Thread: Am I bitting off more than I can chew

You should definitely learn to hone your own razors if that's what you want to do.

Just not yet.

Right now you're trying to hit a target you can't see, never having shaved with a truly shave-ready razor. Pro honers (look in the classified section here) really don't charge that much, and it will be worth every penny to *know* that a shave-ready blade is one variable that has been taken care of. Please don't make the mistake that I did of starting off with a crappy edge. Those first months were miserable, and when I finally got my razor properly honed, the difference was like night and day. Not only did the thing work far better than it ever had, I then had a reference point to know when my own honing technique was up to par.

Also, in the meantime, read up as much as you can on stropping. You don't want to kill your nice new shave-ready razor with improper stropping when it comes back!

Good luck