Good day, all. I'm a newbie to the site - followed a link with a recommendation.

I've been using a straight razor for three years, but recently gave thought to retiring the blade and getting back on the Mach 3 bandwagon. My daily shave had been getting less and less satisfactory and the hassle of soaping up three times just to look presentable was starting to get on my nerves. The shave was nowhere near to "close" and my faith was nearly gone.

Then I came here. I saw the thread about SUCCESSFUL head shaves with a straight razor and thought back to my efforts with my (then new) razor (Brand: AMA). My head was so badly cut, I told people at work I had been attacked by a friend's cat. I was obviously doing something wrong. I read about the various tests for sharpness: the edge grabbing the thumb-pad; the hanging hair. My razor didn't cut a hanging hair. It didn't grab a thumb-pad. It didn't shave hair off my forearm. Clearly, sharpness was an issue.
I spent four hours on this site after a night shift reading all about honing and stropping. I discovered I was subjecting my razor to a daily routine of "What not to do to your razor". I learned to strop from the television (since when did a movie extra ever learn the proper way to strop?) and the habit of lifting the spine before the edge. I had nicks and chips in the strop. I hadn't honed the blade in three years. The reasons for my face resembling a battlefield every evening were becoming clear.

I dug out a Spyderco Sharpmaker and decided to right all the wrongs I had done to my shaving kit. I didn't want to wait for belgian yellow stones or send my blade away for a professional to tinker with. This had to be done now, as an act of penance. I appreciate my tools were not what an expert might choose, but I made the best of what I had. Three hours of careful work later, my razor will grab my thumb pad. Twenty minutes stropping ended up with an edge that, in places, would slice a hair. This is the sharpest my razor has EVER been. After close to four hours of work, I wanted to try it out.

Normally, shaving off three days of growth is something akin to trial by ordeal. I soaped up and with no small amount of trepidation, put the razor to skin.
I had read about 'letting the weight of the razor do the work', but had never experienced it. I'd been presing the razor against my face for some time to force it to cut hair. Not so this morning. The only thing I could use to guage whether the razor was working was the sound of stubble being sliced. I made quick work of the rest of my face and maintained a state of disbelief as the areas of skin that proved so difficult for YEARS put up as much resistance as candyfloss. It was like having "wipe clean" stubble.

I've NEVER had a closer, quicker, more comfortable shave. Thank you all for your knowledge and help.