krayziehustlerMaybe for setting the initial bevel, and some mid-grit level work, but you wouldn't wanna shave off of something honed on this kit. The highest grit included isn't nearly high enough. Add a translucent, and/or surgical black Arkansas stone, and you're in business.
krayziehustlerThe hard black stone can be used as an initial hone for a straight razor; it's exactly the same thing as the "surgical black" stone mentioned above (see here for more info: http://www.danswhetstone.com/stone_grades_101.htm). I used mine to touch up a straight razor I picked up from an antique store recently. You would not want to use anything other than the hard black stone from this kit on a razor...
Given the delicate nature of the blade, you want to be very gentle, pulling rather than pushing the blade. Since these aren't synthetic stones, you can get a finer and finer edge by gradually reducing the amount of pressure when honing. Finishing a razor, think of brushing dust away with a feather...
At any rate, I was able to shave with it when I was done. A strop would have been a nice addition, but it certainly wiped beard off my face.
DermottLink above is no longer valid, due to Dan's reorganizing their site.
Looks like the current version of the page lives here: https://www.danswhetstone.com/information/stone-grades-101/
I've been honing razors on a hard black/surgical stone for about 8 months now, with good success. Having been using a good strop since Christmas, I'd now list that as "freaking necessary" instead of a "nice addition", but I think the above comment still stands.