Thread: Am I bitting off more than I can chew

Honing yourself with no reference point with regards to "shave ready" is not a great idea. There is a recent youtube video by Antony Esposito who is an expert shaver yet even he has just done his first honing which took 4 hours and he is going to have it sent off to a honemiester for feedback on his hone technique. Look him up if you have time.
Honestly you are setting yourself up for horrible shaves IMO. Beginner should ALWAYS start their journey with a honemiester shave ready razor, and concentrate on shaving and stropping only. As a beginner myself, I will not touch pastes/ hones and will just send them off to a honemiester till I have at least a years expericne, that's my plan anyway.
In the mean time, watch and read all about pastes and honing so you will have some idea when the time eventually comes to use them.