Kramer’s Kutting Edge finding its place in the island community
Although Kramer’s Kutting Edge is admittedly new to the island, Tom Kramer has been in business since 1992. Kramer said he is not only a locksmith, but also cuts and originates keys, including hard to find keys and also keys for heavy equipment and boats, as well as professional sharpening of knives, scissors and gardening tools, like chainsaws and chisels.
“I saw that no one else was offering this business around here, so I thought this would be a good service to offer,” said Kramer. “So far the response has been very positive.”
When Kramer was 20 years old he got a job at an architectural hardware company in Oakland Park, Florida, where he learned how to re-key locks. He found the field interesting, he said, and began to pick up various aspects of the business. He and his wife, Suzanne, moved to the island in September, although her father has lived here for several years. They had been together as kids, he said.
“About 37 years ago, her mom introduced us when we were teenagers,” Kramer said. “I had had other girlfriends, but she was the first girl I fell in love with. Through the years we broke up, she got married and I got married, but I never fell out of love with her. When she was getting a divorce from her ex-husband, he locked her out of her gun safe.
“She and I hadn’t had any communication through the years and she messaged me asking if I could help her get into her safe,” he continued. “The rest is history. We got back together and got married to each other in January. She’s my true soulmate.”
Kramer said he and Suzanne are looking forward to making a place in the community by getting involved. He said he likes what he does and doesn’t consider it a job, recalling interesting situations that have found him in his field. In one predicament, he said, a couple found themselves handcuffed together with no key.
“They called me and when I got there, she was laughing but he was really mad. I got them out of the handcuffs and then he was really happy, of course, but he was not too happy when I got there.”
Kramer said he’s seen a lot through the years, recalling being told not to wear a work shirt on a particular job he was called to do. When he arrived, he was handed a paper bag full of money and told by a disgruntled ex-husband, whose wife had been awarded a house and boat in a divorce settlement, that if he unlocked the door to the house he could keep the bag of money.
“I left and said, ‘You’ve got to call someone else,'” said Kramer. “He chased me down asking me to at least unlock the boat, so I told him I wasn’t the guy to do that.”
Kramer said although legally he would not have been held liable for taking that job, he had a personal ethical concern that kept him from it.
“We love this community,” said Kramer, adding that they would like to sponsor a Little League team in the future. “I’m trying to bring a service to help because there’s no other locksmith or sharpening service around. It’s a service that I think people really need and will want, once they find out about us.”
Contact Kramer at 239-710-0600, or visit Kramerskuttingedge.com for additional information.