A barber once told me that you can spend a small fortune on honing stones.well the truth is you do not have to.simply all you need to maintain your edge for a good shave ,is ceramic.ceramic ,is the trick ,it seems no one on here cares to mention.it is inexpensive ,and it will produce a shave ready edge for around 20 bucks.a great one is the red head from bass pro shops .if you try 1 you will see that stropping is almost not needed.i give my 1900s keenkutter a few strokes and its ready to shave.i think all the talk about what ,and how many stones that are needed is nonsense.try 1 for yourself and see $20 is better than $80 IN MY BOOK ANY DAY.