What honing stage do I start at?
I got a "shave ready" razor from "The Superior Shave". He promised me I didn't need to strop before my first shave. Not sure if it was as sharp as he claimed, since I have no previous str8 shaving experience. Either way, it was sharp enough to pass the arm shaving test, but tugged a bit during my shave. I since purchased a piece of balsa wood and applied CrOx to it. Did a few passes and may have dulled the blade when the edge dug a little into the wood. The blade still passes the arm shave test, but I'm not sure if I can get it to a super sharp edge with CrOx alone. If I wanted to hone, where would I start? 4k? 8k? 1 micron, .5 microns? This honing thing is making my head hurt. I'm really hoping to be able to achieve a scary sharp blade so I can practice my shaving with a blade I know is good. Worst case scenario, I'll get it professionally honed, but I'd like to try to do it myself first.
I know I jumped into honing way too fast... I've only shaved with a straight once... but I have this perfectionist side of me that wants to master everything all at once. I'm already catching myself looking at coticules online. :banghead: