So great to hear this @FunkyFingers. Sounds the same as what I had, it was slow and then all of a sudden clicked. Now you’ve got F in control, E shaped barre chords are a piece of cake.
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The suggestion of using a capo came from others on the forums!
I think a capo would only help if the problem you’re having is that the nut is too high.
The suggestion upthread of moving down a few frets isn’t to use a capo, it’s to move the whole barre chord shape down a few frets without using a capo because the angles of the strings are kinder that way and makes it easier to form the chord. And then when you can do it there, work your way up until you can do it at the first fret.
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@rossbd Sometimes the problem with the action is that the nut is too high in guitars when you buy them. I had that problem with a guitar that I purchased and had the guitar tech/luthier sand down the nut so that the strings were closer to the fretboard at the first fret, which helped with playability. If you put a capo at the first fret and it makes it a lot easier to fret the full barre F chord, then you should consider getting the nut adjusted/sanded to to lower height. There is a limit on how much you can lower a nut though before you get string buzz problems.
All the suggestions have value though, especially starting with an A barre chord at the 5th fret (or even a higher fret if necessary) and slowly working your way back down towards the first fret. Another suggestion that I haven’t seen mentioned is that you could buy a lighter gauge or thickness of string for your acoustic guitar.
Surprisedly, I’ve found that if it has been more than a year since you replaced your guitar strings, getting new strings can make it a little easier to press down the strings. It seems to me that the strings gain more tension or lose flexibility over time as they are stretch and are retuned over a years time.
Interesting finding. Though I’d strongly recommend changing strings more than once a year. You’ll retain a good tone that way and you won’t fall out of practice if you need to change the strings.
@Jozsef I know that is true as a best practice. But I am happy if I remember to change every year. Changing guitar strings is a weak area of my guitar experience (my Achilles heel) and I’ve usually gotten someone to replace them in the last 30 years. I am embarrassed to admit that I have a cheaper guitar that I take on vacations to the beach (a Taylor GS-mini mahagony) that I purchased 8 years ago and I’ve never changed the strings. Those strings are now a little harder to play well.
I found the same thing. And be careful. Because with old strings I hurt my little finger when practicing stuck 3&4 chords (I got a little cut made by the string).
It is because you don’t like it or because you don’t know how to do it? Justin has a video about changing strings and it worked for me 
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@Rumil Thanks. I will look at that video and see if it inspires a little more confidence. I think the pins on an acoustic intimidate me. It might stem from an incident in the past when the pin popped out when tuning up a newly installed string.
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@User_3141592654 (just realized that your user name is Pi times 1 billion truncated, nice).
Thanks. I had missed this tip in the first read-through. As a bonus, there are some blues players that play tuned down 1 semi-tone, particularly SRV. But for the most part I would use Tom’s tip later to capo at the first fret when you detune your guitar.
@Tbushell ,
Tom, thanks for the tip. This is one tip that I will try on my cheaper guitar until I can change the strings.
Update: I did try this tip on my cheaper guitar with the 8 year old strings. I tuned down the one semitone (interesting that my tuner, the TC Electronics tuner that Justin recommended at the beginning, only displays as the sharp of the next lower note). When I put on the capo, I had to tune down or loosen the strings just a little bit more to get into tune. Then amazingly I was able to play an F on this guitar as well as my better guitar. I was also able to breeze through the G C D A and E stuck 3&4 chords. So I would highly recommend this tip to anyone who is having problems with pressing the strings down on your guitar.
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Ah, still those 8 year old strings 
Go and replace them, you’ve got nothing to lose.
