In 1911, Harry Kramer set up a small factory in the basement of his home to
manufacture chamois cases for pocket watches. (Chamois is soft leather that is obtained from a mountain goat.) At that time, the better watches were sold in chamois cases to protect the
watch inside and also act as a polishing device. Harry's cases were very well liked and business flourished.
After many years, a man who desperately needed chamois buffing wheels to polish
jewelry approached Harry Kramer. Harry’s supplier was not able to meet the demand, leaving Harry to produce the buffing wheels himself. Harry had never made a buffing wheel before, but accepted the challenge.
When pocket watches went out of style, Harry began to make chamois and cloth polishing wheels for the jewelry industry. His son Herbert, then in his late teens, suggested that since they were already calling on the jewelry trade to sell their polishing wheels, why not build the polishing machines also? And so the production of Kramer machines began.
Over the years, The Kramers earned a reputation for quality repairs of tumbling barrels and other machines. Plastic jewelry was now more popular and tumbling was promoted as an economical means of mass finishing. Herb was a natural-born machinist and soon decided that they themselves
could fabricate better machines than the ones being sent to them to repair. By the late 1940’s, HW Kramer Company was producing a full line of tumbling machines that were greatly admired for their strength and durability.
Herb Kramer knew the importance of respecting his customers and his employees. He also recognized the
benefit in knowing the details of his products and the processes surrounding them. With this philosophy, Herb Kramer achieved a high degree of customer loyalty and an incredible amount of referral business.
In 1971, the Kramer factory moved to larger quarters to accommodate its 22
employees. Harry slowly turned over the company reigns to his son Herb, who by this time had two of his own sons working in the factory. One son, Charles, developed the tumbling compounds to be used in the machines. His other son, Robert, developed the Kramer machinery.
Harry retired in the late 1960’s. By this time, vibratory finishing equipment was starting to show up in the market, offering much faster time cycles and a controlled action that was safer for the
parts being finished. It was then decided that Kramer must produce vibratory finishing machines to stay
competitive. They would have to be of the highest quality to maintain the reputation already established by Kramer's tumbling machines. Robert studied engineering and machine design in college and used this knowledge to design a series of vibratory finishing machines. It took three years of prototypes and study to produce the final product.
In 1972, having outgrown their facility once again, Kramer moved to larger quarters. Herb Kramer soon retired, leaving his two sons in charge. Success with the tumbling and vibratory machines continued through the 1970’s. True to their heritage, the two Kramer “grandchildren” pursued new opportunities and expanded Kramer Industries’ market share into the metal finishing industry through the 1980’s and 1990’s.
In the year 2000, under the ownership umbrella of Inswick Holdings, Inc., Todd J. Leonardis took control as President of the company. Kramer Industries remains a full service company, offering media,
compounds, repair services, advice and a full line of barrel finishing, blasting, vibratory finishing, centrifugal water/solids separating and
parts separating equipment. It is expected that Kramer Industries will continue to prosper for years to come, Right From The Start.
