1913: On the 30th of January 1913 Sneeboer is established by Arie Sneeboer
110 years ago, our company was established by Arie Sneeboer in 1913 with the name “A.J. Sneeboer”. From that moment, the name Sneeboer became intrinsically linked to garden tools of the highest quality. During that period, two types of iron were available which could be used to create tools; steel and wrought iron. The first was too hard to be used purely for tools and the second was too soft. During his apprenticeship, Arie had learned how to ‘’unzip’’ a strip of wrought iron and to fill gap in the middle with steel which would be forge welded together to form a well-balanced alloy. However, this method was very labor and time intensive and Arie knew there had to be a better way.
Therefore Arie used a different and easier method in his own blacksmiths’ shop. By sandwiching a strip of steel between two separate strips of wrought iron he was able to produce an alloy (and therefore garden tools) which was not only stronger than that of his teachers but that also took a lot less time to produce. Even in the beginning of the 20th century, innovation was at the heart of Sneeboer! This was also the period when Arie became famous for his personal motto: “I know how to improve”
