Gerry is a longtime knifemaker who lives in Calgary, Alberta. He has always been good with his hands, and growing up on a farm, he had to be. In 1983, he took a 6-week saw filing course at NAIT in Edmonton. He says, “I loved tools and spent way too much money at the House of Tools and in 1993, I signed up for their knifemaking course by Bill Shiller.” Over the three-day course, Gerry made his first knife, and knifemaking became his lifelong hobby. He says, “I was hooked because I learned to do something new with my hands.” The following summer, he took Bill Shiller’s five-day course. “Bill was an excellent teacher. I made 3-4 knives, and I bought my first 2x72 grinder and sander from him.”
Gerry says he “Poked away with knifemaking for the next couple of years,” but things changed in 1996 when he went to the Knife Guild show in Toronto with his son. He talked to other knifemakers and suppliers and realized there was a community of knifemakers who were making “very cool stuff”. He went home, built himself a 22’ x 40’ workshop, and started making knives during the evenings and weekends, then showing and selling them at local Knife and Craft Shows.
In 2008, Gerry went to Ed Storch’s Hammer In and met Roger Hatt and learned of the Western Canada Knife Association (WCKA). Little did he know that he would become a key member of the Association over the coming years. The Association started in 2000 and to this day has its Annual General Meeting at the Kamloops Target Sport Association’s Annual Gun and Knife Show in Kamloops, BC. Gerry was elected WCKA Vice President and then President. He is now serving this third term. He is generous with his time and is unwavering in his commitment to the Association.
Gerry makes chef, hunters, fillet, pouch knives and also wedding cake knives. He says, “I like knives because they last for generations and over the years, they have stories of their own.” In about 2015, he made a knife for a neighbour’s son for his 21st birthday and was guiding in Saskatchewan. Gerry liked the knife, and not only did he make a twin, but he also had it tattooed on his arm. He sold the twin knife but never really thought about it again until last Spring at the Kamloops Show, when a young man came up to him and showed his knife collection. One was this very knife. It turned out that he bought it at an estate sale in Vernon, BC. Gerry has no idea how the knife came to be in Vernon.
Gerry sells his knives at Gun Shows and Craft Sales, and from his Facebook page. His customers are predominantly Canadian. When he retired three years ago, he moved to Calgary from Edmonton to be close to his partner, Marilyn. He built a new shop and now makes about 20 knives a year.
His favourite steel is AEB-L. He says, “It is flexible for fillet and chef knives. It’s easy to heat treat and holds a good edge”. He also likes working with Damascus, which he buys from local knifemakers. For handles, he uses a variety of materials from stabilized and unstabilized wood to Micarta and G10. He designs his own knives, but if he sees a design that he likes, he will “tweak" it to add his own style. Gerry’s logo features a bird named Kievit his namesake!
Words of Wisdom: "Be creative and make your own designs and develop your own style that you feel good about. Most knifemakers have their own style."
Gerry, along with other members of the WCKA, would like to set up a Western Canada Knife show in Calgary to sell knives to the general public. If you are interested in participating, please contact him at gkievitkninves@hotmail.com
To see more of Gerry’s knives go to his Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/p/GKievit-custom-knives-100054440742605/
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