Originally Posted by
Piet
You've all given me a lot of material to think about, thanks for that :)
In hindsight it would have been better if I ordered a restored vintage razor from a member here. Then I could have practised straight shaving and see whether I liked it enough to continue with it and in time purchase an extra strop for paste and later a high grit stone.
My thought at the time of ordering was that I shouldn't be saving money on my first razor and get a brand new razor of good quality. I did ask the manufacturer if the razor was shave ready and he said it was. I took the gamble and it turned out it wasn't. I could shave but not comfortably.
The good thing is I'm patient and willing to learn. I don't mind having to wait a few weeks before I have the stones and spend some days practising honing on an 'ebay' razor first, before I can get a good shave.
I'm more willing to spend $20 on an extra or better stone than to have my razor professionally honed. Except that I will know how sharp a razor should be and feel after honing I won't learn much from it. I still have to learn the best stropping and shaving technique so I would dull the razor in no time. I like to try it for myself and learn from all the mistakes I will make on the way :)
It may not the best way to go about things but there's a lot of documentation and videos at this forum which will guide me step for step. I see this as a marathon, not as a race.
From the replies I gather this budget setup would get the job done but if I would ever want to get serious about honing and restoring vintage razors there are some stones I should add both for a better edge and speed.