OK, I started watching some of the You-Tube videos and it all came together. I watched Lynn and a few others and discovered what I had been doing wrong. Let me qualify this post by stating that I'm using a Dovo shavette. The three main constituents of straight-shaving (in order of importance) seem to me to be: 1. shaving angle. 2. short strokes as opposed to dragging the razor all the way down the face in one pass, and. lather. I have since been able to shave twice with my shavette and my face is still recognizable. I have four, what I consider to be decent vintage straight razors, that once I learn a little about bevel setting and honing, I'll correct the edges, set the bevels, then hone 'em to "shave ready". Then I'll report on my results.