Thanks for all the useful advice. To clarify as per the instructions I did not strop the razor after getting it. I simply rinsed off the oil that was applied to protect it and attempted to shave. I did strop it after my shave so any new problems I have with it are entirely my fault. Lynn has already made a more then generous offer to look at it again and I plan to take him up on the offer if I cannot figure it out over the next couple attempts. I know it's unreasonable but I was looking for a magic answer, something that I was obviously missing but would appear obvious to a more experianced str8 shaver. I know it's hard to pinpoint what I am doing wrong through a post but thank you all for the help.