Heh, at least you tried to sharpen yours before shaving with it! I took my Great Uncle's razor (with a chip in the edge) and tried to shave with that; looked like I got into a cat fight with the scratches all over my face! Since then I have learned more about honing, setting the bevel, stropping, etc. Now I can get a decent shave on most areas. It's fun, but can be frusturating! If you check the Vendors forum, you can find people you can send your blades to for honing and to make truly shave ready! I would go that route so when you get into sharpening, you know what it should look/feel like. I will probably send some of mine out ( I now have 5 straights and just bought a DE today as well!), so I have something to base my edges off of.