I think the real question is how you define good :). As a rookie myself I consider my shaves all good so far. That being said, I define good as being on par or better to a normal razor with no nicks. So I have pretty basic requirements. That being said my goal for straight razor shaving at this point isn't to get a closer shave. Actually the main reason I decided to start using straight razors is because I generally only shave on a weekly basis. The problem with this is that my beard grows long enough that shaving with a multi-blade razor becomes quite a hassle and getting the hairs out from between the blades seems to be an impossible task. But with a straight razor it doesn't matter how long my beard is, it still comes right off in a single pass. Right now my goal is to shave with the fewest passes possible (and no nicks). So I don't do the 5 passes that many people seem to do in order to get that extra close shave. Instead I do a single pass which gives me basically the same quality shave as a normal razor, but it seems to be less hassle for me and my skin seems to appreciate it as it is far less irritated.