Recently got this from a family member--it's my grandfather's.  

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Family member who gave it to me says it hasn't been used in at least 50 years.  

Never owned a straight razor before, need some help.

It's in otherwise great shape...except for this:

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That's the tip of the blade in the above picture. Lots of pitting, and even a couple of nicks in the blade.  

For any other type of knife, I might try to reshape it to get the nicks out, but once again, no hablo straight razor, don't know if that's so easy to do with this kind of blade.  

Suggestions?  Worth trying to make it usable? (Not that I'd ever use a straight razor to shave, but I don't see having a tool that's not usable.)

what kind of sharpening stones do you have?

I use a Norton 4000/8000.

I think you can work that nick out on the 4000 if you're patient.

If you're not going to shave with it, it doesn't really matter. But if you're shaving nicks are really really bad, even micro nicks you can't see.

Unlike a knife, you lay the spine on the stone to set the angle.

I think the finest stone I have is about 2500 grit.  

Not planning on using this anytime soon (my daily razor is a birthday gift from #1 son--a Gillette Khaki set double edged, serialized, so dating from WWI  ), but I don't like having non-functional things around the house.  

Any recommendations on stones and strops?

That Norton 4000/8000 wet stone will get a straight razor sharp enough to strop.

I haven't bought a strop in a decade, so I have no idea what's out there.

Sweet Baby Moses--$95 for a whetstone!?!

Gotta be a cheaper alternative.

$95 is nuthin. My main stone for razors is a Belgian Coticule. It puts a very nice edge on, if I do my part. That being said, you should start with a courser grit for reshaping the damaged on yours. You could look into lapping film to keep the investment down.

Sorry for not updating.

Got a whetstone from Amazon, just not the $95, more like $40.  3000/8000.

Did a pretty good job of getting the nicks out...for now.  The rust pits on the blade are going to be a problem in the future, I think.

Here's what it looks like now:

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How'd I do?

Looking good.
I'd definitely get a 10k stone and a good leather strop. Don't spend lots of money on your 1st strop. You will probably just cut it up anyway.  If I had the hardware I could make you a nice strop. However I hardly have enough time to keep up with the orders I have for my current leather goods that I make.

Be sure to flatten your waterstones between uses.  A 1000 grit stone is nice for chips like you had.  A Belgian coticule is a good starter stone that can give you a comfortable shave.  Natural stone prices have gotten crazy though.  I have some japanese stones I spent $100 on that are now worth 5x that much if you can find them which is rare.  If you dont want to invest in stones or can't afford them right now another option is to send it to someone else to sharpen it.  You can then maintain the edge with just a strop and some stropping compound for quite awhile.  I wouldn't worry about the pitting.  Dry it after use and apply a thin coat of camellia oil.