I know your all going to tell me I shouldn't do this, but I am anyway. My venture into the world of straights started when I saw a couple of vintage razors at an antique shop that I picked up fairly cheap. They are not shave ready and one has a frowning blade. Instead of sending them to a pro to fix them up for me I have decided to restore and hone them myself. Armed with a hard Arkie and a ceramic hone I found in the tool shed I plan on learning to hone before learning to shave. I am not at shave ready just yet but am confident I will get there before 2014, lol.
Anyways I woul like to thank everyone on this forum for the depth of knowledge on everything for straight razors. Maybe one day I will never have to buy DE blades again. The way I look at it is, I get to learn an art with a blank canvas.