Hi all,

Thanks again for the advice that I have received over the last few weeks, its been very useful!

I've been using my DOVO str8 for a week or so now, and I'm starting to get consistently good results!

I know that I will have a while to wait before I have to start thinking about honing as stropping is keeping the edge very well at the moment. I thought I would start to have a look about and read up on honing, so I know roughly what to expect when I get there...!

I've also managed to find a straight razor I forgot I even had (it was part of a dissection kit from school), which I'm planning to practice on. I figure its better to use this than to start with my new one...! This razor has black plastic scales and a square point. The blade has a bit of rust on it, but I figured I'd try to restore it and learn a bit about honing without damaging my wallet..!

My question is, which hones to go for? I've found a set of Shaptons on SRD for $231, which comprises a 4k, 8k and a 16k hone which I think would be pretty good. Don at SRD recommended these over a 4k/8k Norton as they are much more consistent and newbie friendly! Would it be better to by a set or could I get away with just, say, a 8k or 12K Shapton on its own?

I keep telling myself not to worry too much about cost (within reason), as I'd rather get a good set of tools and have them for life than buy a poor hone and suffer the consequences! But it is $230 we're talking about here... I've seen some cheaper hones on a wooden paddle with a stone on one side and a pasted strop on the other for about $40, but a bit of digging revealed the stone to be 800 - 1000 grit. So this will probably put an edge like a bandsaw on the blade, so I dont really want to go cheap!

So basically I was wondering whether I should just buy an individual Shapton first? I can always get more later! And if so, which grit should I go for?

Help me make up my mind coz I keep going between buying one stone or the set and its driving me nuts...!