A fairly simple question...

New guy, bought 2 new TI celebration razors. I have had a great time learning this new skill over the last 5 months. My stropping is still sloppy compared to the folks I see in the videos, but I am still getting good shaves. However, I foresee a time in the near future a time when I am going to have to take these nice razors to stone. Concerned I am going to do more damage than good b/c I have the standard Norton 4/8. Should I get a better finishing stone since these razors were set up very nicely by TI before sending them to me?? Any suggestions??

Send one to a honemeister. Keep one.

When you get the razor back, you'll know what "sharp and smooth" are, and you can try to replicate that with your set-up.

The 4/8 is a good stone. Take your time on the 8K, and you can polish a blade to an extremely comfortable shave. Get a finisher when you can shave comfortably off your 8K, otherwise you'll be "finishing" an edge that wasn't necessarily ready to be "finished".

+1 on the above. Frankly, I think you will find that the TI edge can be improved upon.

Any Honemeisters in the state of Oregon??

PM sent. Hope this helps. :D

Another alternative is to check the SRP Classifieds under Services and see who is offering honing services. Most of the honing is done in that manner. Trying to find a honemeister in your backyard is a bit difficult.