Quote Originally Posted by CactusBob View Post
Inexpensive to me would be(my guesstimates not firm costs):
finding a quality razor, ebay/flea market/b/s/t, I just read one post where someone offered a newbie a honed razor for $15 (add another $25 if the razor needed to be honed say an ebay find)
A puck of Williams, a $1
Toss it in an old coffe cup, free
Boar brush, $5.
For a strop Ive heard of people using an old belt to start with, free, or go to Tandy and get a scrap of latigo and cut it to size maybe $10
Over time these can be replaced for better items as one sees fit, but this would be an inexpensive start. About $31-$56 to start shaving. If I'm wrong anywhere please let me know
Nope your not wrong

Quote Originally Posted by CactusBob View Post
My biggest question is for maintaining the edge or starting from the beginning with another ebay find
I've read about setting the bevel with 1K grit sandpaper and that has worked great but where do I go from there?

Well I'm the biggest cheapskate on the board so lets see what I can teach my new padewan(sp?).

I use the 1000 grit sandpaper as you have mentioned to set the bevel. I think it works great, given the time this takes some guys with much more expensive tools.

From there I move to stones. Now the Norton 4/8000 is a great value at $65.00 it really can't be beat for its combination of speed and size. But for the real cheapskate looking to get started in the world of honing for less than that I have found (or rather learned about from my own master in the art of cheapness) These: Japanese Slip stones. Intended for putting mirror finish on curved carving tools, they can work well for razors too. You used to be able to get them even cheaper than that link so look around, you might find them on sale. At $35.00 from that site they are still about the cheapest known 4000 plus 8000 grit set out there. You can stack them to give yourself a flat surface and go to town. The biggest drawback I have found compared to the Norton is the fact that it takes about four times as many strokes as the Norton does to get the equivalent progress. I wouldn't bother with the available 1000 grit slip stone as the sandpaper does such a good job for even less.

For a finishing step, if your leather is of near strop quality, the best bet is to make a bench strop. This is done by gluing the Leather to a known flat surface, like a piece of MDF or polished stone, or a counter top scrap. I'd cut both the flat surface and the leather to matching dimensions to facilitate ease of use first. Then purchase some chromium oxide paste and get to honing.

Good luck!!