A recurring theme that you will see here is the importance of having your first blade or two, at least, honed by one of the board's honemeisters.
A primary reason is that the beginner needs to know what "shave ready" feels like in order to judge whether a blade is properly honed.

A recent experience of mine may help to illustrate why. A short time ago I received a brand spankin new Wacker INOX that I paid a bit extra for to have it sent already honed.

Now the INOX steel is supposed to be harder than carbon steel but perhaps not quite as hard as stainless. The advantage to me is that the salt air on my boat would be less of a concern for corrosion.

Anyway, I received the blade and tried my first shave. Yucky pew, it grabbed and yanked all over the place. Obviously the blade needed more honing. How do I know - well because my first blades were honed by SRP members and I know how its supposed to feel.

Well after about 30 strokes on a spyderco ultra fine hone and about 40 passes on the pasted strop over several days, it feels like it should - a smooth glide.

So - a new razor from a reputable vendor - honing service added is no guarantee. If I were completely new I might have given up on straights. I suspect that whoever honed it did not take into account the harder steel. Most of the honemeisters here would have tried shaving with it themselves and would have caught the difference. Thus ends my message.

Good luck to all of you