Quote Originally Posted by Geezer View Post
Just a thought..
It has been mentioned and buried a few times here. There are local folks called mentors that will coach a person on shaving, honing, and stropping.
What that means, is that they give up a portion of their time for free to help new folks along. Often this may be about three hours the first visit. Later visits..recommended..are usually just a refresher to avoid bad habits.

So, before going into buying a bunch of goodies, pm one of them that may live within an hour's drive.

Learn one good method of all of the above and learn to do it yourself!

Use the hone set up they have and see how they work and learn enough to practice by yourself with the same hone that they taught you with. Usually it may be a couple King's or a Norton 4-8k or a Coticule. All would be usually under a hundred dollars.

A good barber hone, as mentioned in a post above, can keep you going for a loooong time.
Pasted strops are a good way to go..BUT..learn how to use them properly! Otherwise you will not get a long edge life.
Just my take!
~Richard
A good place to start:
Frequently Asked Questions - Straight Razor Place Wiki
Richard...Thank you for the advice, I appreciate it.