Originally Posted by
chrislipscomb
Thank you all for your welcoming comments and your suggestions. I am planning to purchase the strop and some good stones in the future as you have suggested. For now, I come to the straight razor as a result of learning to sharpen knives in general. I view the razor as the ultimate edge. I was disappointed when I first learned that a fine grit stone in an advertisement was considered coarse to knife makers. I thought I was getting a great setup when I reached the 400 grit stone only to find out that the guys who really have sharp knives start with 1000 grit only if their knives need new edges. Bummer. Now I have to get new stones... Well, it will take me some time to get where you are now, but this time I will purchase my way backwards from a good strop, to a 12,000 grit stone to probably a 4000/8000 stone as I am able. This will allow me to tackle all of the knives and razors I use. I do not know what to do with my almost useless Gatco set (unless I can sell it to buy the better stones), except to hold on to it for ... who knows what. I am really enjoying what I am learning, and I am making use of some no money suggestions like cardboard, newspaper, old belts and such. Doing this I have been able to achieve the tree-top cuts on my arm hairs that I read about ( my left arm has some bald spots), but shaving is not as comfortable as it seems that it should be.
Thanks again, and please have patience with me while I grow.