Aloha State Sales

To celebrate its 50-year milestone, CEO Jim Sharp went new school. He bought two state-of-the-art stone cutters, the Flow Waterjet and Northwood CNC router, and brought them home to Hawaii. The new, fast machines reduce labor costs, keep up with demand and allow Aloha State Sales to offer competitive prices.

“Now, we can go from custom-designed template to computer to cutter and, in 15 to 20 minutes, produce a finished kitchen countertop, compared to three hours by hand!” says Sharp, barely containing a boyish thrill for his new mega-power tools.

The waterjet is a 60,000-p.s.i. beast that cuts the stone slab down to size. The Northwood router, using bar code and laser technology, projects the desired profile shape. Then, nine disks cut away, starting large and shaving off a little less with each successive ‘bit,’ followed by three polishers. The computerized numeric control is so precise, only a minimum of hand finishing is needed.

(Left): Stason Hayashida adds a finishing polish. (Right): Jim Sharp, CEO. Photo by Tomas Del Amo

Since water pressure actually does the cutting (at 25 gallons per minute, or double what the city supplies), and water also cools the router (another 17 gallons per minute, three times more than a garden hose emits), Aloha State Sales opted to install a 100-gallon, closed-water system to filter and reuse the water.

“The closed-water system costs $50,000, but it’s definitely a lot cleaner,” says Sharp. Unlike traditional dry cutters, water-pressure cutters don’t create dust, so workers breathe easier. Plus, the system ensures that untreated water is not dumped into the sewers.

Why the hefty investment? “Because it can cut through everything, from diapers to titanium,” says Sharp. More important, Aloha State Sales now has an accurate, reliable and cost-effective means to shape its hottest product: SileStone.

“Consumer Reports and Good Housekeeping magazine named quartz their best choice for countertops, and SileStone is the leading natural quartz surface,” says Sharp. “SileStone won the 2005 Adex Design Award and has been rated ‘Best in Class’ by every builder survey since the ‘Quartz Surface’ category began.”

(Left): The Northwood’s water-cooled cutting head at work. (Right): Diamond bits shape a countertop profile.

SileStone is the only quartz with Microban antimicrobial protection against mold and bacteria, NSF 51 approval (safe for food preparation in restaurants) and GreenGuard approval (no chemical vapor). SileStone is four times stronger than granite, nonporous, stain- and heat-resistant, and has a 10-year warranty. At 93 percent natural quartz, it’s also brilliant and distinctive.

Sharp’s new machines can cost-effectively produce finished stone countertops at prices similar to those on the Mainland, much lower than Hawaii’s average pricing. Or, if you prefer, Aloha State Sales is still loyal to its original Formica in more than 200 colors—many of which have gone retro after 50 years.