Just hit my 100th hand-sewn endband and it finally clicked

I've been rebinding old paperbacks from the library sale bin for about a year now. Last night I finished my 100th endband and realized I don't have to look at a tutorial every single time anymore. The repetitive motion finally made sense in my fingers, like muscle memory just took over. Has anyone else noticed a specific number of projects before something felt natural?

3 comments

3 Comments

allen.cole1mo ago

piper_dixon45 is right on the money with that 100 rep thing. I think the real trick is that your brain stops trying to think about each step and just lets your hands do their thing. For me it was around 80 endbands where I stopped worrying about the tension being perfect and it just kinda sorted itself out. The weird part is now I can watch TV while doing them and still end up with clean work, which is a game changer for getting through a big stack of books.

piper_dixon451mo ago

Hey I read somewhere it takes about a hundred reps for your hands to learn a thing.

alex5246d ago

Actually I managed to hit my head on the workbench about 15 times before I even got close to 100 reps. @allen.cole is totally right about the brain getting out of the way though. My first 30 or so cloth case covers looked like a toddler did them with oven mitts on. Somewhere around 60 is where my hands finally figured out how much glue is just enough without making a mess. I still have to redo about one in ten because I zone out and forget which side I'm on.