memorize a muscle memory

[webmost]

I've been on a two-a-day fecto-rollin regimen since January. Hence I've been banding them, with a "Daily Habit" band. I roll up one for either side of the binder leaf. Every morning, I set one binder leaf and two wrapper halves in the conditioning chamber. Somewhere around lunch, I split the binder, bunch a pair, & set them in the mold; then I stretch the wrinkles out of the wrapper leaves & set them back in the chamber. Couple hours later I rotate the bunches in their slots. Evening, I wrap them. I try and do this every day. I prolly carry thru at the very least nine days out of ten. I try to make one left handed and one right handed... but that depends on what wrapper halves are coming off the wad right then. I'm using those FX Smith's CT shade wads. I figure I have enough to last the year. The plan is, if I can keep at this daily habit like a musician practicing on his axe, day after day after day, for a year, then I might eventually develop a facility at the task. Memorize some muscle memory methodically.

Determined to master this fecto thing by hook or by crook. I've come to accept that I'll prolly never be as good a flag and capper as Bliss, nor as good at bustin out as shiny a busto as Marc. But every once in a while I do accident onto a decent roll.

Since I smoke no more that one gar a day, I'll obviously wind up with a hell of a surplus, time I'm done.

I do throw in a corona now and then, just to get rid of the occasional wrapper half that comes in too small for a fecto. They are just boring to make.

So, 'member: methodically memorize your muscle memory. That's what the best at anything do. Half an hour a day, day after day, is worth so much more than ten hours on Saturday.

 

[blisscigarco]

I've been on a two-a-day fecto-rollin regimen since January. Hence I've been banding them, with a "Daily Habit" band. I roll up one for either side of the binder leaf. Every morning, I set one binder leaf and two wrapper halves in the conditioning chamber. Somewhere around lunch, I split the binder, bunch a pair, & set them in the mold; then I stretch the wrinkles out of the wrapper leaves & set them back in the chamber. Couple hours later I rotate the bunches in their slots. Evening, I wrap them. I try and do this every day. I prolly carry thru at the very least nine days out of ten. I try to make one left handed and one right handed... but that depends on what wrapper halves are coming off the wad right then. I'm using those FX Smith's CT shade wads. I figure I have enough to last the year. The plan is, if I can keep at this daily habit like a musician practicing on his axe, day after day after day, for a year, then I might eventually develop a facility at the task. Memorize some muscle memory methodically.

Determined to master this fecto thing by hook or by crook. I've come to accept that I'll prolly never be as good a flag and capper as Bliss, nor as good at bustin out as shiny a busto as Marc. But every once in a while I do accident onto a decent roll.

Since I smoke no more that one gar a day, I'll obviously wind up with a hell of a surplus, time I'm done.

I do throw in a corona now and then, just to get rid of the occasional wrapper half that comes in too small for a fecto. They are just boring to make.

So, 'member: methodically memorize your muscle memory. That's what the best at anything do. Half an hour a day, day after day, is worth so much more than ten hours on Saturday.

Gosh, webmost, are you actually saying that Bob's Roll One Smoke One theory is in fact inimical to learning how to roll well?

I think that you are.

 

[webmost]

Which Bob?

 

[YvanheTerrible]

So, 'member: methodically memorize your muscle memory. That's what the best at anything do. Half an hour a day, day after day, is worth so much more than ten hours on Saturday.

Well I can only agree with your muscle memory theory, I’m an artisan baker by trade and it took me 10 years just to learn to roll a baguette properly. You do it day after day after day until you can do it with your eyes closed even dead hangovered.

Not sure that many home rollers have the aspirations to become master rollers but the ole practice makes perfect is key, slowly, constantly but surely. Enjoying the stogies that you made yourself (whatever they look like) and taking the time to slow down and puff that smoke away is what I like so much about cigar rolling.



