Hit 200 hand bound books this weekend and I'm still not sure how I feel about it

I was just cleaning up my workshop Saturday night and I realized I've finished 200 books since I started binding back in 2019. That number caught me off guard because I never thought of myself as someone who produces that much. Each one feels like its own little problem to solve, especially with the cloth and the spine work. The first 50 were rough, lots of wobbly edges and glue showing where it shouldn't. But somewhere around book 120 I started noticing I just knew things without thinking, like how much to trim or when the grain is right. Has anyone else hit a surprising milestone that made them rethink their whole process?

3 comments

3 Comments

lindag331mo ago

Man, 200 is a solid milestone. That muscle memory shift around book 120 is real.

wadew511mo ago

Ha, yeah 120 was weird - felt like my brain finally stopped fighting the new alphabet. Now I just stare at the book count and wonder where the time went.

marywilson1mo ago

You ever notice how that hundred something mark hits in almost everything, not just making stuff? @lindag33 is right about the muscle memory shift, but I see it at work too when new employees suddenly stop asking for help. It's like your brain finally says "okay, we got this" and stops second guessing every little move.

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