Thread: Next day: some questions after my first straight shave

Good afternoon Gentlemen,
My girlfriend purchase a beautiful thiers-issard as a Christmas gift for me; I've always wanted to learn to straight shave, something I associated with being a cowboy and drinking black coffee when I was a kid. As I've gotten older, and living here as an import into California, I've also become more and more aware of the landfill I was making with tossing blades, and this seems like a smart economical choice.

My first day was a bit rough; although I spent much time watching all of your youtube videos (and more), and reading quite a bit of articles, I'm wondering if I fell for the 'Shave Ready' market slogan courtesy of the packaging... I seemed to have missed this portion in the beginners guide:
Beginner's guide to straight razor shaving - Straight Razor Place Wiki

Basically my assumption is that this bad boy should cut like butter, and it doesn't feel that way. Even when I stretch my skin, I get a certain amount of tension against my hair and an uneven cut (although I associate that last problem with my lack of experience)... and out of pure excitement, I did indeed do my whole face.

I gave myself a day to heal after my christmas razor burn (not the worse I've seen, but it was impressive), and decided to do just the cheeks as the guide recommends; same problem, feels like it's pulling the hair rather than cutting the hair.

I know it's quite difficult to evaluate this via forum, but any of you guys' have suggestions? My first thoughts were to send this guy into Lynn for a personalized hone... I'd assume, regardless of the angle I cut (if I am doing it wrong newbie style), it shouldn't feel like it's 'pulling'. Thanks ya'll!