Thank you all for the great advice. I got a Star Customs from straightrazors.com. I can honestly tell you that I'm not expecting much from this blade. It was fairly cheap and I've noticed from browsing other websites that the good ones are a lot more expensive. I am not going to hone it because I need to work on other things such as stropping, lather making, brushing and shaving first. Hopefully by the time it gets very unsharp I will have a new one so I can practice honing on the cheaper one. Let me know you're thoughts on the brand. Anyone used one before? How would an inexperienced one conduct a sharpness test? Will stropping alone keep my edge sharp if it is a poorly made blade? Its full hollow carbon steel if that helps any