I'm not what you'd call an expert, or anything close. The Norton 4K/8K that I purchased more than a decade ago will outlast me. What was highly recommended back then is thought of as not very good nowadays. There appears to be a school of thought that to sharpen a razor successfully a large number of hones are required, 'a progression' in modern speak. Most of these are relatively expensive.
Many of us will have razors manufactured and first used more than a century ago. I just can't imagine my grandfathers, who were both shaving before safety razors were available, having access to anything more than one hone and a strop. How did they manage?