Lessons That Coast By
On my desk sits a coaster. It’s not a great coaster, but I made it.
I could replace it, but I don’t because this coaster has a story which started back in 2020.
In late 2019 my dog was sprayed by a skunk who was digging under the rotted out fence pickets and using the underside of the shed as a home. I tried a few things to deter them, but knew the best way to keep them out was to prevent their entry, so I replaced the fence and buried chicken wire around the entire perimeter of my yard to keep them out.
Being the conservationist, hoarder, I am I saved as much of the old fence lumber as I could, after all the green and gray exterior was simply masking the good wood underneath. So I systematically took the fence apart, removing nails along the way and stacking them boards up for future use.
Eventually I started using those boards to build things like an outdoor cabinet, some planters, and coasters. These coasters were the first thing I made with the intention to sell on Etsy and this coaster was the very first.
Hard to believe this cabinet was once a fence.
Its easier to see these are fence boards, but this is pre-staining to cover up some of the ugly.
I had the idea to take 11 fence boards and glue them together, face to face. From there I ripped the corners of the board off at a 45 degree angle leaving me with a square of wood which had the fence boards orientation going across the coaster at a diagonal.
That long board was then cut into slices of end grain coasters which I sanded smooth, added a slight chamfer and sealed for sale. I didn’t sell many of them, but that’s okay because that project taught me an important lesson.
Not all projects are worth the effort. In this case I spent way too much time making what I thought would be really cool looking coasters that were hopefully unique enough to fetch a high price to justify my efforts.
What I didn’t think through was how cheap coasters are, how competitive Etsy is, and how much I hated the process of making them.
This coaster is a reminder that my ideas aren’t always good, but that’s okay. Just because an idea is bad doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have it. There are plenty of failed ideas that wasted millions of dollars in time and materials, mine was essentially free.
A free, but well earned lesson. A lesson I can’t forget because it sits on my desk, reminding me to always edit. Think through an idea to the end. Don’t come up with a concept and run with it, but plan first, act second, and adjust after you see the results.