Hello everyone, the name is Paul, and I am from NY. Just got into the wonderful world of straight razor shaving in my search for a better shave. What originally attracted me to straight razor shaving was the economics of it, and the self sufficiency you get from being able to maintain a razor for a lifetime. The fact that it is also much better for the environment is great as well. As I researched more, the beautiful razors themselves, some a 100 years old or more, began to intrigue me, and the stones and honing techniques became something I wanted to learn more about. That is it in a nutshell I guess, I am sure you have heard the same story many times before. I had to use a smiley somewhere. I will be posting a question on honing soon in the honing forum. And probably many more in the future. Thanks in advance to all the guys who share their knowledge on this lost art.