Gary,

Congrats on your first acquisitions. The 5/8 Ralf Aust should be a really nice shaver. It will come professionally honed, so you will give you a great idea of what a truly "shave ready" razor feels like.

Could you post some pics of the other razors you picked up? Are they all new, or some of them used and need some restoration work?

I completely agree with Iceni's comment above regarding honing. From my own personal experience, I would say that honing is a very enjoyable component of straight razor shaving, but it has a learning curve and can be frustrating at times. Expect some failures, especially if you are dealing with Ebay specials. Further expect some failures if you try your hand at honing old full wedges with even spines.

In my workshop, I have two Norton combination stones (2 sided): 220/1000 and 4000/8000. I also use a Norton 220 lapping plate (that came with the two combo stones) to flatten any of the stones as needed. I believe as a beginner, this set is an effective and economical way to go.

Down the road you may want to add other items if you decide you want to continue on with honing. You might consider then upgrading your Norton 1000 to something better. When attempting to sharped dull razors, 95% of the battle is won and lost at the 1000 level, so getting a higher end 1000 can later save you some time. You might also consider adding a 12k or a natural finisher. The forums are full of discussions on 1k stones and 12k/Natural finishers. I personally own and use a Chinese Water Stone (sometimes called a C-Nat, or CPHIG, on these forums). I like my Chinese stone, but there are others who don't like them.

Finally, if we meet up, I would be happy to give a honing lesson as well.