Quote Originally Posted by Matt69 View Post
I'm going to respectfully disagree with Pi3, above, about hones. I'd recommend that you learn to shave with a professionally honed razor, and start by trying to keep that in shave-ready condition, if you want to do it all yourself. Learning to shave with a straight is tricky enough as it is, so getting the razor professionally honed for the first 6 months - 1 year is a good option.

For maintenance, the razor will want an occasional trip to a high-grit stone, say 10k or 12k. This should be enough to keep you going for a long time, especially if you use chromium oxide when the razor is just starting to dull.

Getting just a bevel-setter is pointless - you can't get a comfortable shaving edge off it, and it shouldn't be necessary if you're maintaining a razor that has been made shave ready by a pro. (If you want to restore very dulled razors that you buy on ebay or whatever, then you'll need a full set - bevel setter, mid-range sharpening hones, and a finisher, but that's a different ball-game to maintaining your first shaver.)
Disagree? I agree 100% with what you said. I just felt from the OP that Razr wanted to jump into honing right away like I did. Sure, it's a long and bumpy ride, but it's a fun challenge to take on.

As for the "just a bevel-setter", I meant "and" in my post instead of a "then"... my mistake, correction made.

Cheers.