It is my experience also, that a lighter blade is more prone to skip, or hang up on coarse whiskers. On my beard, I need to lock my wrist more and firm up my grip to prevent such blades from doing odd things. I can get by with them, but it is a less enjoyable shave.
With a heftier blade it's really more about giving the razor a certain direction and then allowing it to do its work, guiding it a bit for angle and slant. Quite a difference with those light blades and their constant demand for accurate steering. There's also an angle issue with a small blade. Lift the spine 1/16" more up and that increases the angle way more then the same change on a wider blade.

I've read in a book that, in the old days, 4/8's were not considered razors for shaving facial hair. They were meant for hairdressing uses, such a cleaning up the back of a customers neck after a haircut.

Bart.