Fall Hammer In 2009
Arie Haksteen
Quadracentennial Meet – Going Dutch
We had a special guest as our demonstrator this Fall, Arie
Haksteen, a smith from the Netherlands. I first met Arie when I
traveled to the Netherlands as a guest of the Netherlands
Artsmithing Guild (NGK). We became fast friends and I was
able to visit his shop where he and his sons make hardware and
architectural ironwork.Jonathan Nedbor
Arie served 2 years in the Dutch Royal Navy as an engineer
and 3 years as an engineer in an electrical power plant. Then in
1971 he returned to work "in the smithy of my father", where
he learned from his father and older brother and old books on
ironwork. At that time there were no schools for ironwork in the Netherlands. To fill this void, Arie and several
other fellow smiths founded the N.G.K. in 1990. It offered a chance to learn from others in the Netherlands as
well as from colleagues throughout Europe. Two important influences on Arie’s work were Alfred Habermann
from Germany and Jos Spanier from Luxemburg.
In the NGK’s continuing effort to promote and preserve the art of Blacksmithing, they now have a forge shop in
Huizen, Noord-Holland where they offer courses and workshops.
Arie has been fortunate to travel to many conferences throughout Europe both as a participant and as a demonstrator,
to name a few: Kolbermoor, Germany; Helfstein, Czech Republic; Rummelange and Peppange,
Luxemburg; Rouen, France; as well as the ABANA conferences in La Cross, Wisc. and Seattle, Wash., USA.
The output from Arie’s shop in Dordrecht consists mostly of the restoration of historic work such as gates, railings,
church-tower crosses. He and his sons also make new work such as hinges, "cramp- irons" (wall anchors
or braces), gates and railings in different styles, Art-Deco, Art-Nouveau, utilizing many flowers and leaves. In
the shop they also make special tools, such as chisels, hammers and crowbars, of "a better quality that you cannot
buy in the regular ironmonger’s shop".
