PMFJI --
If I wanted a low-budget education in honing, I'd get a marble tile, and some pieces of abrasive film. [In fact, that's what I used for my first few razors).
The film is reasonably priced (compared to full-size Nortons), and it's large enough to avoid the problems of cut-down stones. And it gives results comparable with stones.
It's not cost-effective if you're doing _lots_ of razors, but for a few razors, or for a start-up experiment, it's a good value.
There are lots of threads on this Forum, some within the past few weeks.
. Charles