I got a razor on ebay last week and spent a little time honeing it.
It cut the hair on my forearm so I decided to test with a shave this AM. Two stokes in I realized it wasn't sharp enough and pulled out old faithful that I had gotten very sharp. Finished with a great shave. The reason I was able to identify that it wasn't sharp enough before I hacked my face up was I had shaved with a very sharp razor before.
Now to the point. If you are new to staright shaving do your self a favor and get your first razor from someone in this group, who will sell you a very sharp razor. You will then have an idea of what it is supposed to feel like. I started with a new Dovo which was not sharp enough out of the box and had a frustrating start.