Originally Posted by
algernon
Well, I surely can't give you any advice since I'm also new with this, but I can tell you what worked for me :)
Couple of months ago I've found my grand-grand father razors and thought how it would be if I just clean up all that rust and shave with them. Googled up, found straightrazorplace, found some videos on restoration but I was kinda disappointed about all that tools I'd have to get, not to mention a place to install them :)
But then, I saw a video on youtube with a fellow cleaning up a razor with a dremel and I said "well, it's not that expensive and I could use one in the house, anyway" so I bought one along with the polishing kit. For sharpening, after reading a bit, I got a naniwa 1000/3000 combo stone and a belgian blue (for finishing). I've put a few good hours of work, but now I have a clean razor and I've shaved 3 times with it and lived, lol. Now I'm waiting for another old banger, from ebay this time :)
So, IMO you can start cheap and small without breaking the bank and see where you go from there.
Regards & good luck!
Adrian