Beginner Straight Razor Questions

I am thinking about getting into shaving with straight razor. I do not want to break the bank with my first razor, so I’ll probably get a gold dollar 208. The strop that I get will be a “beginner” strop. I don’t want to go down the rabbit hole and get accessories at this point. 
Questions:
A) What should I be looking for in a strop?
B) Should I get a honing stone in the beginning or sent the razor somewhere to be honed?
C) If I get a honing stone, how often should the razor be honed?
D) Is there a specific grit that I should use?

Thanks.

I am thinking about getting into shaving with straight razor. I do not want to break the bank with my first razor, so I’ll probably get a gold dollar 208. The strop that I get will be a “beginner” strop. I don’t want to go down the rabbit hole and get accessories at this point. 
Questions:
A) What should I be looking for in a strop?
B) Should I get a honing stone in the beginning or sent the razor somewhere to be honed?
C) If I get a honing stone, how often should the razor be honed?
D) Is there a specific grit that I should use?

Thanks.

Hi
I started using straight razors not long ago and I beleibve I can be of some assistance:

Strop - Get a good one!
Heirloom is a very good option, https://heirloomrazorstrop.com

Honing: I got my first Boker Honed and got my vintage Henckels and honed my self, I did a much better job. It depends if you are good and have the tendency to be creative, Honing - start with basics 1k, 4K, 8k, 12k synthetic. https://www.sharpeningsupplies.com Is a good place.
If you do a proper hone, it will last for 2-3 months 
Choose one hone Master to follow and follow by the letter, YouTube has many good dudes, I follow “Matt the doctor” DrMatt357

I finde that vintage razors are superior (generally speaking) to modern mass production. Henckels, Filarmónica first and second Gen, Japanese, all are amazing.
You can get them on eBay at a reasonable price and hone yourself, 
General rule  it has to look good to be good, has to be a reputable maker, attached is a photo of my Henckels 

A good razor with a correct hone will give you an amazing shave even though you are just learning, 
I got to a parallel shave to my Wolfman after 8 shaves, 

I wish you best of luck and much joy on your new journey, very exciting 

I am thinking about getting into shaving with straight razor. I do not want to break the bank with my first razor, so I’ll probably get a gold dollar 208. The strop that I get will be a “beginner” strop. I don’t want to go down the rabbit hole and get accessories at this point. 
Questions:
A) What should I be looking for in a strop?
B) Should I get a honing stone in the beginning or sent the razor somewhere to be honed?
C) If I get a honing stone, how often should the razor be honed?
D) Is there a specific grit that I should use?

Thanks.

Hi
I started using straight razors not long ago and I beleibve I can be of some assistance:

Strop - Get a good one!
Heirloom is a very good option, https://heirloomrazorstrop.com

Honing: I got my first Boker Honed and got my vintage Henckels and honed my self, I did a much better job. It depends if you are good and have the tendency to be creative, Honing - start with basics 1k, 4K, 8k, 12k synthetic. https://www.sharpeningsupplies.com Is a good place.
If you do a proper hone, it will last for 2-3 months 
Choose one hone Master to follow and follow by the letter, YouTube has many good dudes, I follow “Matt the doctor” DrMatt357

I finde that vintage razors are superior (generally speaking) to modern mass production. Henckels, Filarmónica first and second Gen, Japanese, all are amazing.
You can get them on eBay at a reasonable price and hone yourself, 
General rule  it has to look good to be good, has to be a reputable maker, attached is a photo of my Henckels 

A good razor with a correct hone will give you an amazing shave even though you are just learning, 
I got to a parallel shave to my Wolfman after 8 shaves, 

I wish you best of luck and much joy on your new journey, very exciting 

Thank you for sharing your knowledge with me. Your henckel’s razor is beautiful.

I'll go a different route.

1) My usual advice is to get a razor honed by a well-respected person - that will allow you to know what a well-honed razor feels like. Not all 'experienced people' do an equally good job. Look up reviews for the person honing your razor.
2) If you are intent on getting the Gold Dollar, then keep in mind that it will not be shave-ready, regardless of how sharp it 'feels'.
3) Honing is not hard to pick up, but good hones usually wind up being expensive. I'd suggest getting lapping film to start with. You can get a variety from someplace like Taylor Toolworks. Lapping film is not cost-effective in the long run, but it will do a great job for a while. Unless you jump down the rabbit hole and buy a bunch of razors, a set of lapping film at various grits will serve you well.
4) Keep in mind that it can take quite a while to get good at shaving with a straight. You're not going to get it right the first time and you may still be working on it months after you first start using the razor.

