My Job Is Sharpening Hawai‘i’s Saws, Scissors and Knives

From his Kalihi workshop, Dexter Freitas has sharpened blades for cooks, print shops, furniture makers and others since 1988.

Name: Dexter Freitas
Job: Owner of Keen Kutter Saw and Knife Sharpening Service

Beginnings: Dexter Freitas was born and raised in Kalihi, where he has been running Keen Kutter Saw and Knife Sharpening Service since 1988.

“My wife’s uncle originally started this business back in the early ’50s,” he says. “Eventually I took it over after learning the trade. I retired from my previous job and have been doing this since.”

Satisfying Customers: “I enjoy doing the work. I don’t make a lot of money, but it keeps me busy and I like the customers. It is important to take care of your customers because they are the ones that come back and spread the word.”

He serves both businesses and consumers, with many of the latter being people who cook or sew and want sharp knives and scissors.

“I do most of the print shops across the state. So, I get the circular saws mailed to me because if not they would have to ship to the West Coast,” says Freitas.

He also sharpens saws for companies that recut wood to make furniture or musical instruments. He even sharpens the ice scraping blades of Ice Palace Hawaii’s Zamboni.

“My industrial customers are what keeps most of my bills paid. The knife sharpening and scissor sharpening is all the extra stuff I make on the side.”

New Technology: “The biggest challenge is keeping up with the new different types of technology and tools that companies are designing. My equipment here is limited to the standard.”

He must be strategic when investing in new equipment. “It’s an upfront expense and I have to think about if I can generate enough business to sustain that equipment,” he says.

Day in the Life: The shop is at 738 Gulick Ave., in a mixed commercial and residential part of Kalihi. He and his wife live upstairs from the shop.

Freitas begins his day by cleaning his shop, watering his plants and feeding his shop cats before opening the doors.

“I’m only open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday. I don’t open on the weekends because I’m partially retired,” he says.

“A lot of people ask me why I’m only open for six hours. I say, look at me – I should be fully retired! But I keep it going for you guys.”

After closing, he does paperwork or works on projects.

Successor: Freitas is looking for a person to take over the business.

“It’s going to require someone to be trained because most of this equipment here is specialized.”

“Whoever takes it over, I’m going to help them because I don’t want the business to fail and there’s not too many of these. In fact, some of the work I do, I’m the only one that does it in the state of Hawai‘i, and so I have to keep my customers. If I stay in business, they stay in business.”