So an absolute noob question.

I'm a DE shaver who has been playing with a shavette, and a couple of freshly honed straights. The problem I have is whilst all pass the HHT and knock down arm hair with ease, the second I use them against my beard, the razors just feel like they are getting stuck, and not cutting. A bit of force, and they make it, but it is nowhere near as smooth as with a DE.

Using a razor that I've honed up, I was able to get though a shave tonight (practicing at night), with increasing comfort towards the end. But I still switched over to a DE for the final pass to catch the missed spots. I do have a very coarse, and dense beard, but I'm guessing I'm not the only one.

I'm confident in my prep, and in my equipment (can't get much sharper than a Feather DE blade in a Shavette). Is it possible I'm taking too shallow a angle, and need to be a little more aggressive? I normally load my DEs with Feathers, or Russian SharpEdges, so have developed a tendency toward an ultra-light touch.

Just looking for a few ideas, as there is too many things to like about this pursuit to throw in the towel just yet.