect had a very shallow angle and very small sweet spot as @chongo gordo and @snowman mentioned earlier. I went slow and found things to work as well as when I first shaved with the Krect. The only thing I noticed this time around was that the Gunkote was a little rougher than the original plated head and so it did not glide as well, but go slow enough and it really didn't matter. So glad to have the Krect back!
Yes, with correct angle you're not going to come in contact with much else than the blade and the safety bar. I don't think you'll be touching the top of the cap at all.
Just finished the Old-Type grudge match. Will return the the Gratiot Krect soon.
Just finished the Old-Type grudge match. Will return the the Gratiot Krect soon.
It is amazing to me what men come up with and engineer to get a better, smoother, or more aggressive shave, then it's lost to the world. Especially all of the pre-war stuff.
Krect Spiral Curve (1st Gen)/BIC. Once past the fear of the razor coming apart on my head I enjoyed this shave. Mild in exposure, medium efficiency (minor pick-ups with the Enders), more audible feedback than most mild razors. Happy to have this one.
Ad is 1936.
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Ad is 1936.
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Only $1. Among the three models I own I could have bought hundreds.
Any of them yield a better shave than another?
FWIW the Doehler-Jarvis screw on type handle seems to appear c.1947, the more traditional three piece c.1950, both well after the inventor's death.
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It was recommended to try a shim and so it was done. Kaii blade, one bottom shim. Very smooth.
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absolutely not. The Zeppelin bends the blade so you end up with a frown: end of the blade is down, middle is up.
I mean similar in that they both curve the blade, not that they curve the blade in the same way. I've read where others refer to both razors as slants & I can see why some would think that. To me, both put more of a unique curving action on the blade than a traditional slant.
Krect basically follows the patent for a slant as described by Wild 1914, as did a lot of others, except most were more pronounced.
Ssseygus more follows the design of womens razors. Compare the Pomcolady, where one side is curved just like the Zeppelin.
Ssseygus more follows the design of womens razors. Compare the Pomcolady, where one side is curved just like the Zeppelin.
