Kure-Nai Anybody?

[Willem-Jan]

I am looking at aliexpress now and just realized that my Zertone is the same as one of these Kure Nai razors. This one to be precise: US $26.0 |1 X. (scales are slightly different but blade is exactly the same). Great razor I think, definitely another steel than Gold Dollar.
On Amazon I actually got it cheaper (under the Zertone name). I think this and Gold Dollar is the way to go for cheaper razors. Titan reminds me of AP Donovan/Naked armor. Some of the Kure Nai scales are also used by Naked Armor. Makes me wonder who produces what.

 

[Lord Fatboy]

I am looking at aliexpress now and just realized that my Zertone is the same as one of these Kure Nai razors. This one to be precise: US $26.0 |1 X. (scales are slightly different but blade is exactly the same). Great razor I think, definitely another steel than Gold Dollar.
On Amazon I actually got it cheaper (under the Zertone name). I think this and Gold Dollar is the way to go for cheaper razors. Titan reminds me of AP Donovan/Naked armor. Some of the Kure Nai scales are also used by Naked Armor. Makes me wonder who produces what.

AP Donovan is re-branded Titan. The Titan razor company has a really interesting history and their scissors are great, but I'm not keen on their razors.

 

[Willem-Jan]

Thanks for confirming that. Seems like a lot of rebranding is going on in the world of razors.

 

[Willem-Jan]

I agree the scales are crude and rough.
It was £25 from AliExpress but it took 7 weeks (!) to arrive and was sent via Singapore Post whose tracking is useless.
There’s a £38 version with nicer black scales but we’ll see how this one goes first.
Honing and shave reports to follow...

I received that black one you referred to yesterday (payed 28 euro). The blade was a little longer than I hoped (I hoped a short blade would be easy to hone) and setting the bevel was like setting one on a Gold Dollar 1996 on one side, the other side was quite good. I gave it a half assed hone on a belgian blue and a coticule and then used the strop and stropping compound they shipped with my titan. This stuff is actually really (surprisingly) good and creates a sharp edge with ease. Shave was pretty good, though I don't quite get why anyone would like this sharp point.
The one you got looks to me like a H928G that they modified. I have the H928G (branded Zertone) and think it is a great blade. The metal seems different to me. This black one reminds me of the metal on my Gold Dollar1996. The H928G reminds me of the ACRM2 Titan. I might be wrong, it's just the colour and the feel. The black one also came with a strop and stropping compound. But I threw the strop away without even trying it, it looked like utter crap. The strop they give with the Titan is the denim component from the naked armor strop and is actually really nice in combination with the compund.
You can trace Titan and Gold Dollar back to different factories, but I can't find anything on Kure Nai. I think they might buy razors from Titan and or Gold Dollar and modify them.
Buying on Aliexpress is fun haha! Now just to wait for that Gold Dollar w59.

edit: I almost forgot, but the scales on my black one (HH710X) are not like on the pic. They don't have the screws, but the same pins like all these Kure Nai razors have.

 

[Willem-Jan]

I contacted them in an effort to find out more about Kure-Nai. I didn't learn anything. They did tell me that the HH710x is stainless steel, not Carbon steel like they say on the store page.

 

[Sisyphos]

I wanted to buy this Kure-nai shavette. Unfortunately seller does not ship to my country. After some searching I found this half-DE shavette from Ali:
This razor
On the way to me.

 

[JPO]

To me this razor was not enjoyable to use with a DE blade. However, you can use an injector style blade in it, and that made a big difference. So for anyone who would like to try this type of razor, and who is not ready to buy a more expensive razor, like the Feather options, this might fit the bill. I have the the feather SS and SR, but i still enjoy using this from time to time.
The build quality is not great, but is really affordable.

 

[DarkSpy]

To me this razor was not enjoyable to use with a DE blade. However, you can use an injector style blade in it, and that made a big difference. So for anyone who would like to try this type of razor, and who is not ready to buy a more expensive razor, like the Feather options, this might fit the bill. I have the the feather SS and SR, but i still enjoy using this from time to time.
The build quality is not great, but is really affordable.
View attachment 1250693

That's very interesting. Can you show us more photos? Like how you fit the injector blade in the razor?

 

[JPO]

I just pinch the spine and drop it in, holding it with the spine facing down, as i do with my other artist club razors. Or you could open it up, put the blade. The mechanism on mine is not as smooth as the feather SS, SR i use. The blade is secured by the clamping force. When the blade is in, just hold it with the spine facing down and pinch the spine until it drops into place. You should now have an even alignment.
I did use a small dmt plate to even out some high spots in the coating to improve the sliding mechanism, and to make sure the blade fell inn nicely.