@Jozsef I certainly appreciate your advice and concern
While not trying to justify my laziness and will not try to defend my use of old strings (the amount of time is actually fuzzy. I noticed that I had added the pickup in the sound hole later and don’t remember whether I had changed or simply loosened the strings when it was added 6 to 4 years ago). The urgency of replacing strings though depends on the type of strings used (bronze vs. phosphor-bronze and coated vs noncoated). Also it depends on the amount of time you play on that instrument and whether you wash your hands every time before playing. I’ve probably only averaged less than 15 min. per month in that last 8 years for this guitar and I’m sure they had good quality coated Taylor strings. Here is a closeup of the strings:
I am also going to try to add a short audio clip of the playing to illustrate the tone on this guitar:
Well, I tried to add the audio file that was 2.2 Mb and .m4a extension but the upload didn’t want to recognize it. I tried the audio when the 22 Mb .mov file wasn’t recognized by the upload function.
Maybe I don’t have the right format or the right priviledges.
Oh well, I was trying to illustrate that the tone was pretty good to my ears. When I called this my cheaper guitar, it is only cheap relative to my Martin 000-MMV that I purchase 8 years ago at a Guitar Center. The Taylor would actually be on the high end of the price point for beginners, so it is not too surprising that the tone would be pretty good even with older strings.
I assumed there had to be instructions on uploading videos and stumbled across the Explore: Community: Record Yourself-Progress & Performance section. I see there is a beginner section that I will need to check out since I have never uploaded a video to YouTube or other sites.
Just consolidating in Grade 1 and working on my last two of the five songs but have identified my next two songs, both from the Eagles that I really want to learn.
I therefore needed a distraction to ensure I completed the last two songs, so I thought why not give the F chord a go that’s bound to be a challenge. So had a few goes this afternoon, actually didn’t turn out too badly. The barre was ok with the first, second and sixth strings ringing out ok. What was not so good was the other fingers, quite a stretch and tending to mute some of the strings. Doing this on an acoustic guitar as I don’t have an electric guitar
But all in all not a bad start just hope it is not a false dawn.
Michael 
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I say you should play more But if old strings don’t bother you, that’s fine. I found that restringing every 3-4 months works fine for me. Now after the heatwave, I can see that some of the strings started to have visible wear on them, I guess due to sweat from my fingers, even though my hands were not soaking wet. Also, when tuning starts taking longer, it’s a good sign that a fresh set of strings is due.
Sound files can be posted via Bandcamp links/embedding.
@MAT1953 It sounds like you are well on your way to mastering the F chord. If the problem is stretching and perhaps lack of strength and calluses on your pinkie (little or 4th) finger, then module 7 will help you to solve those problems with some chords to stretch your fingers and use your pinkie finger a lot.
@Jozsef It sounds like you really enjoy and appreciate the tone of new strings. I actually am not overly fond of the tone of new strings. The rich bloom of high frequency harmonics doesn’t appeal to me (it makes the chords seem a little distorted or mushy to my ears) so I am not satisfied with my strings until they are broken in about 3 months. Sorry about the heat wave and sweaty hands. On the bright side, cooler temperatures are ahead.
Thanks Steve @SteveL_G99
Was a little surprised that I had problems with stretching, perhaps I need to look at the angle of my fingers as not really had problem with say the C chord. Also managed to get the finger stretching in Module 4 up to the first fret.
As regards my little finger must confess I don’t use it for Dm as Justin suggest, guess I am paying the price for that now.
Still I felt it was an encouraging start
Michael 
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Hi Michael, good on you for having a go at the barre chords but you haven’t necessarily paid the price. When you start Grade 2 you’ll start with the Stuck 3&4 chords which will help develop your pinkie and your stretch between 2nd and 3rd fingers.
That bloke with the cap seems to know what he’s doing! 
Cheers
🎸 David
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May I ask why we do not play the F chord by muting the low E string with the index finger and just barring the high B and E string with the index finger. OK you loose the E but it makes playing far easier and in some cases possible. Yes, I know the E shaped bar chord is essential but why not use that grip for all other chords down the neck and something far easier at the 1st fret? I ask because of the number of times I have given up on guitar, through the years due to being unable to play this F Chord. other guitarists laugh at me and say there are loads of ways to play an F chord and no one uses that grip in that position because its so difficult.