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I just bought an old straight razor and tried sharpening it. Needless to say I royally ruined it. Long story short, I started over with 1000 wet stone to get a bevel and now I'm working on 4000 for sharpening it. Will 4000 get it sharp enough to shave? (right now it can sometimes cuts arm hair but it catches to much to shave my face).
FWIW --
a) Most of the experienced honers here say that at 1000 grit, you should be able to "pop" arm hairs. That needs a very delicate touch on the stone.
b) You'll probably have to go to something finer than 4000 grit. 8000 grit would be better.
On my first razors, I used 5 micron "micro-abrasive" paper (that's about 3000 grit) -- too rough to shave with. But I could smooth out the edge with 0.5 micron CrOxide on a pasted strop, and shave with it.
When i got a razor that Lynn honed, I realized how poor my own work was. Hence, the purchase of a Norton 4000/8000 stone, and much practice since then.
Charles