 gaston glock (born 19 july 1929) is an austrian engineer, and founder of the firearms company glock. ==manufacturing== glock began as a manufacturer of curtain rods and knives for the austrian military. he had not designed or manufactured a firearm until he was 52 years old. he was already an expert in polymers as a result of his previous business ventures. in 1980 he bought an injection-moulding machine to manufacture handles and sheaths for the field knives he was making for the austrian army in his garage workshop. his earliest employees were from the camera industry and were experts in producing polymer components. his first pistol took one year to produce from the design and concept stage to production, and he filed for an austrian patent in april 1981 for the pistol known as the glock 17. ==personal life== glock has three children with his former wife helga glock. in 2011, he divorced and married then 31-year old kathrin tschikof, who was one of his nurses after his stroke in 2008. he suffered a second stroke in 2012. glock supports different charities in austria, having donated over one million euros.charity donations as documented by the glock-organization ghpc{{cite news | title=doppelte hilfe fÃ¼r die flutopfer|url=http://www.klein
1929_births Firearm_designers Living_people People_from_GA$?nserndorf_District