TPP136 Hand Crafting Wooden Sex Toys with Richard Carver

In this episode I’m joined by my new personal hero Richard Carver, a master craftsman making love filled high quality wooden sex toys. I discovered his work on social media and was astonished by the stand-alone artisanship of his phallic wood carvings and even more thrilled to learn about his success as a boutique sex toy manufacturer. We talk a bit about the natural history of sex toys, the spiritual and energetic dimensions of making sex toys, insider insights into the industry, launching and running a small business, career highlights, and the trade-offs of mass production and scaling.

Please go visit his online store at https://www.etsy.com/shop/LumberjillLC

Please follow him on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/BbQCeu3FXwp/

About Richard:

I never set out to make wooden sex toys. I just wanted a career that allowed me to be creative and work for myself. I originally considered custom knife making, but when a friend half-joking mentioned wooden sex toys, my attention shifted dramatically and started me down this path back in 2012. It wasn’t until life threw me a few curveballs, however, that I saw it was time to stop playing around with the idea. In March of 2014, Lumberjill Leisurecrafts came to be and I never looked back.

The idea behind Lumberjill is that there are already so many companies that mass produce copy after copy of the same design. With such an intimate item, I wanted to create toys that had much for a personal custom quality to them. That’s why I’ve been so dedicated to crafting each piece I make by hand and primarily with handtools. While it takes more time, care, and skill, it’s worth it to be able to provide sex toys that are genuinely made with love and care.