It does take awhile to get the knack of cutting angle with the lovely-but- mild Feather AS D2,but after that muscle memory kicks in-- one of the reasons I prefer to stick with one daily razor. For those desiring a reliably consistent BBS shave, other razors, including straights , may be more likely to reach that goal.Great looking razor no doubt, I love the stand... that said, for me it was tough to manage, as you need to maintain that perfect cutting angle to obtain a close shave. BBS was a challenge, so definitely not an "auto-pilot". Smooth - YES, efficient - NO. I gave mine to my son. He's very happy with it.