I'll go a different route.

1) My usual advice is to get a razor honed by a well-respected person - that will allow you to know what a well-honed razor feels like. Not all 'experienced people' do an equally good job. Look up reviews for the person honing your razor.
2) If you are intent on getting the Gold Dollar, then keep in mind that it will not be shave-ready, regardless of how sharp it 'feels'.
3) Honing is not hard to pick up, but good hones usually wind up being expensive. I'd suggest getting lapping film to start with. You can get a variety from someplace like Taylor Toolworks. Lapping film is not cost-effective in the long run, but it will do a great job for a while. Unless you jump down the rabbit hole and buy a bunch of razors, a set of lapping film at various grits will serve you well.
4) Keep in mind that it can take quite a while to get good at shaving with a straight. You're not going to get it right the first time and you may still be working on it months after you first start using the razor.

Thank you for the advice.

If you want to purchase a Gold Dollar razor, I highly recommend that you purchase it from someone who modifies the heal of the razor and then hones it properly. That is not a task that you want to take on as a newby. I purchased mine from Wet Shaving Products. The cost for shave ready is $49.99. The cost of an unhoned razor is only $19.99 but the cost of honing is well worth it. For one thing, Lee will go through the razors and pick the best candidates to make shave ready.

If you are on a super tight budget, go to your local crafts store and purchase some vegetable tanned tooling leather. You can glue a piece to a wood backing and have a respectable bench strop. Otherwise, you can purchase one of Whipped Dog Poor Man's Strop. However, I do agree with the recommendation to get a strop from Tony Miller at Heirloom Razor Strop Company. He sells a plain vanilla strop that should serve your well. Stropping is a skill to master. It is highly likely that you will slice and nick your first strop until your learn to master the flip at the top and bottom of the stroke. You can repair minor nicks, but sooner or later you will want to replace the leather component. Tony sells replacement parts so you can repair or even upgrade your strop.

While the Gold Dollar razor can provide a decent straight razor shave, the craftsmanship is not very good and the steel will not hold its edge as long as better quality razors. Thus, it will need to have the edge refreshed. Whether that will need to be done in days, weeks or months depends upon your shaving needs.

There are many different ways to maintain your straight razor. Some people use natural sharpening stones. Some use synthetic hones. Some use lapping film. Some use strops pasted with ultra fine abrasives. Some people can shave off an 8K Norton hone. Others like me, need a far sharper, smoother edge. The subject is far to complex to cover here. Do some searches for straight razor sharpening.

If you want to purchase a Gold Dollar razor, I highly recommend that you purchase it from someone who modifies the heal of the razor and then hones it properly. That is not a task that you want to take on as a newby. I purchased mine from Wet Shaving Products. The cost for shave ready is $49.99. The cost of an unhoned razor is only $19.99 but the cost of honing is well worth it. For one thing, Lee will go through the razors and pick the best candidates to make shave ready.

If you are on a super tight budget, go to your local crafts store and purchase some vegetable tanned tooling leather. You can glue a piece to a wood backing and have a respectable bench strop. Otherwise, you can purchase one of Whipped Dog Poor Man's Strop. However, I do agree with the recommendation to get a strop from Tony Miller at Heirloom Razor Strop Company. He sells a plain vanilla strop that should serve your well. Stropping is a skill to master. It is highly likely that you will slice and nick your first strop until your learn to master the flip at the top and bottom of the stroke. You can repair minor nicks, but sooner or later you will want to replace the leather component. Tony sells replacement parts so you can repair or even upgrade your strop.

While the Gold Dollar razor can provide a decent straight razor shave, the craftsmanship is not very good and the steel will not hold its edge as long as better quality razors. Thus, it will need to have the edge refreshed. Whether that will need to be done in days, weeks or months depends upon your shaving needs.

There are many different ways to maintain your straight razor. Some people use natural sharpening stones. Some use synthetic hones. Some use lapping film. Some use strops pasted with ultra fine abrasives. Some people can shave off an 8K Norton hone. Others like me, need a far sharper, smoother edge. The subject is far to complex to cover here. Do some searches for straight razor sharpening.

Thank you RayClem