Hello. I have been looking around different straightrazor sites and came across this one. After reading some newbie posts i decided dive into the world of straight razors. Yesterday i orderd the following items from classicshaving.com.

http://www.classicshaving.com/catalo...11/3874863.htm
http://www.classicshaving.com/catalo...11/3874791.htm

I have some questions i was hoping someone in here could answer:

1) Is the razor shave-ready or does it need to be honed? Classicshaving is supposed to have some honing service, but im not sure if it needs further sharpening, which leads me to the next question.

2) How do you know when a blade is honed enough? How many strokes do you begin with? How do you feel when its enough? Is it possible to observe this in i a microscope or something?