Gary White

Specialised wood machinist

Hello, my name is Gary, welcome to my site Fetishwoodcraft.  My profession is carpentry & joinery and I’m a specialised wood machinist with 44 years’ experience in the industry.  I started when I was 15, with it taking 3 years to complete my apprenticeship and an extra year to specialise in advanced craft tooling and carpentry.  Back in 1978 when I began my career computers were not a part of our industry their introduction has unfortunately led to a loss of the skills sets that i learnt and I use daily and are now sadly no longer taught as the industry is now almost completely computerized with machinery now taking over many of the hand skills that were once required in my trade.

Over the years I have adapted to the changes within the industry including draughtsman’s work and computer aided design work.  My passion for wood and the hands-on skills and I enjoy so much became a private side venture allowing me to practice my personal skills taught to me years ago.  It started with making items of bespoke furniture progressing to designing and making staircases as well as crafting and designing made to measure windows on listed buildings, which require in some cases using old, traditional and the new age techniques of carpentry.

The venture of making custom/bespoke products started as a development idea about 5 years ago, the idea was put forward to me after making a bespoke humbler and the feedback I got from within the kink community was really encouraging, I could see from talking to people within the kink community from Professionals to the very new kinksters dipping their toes in for the first time that they felt the price and quality of kink products on the market was very varied.  It seemed the priority for people with experience and those who have spent a lot of time within kink changed in regard to their expectations of a product and I saw a gap in the market.

In the first year I set about making a few very basic, high quality finished paddles the Lily and the Heart were my first 2 designs, though the handles were round.  I took these paddles to a gathering myself and my partner were invited too, it was rather a large group of people and a public event The BBB.  The feedback I got was amazing, people loved my work.

I then decided to test the market with a more refined artistic, aesthetically appealing product, that would last and looked good enough not to hide way in a drawer or bag.  This took some research and development as these works of art had to be tested for their durability and the quality, finishes had to be refined.  I finally had a small collection of products and opened and Etsy account after brainstorming a brand name with a group of friends.

As covid hit the world, my progression to do live markets was dashed and put on hold for over 2 years.  Meanwhile Etsy ticked over and the feedback I was getting back from customers was excellent as were the reviews.  I still felt that people needed to see and feel my products to appreciate their quality and aesthetics.  I have decided for the time being to keep Etsy open for my wax knifes if you’re interested.

My first live market came in August 2021 which proved to be a great success. Since then, it’s been a happy crazy time.  Happy because my passion for these products is seen as they are a uniquely, functional works of art.  Crazy, well there just aren’t enough hours in the day, working a full-time job and making these and doing markets means I have to be realistic with lead times on orders being up to 3/4 weeks.  They are all hand crafted by me with traditional hand tools. Rasping, forming, sanding, waxing and polishing (old skills) which all take time, I feel this is shown in my finished products and the price also reflects this.

I would like to add here if you see a design and not a favoured wood pictured product please message me, I will create a design for you provided the wood is available, I also have at times shown a client from start to finish in pictures of their personal product being crafted at no extra charge, this I believe adds to the bespoke/individual feel and connection the client feels, contact me if you would like this service.

Many thanks for reading

Gary