Has anyone found a knife sharpener that actually works ?

I use a bench grinder, but the edge does not last long.

I have two Global knives and a Minosharp sharpener. Great combination.

What edge, the knife edge?
You might need a higher quality knife - eg harder metal.
Soft edges are easy to sharpen, easy to dull.
Hard edge are harder to sharpen, harder to dull.

Too hard of a metal though and it'll become brittle.

For the last 25 i just use flat oil stones and hone them by hand

then a razor strop as a final touch

and yes i could shave with my kitchen knives

Impressive.

Good to have a backup when you run out of disposables. :-)

They have several models.

Do you use this one ?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/GLOBAL-HANDH...8AAOxyHE5Rq6PV

It certainly depends on what sort of knife it is ... that is to say, "what you do with it."

For instance, one of the staples in my kitchen is a "knife steel (honing steel)" (with a genuine bone handle, no less ... it's very old ...) that I use on any of my cooking-set knives before I use it. But, as this excellent article will point out, what I'm actually doing in that case is "honing" the blade, not "sharpening" it.

See also WikiPedia's article on "sharpening stones" ... as well as "knife sharpening" and "honing steel". ("Ask, and ye shall Wiki...")

Two things that I know that a knife is used for.

Cutting things or killing something.

Yes, but there are so many things to cut...

Bread, meat, wood, plastic, butter...

If your knife goes dull quickly, you need a better knife. It's probably very soft steel, with little carbon or other metals alloyed in it. I use a variety of sharpeners, including diamond sharpeners, whetstones, and various gadgets. It depends on the knife. A whetstone won't work to sharpen a ceramic knife.

I used to make knives, and I still have several that I made in the past, and they keep their edge very well, because they're the proper alloy, and they're hard. I made sure of that in the tempering process. Very hard steel can be brittle, but my knives are rather thick and I don't bang them on other steel. My wife has a wide variety of kitchen knives, from cheap soft blades to ceramic. Most don't get used that often, because she has her favorites that cut well. I have to sharpen them now and then, but that's one of a husband's jobs. The only one I've never needed to sharpen is a ceramic Kyocera. That thing came sharp enough to shave with, and it's still sharp. You just have to be very careful with ceramic, because it's really brittle. I've broken a couple of ceramic blades, and the amount of force it took was very little. They also chip easily. But they stay sharp for a long time if you use them right.

It's a Cavalier by Rogers.

Like John_VV, I have always found sharpening stones to be the most effective option.

I don't have a razor strop, but I remember my Granddaddy stropping his cutthroat razor on one when I was a young 'un. My Daddy preferred safety razors (so called for a reason).

As many have pointed out, the material of the knife is important. Carbon steel and stainless steel are two completely different beasts. One of the hallmarks of Swiss Army Knives is that they are stainless steel, but are easily sharpened; inferior stainless steel often does not take an edge once it goes dull.

one of these kits are great
https://www.knife-depot.com/sharpening-kits/

the guides are built in for the cutting angle


after time though you just know the angles you need

That explains why my Swiss knife stays sharp so long. :-)

After at least a year without sharpening, it can still cut paper easily and cleanly.

That looks exactly like my sharpener, yes.

The Accusharp (Google Accusharp, available on Amazon) works well for larger blades, eg swords, though I agree ultimately honing stone and oil are good for finishing the edge. Razors are another story entirely, you need a strop. Kitchen knives you can hone with the usually included tool.