I agree with Chris here but I would just add that honing is something that takes practice. Whether you are using a balsa paddle with chrom ox (a good thing) a barber hone or a waterstone you need to get the stroke down and the muscle memory. For me practicing on ebay specials first while having pro honed shavers as a benchmark was how I went about it. If and when you get the waterstones some starter razors are a good way to learn rather than experimenting with your main shavers. Once you feel confident that you won't dull your main shavers you're good to go of course.