I did try to shave with the razor... I didn't cut myself or get razor burn because it barely even scratched the hair on my face. I ended up making my first pass with a Mach 3, then trying the straight on the second pass, at which point it did nothing.

I went back to the hone and tried 15 strokes on the 4000 and 15 strokes on the 8000, it still wont pass the HHT with hair from either my badger brush or my head.

Since there's no hair left on my face, I moistened the back of my hand and made a couple of passes, and the razor took off the hair effortlessly. I'm hoping that's a good sign, I'll try a shave with it tomorrow once some stubble has grown out and let you guys know.

Thanks for the tips and for making me feel welcome!