Hi all. This is going to be part rant part request for help.

I'm fairly new to straights. I came over from the world of DE. My first step into the straight was the Feather AC. Sharp sharp sharpity sharp. I was nervous using it but got the hang of it. I sliced myself a couple times but I'm decent with it now. I mostly get smooth shaves but once in a while I'll get some redness.

So I then moved to the straight. Got my first Hamburg Ring from this forum (thanks FireStart). I even went to his house for some first hand lessons. In addition I've since got eBay fever and am embarrassed to say I have acquired about 20 razors. Some in very good condition, some need restoring. That's fine, I have some interesting ideas for restorals.

I got my hands on Norton waterstones. Individual stones 200, 1k, 4k and 8k. I also have Tony's hanging strop. I also have some individual leather pieces that I plan on making into bench strops with 1, .5 and .25 micron paste.

On to the actual shaving though. It's less than great. I hone the razors to pop hairs, I strop on linen, then leather, then shave. I'm getting nothing but tug, pull, scrap. The razor(s) seems to be doing very little CUTTING. I do three passes, with, across, and against. It seems like I have to go over and over. It gets to the point where I stop because of discomfort. Sometimes I just skip and finish with a DE.

It's getting frustrating because 1) I'm really wanting to get this down 2) I"ve spent a LOT of money on razors and stones and stop.

I am probably pulling the complain trigger too soon as like I've said I'm new to this. My only prior yardstick is the Feather, and I realize that NO WAY will I get a hand honed razor that sharp. In fact I see that as a plus. But I need to know if it gets better than this. Otherwise I'll be having a fire sale.

My normal routine is shaving after the shower. I have all manner of soaps and creams, but I do like the creams more. I also use conditioner in the shower to soften up more.

So that's it. I'm discouraged by my progress and am hoping it gets better. I'm also thinking that the bench strops will help add some further sharpness to the blade.
Advice? Suggestions? Moral support?

Thanks for listening.