Hayes, Best of welcomes. You landed in the goldmine for getting superb help for learning the art. As you can see from the responses already - we love to help guys learn to love their shaves. I'm hoping someone near you responds & is able to get some face to face time - it really helps speed up the learning curve. You mentioned not wanting to foul up an edge from beginning honing skills - a very wise observation. I successfully clobbered several edges just from beginning stropping - and destroyed 5 strops in the process ($KaChing$). You needn't spend much to get going. Don't worry about getting *THE* right razor. The quality of the edge will have alot more to do w/ your learning & satisfaction. 'Hope to hear more from you. You're about to have the best shaves of your life.