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[ras_oscar]

I applaud your determination to improve your skills. 2 cigars a day for a year is more ambitious than I have patience for. I generally schedule a "rolling session" for a weekend. I have 3 molds. 2 robusto grande and 1 robusto. I condition my leaf Friday evening, roll up and mold the dolls Saturday and wrap Sunday. It takes me about an hour to fill molds, but these are all parejos so they're not nearly as challenging as a 'fecto.

 

[Jimmy_jack]

I'm in the weekend category as well. Should get a new shipment tomorrow. I'll sort everything then and Friday. Throw wrapper in the casing box on Friday and do the bunching Saturday. Coronas and 52s this weekend

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[webmost]

My exercise in Muscle Memory is winding down. It will be a year next week. I've probably missed no more than a dozen daily sessions in all that time. For most all that time, I rolled plumpfectos like this one from last February, composed of Mata Fina and Jalapa bound in Honduran and wrapped in FX Smith's CT shade.

I ran solid plumpfectos from Jan thru early November, when I scored the mold for these Delicados:

Right now, the blend is a core of one leaf Condega viso surrounded by 3 or 4 T-13 viso, bound in a nice dark Nic wrapper, & wrapped in the same FX CT shade. In fact, all this year long series is wrapped in the same FX CT shade, cause I scored so much that I still have a crapload of it left. I thought I would stick year-long with the plumpfectos, but... I fell in love with love these long slender tapering Delicados soon's I laid eyes on the mold.

What'd I get out of it? I'm not sure whether I can say that I make any better gars. Note I don't say that I don't make any better gars... I just say just what I say, that I'm not sure I can say that I do. It's the kind of thing where you disqualify yourself from judging. I think it may be the king of thing like playing an instrument. You might be world renowned 90 year old Pablo Casals & still think you need to do better.

I do think I can definitely say I got way way faster at it. Holy cow. Zip zap bing bang here y'are.

I also got way better at blending. That might have happened anyways.

Finally, I stashed about 250 more gars than I smoked or gave away.

I'll prolly continue the habit just cause it's a real pleasant habit. Perhaps not so assiduously; but perhaps so.

 

[blisscigarco]

Excellent year-end post, webmost. They look like they've got more talent in'em, to me. And I relate to your feelings about the various processes. On the other hand I relate more to the plumpfecto shape for some reason. Maybe because I really like that particular foot shape and know how tricky it is to learn to do it that well.

 

[webmost]

You are absolutely correct. The plumpfecto is a wonderful shape.

Upon reflection, I should add that the one aspect I improved upon the most is achieving a consistent good burn. That achievement does require wasting a small amount of leaf.

Here's one I am burning right now. It will last me a steady two hours.

Merry Christmas. Don't forget whose birthday we celebrate. Whether you belt the book or no, by all accounts he was a remarkable man.

 

[blisscigarco]

You are absolutely correct. The plumpfecto is a wonderful shape.

Upon reflection, I should add that the one aspect I improved upon the most is achieving a consistent good burn. That achievement does require wasting a small amount of leaf.

Here's one I am burning right now. It will last me a steady two hours.

Merry Christmas. Don't forget whose birthday we celebrate. Whether you belt the book or no, by all accounts he was a remarkable man.

That thing looks like it comes from some deluxe FX Smith line. You know, where they bring in some Dominican dude to handroll a few for Christmas. Oh, I also really like the Daily Habit label.

Yo ho ho.

 

[webmost]

Just now, I pulled the last pair of bunches from the mold, for my year long mucle memory project:

Nip the tails, shape the heads, wrap them, band them, & I'm done.

Here's the thing: I don't think I can stop. Clearly, this has addicted me to daily rolling. Question is, what do I do next?



Well, when I was extracting an addy via PM from MidwestRetro the other day, so's I could send him some leaves, he naturally offered to buy me gars, cause that's the kinda thing guys feel obliged to do. I remarked to him that the last thing I need is more gars, since I prolly have a kilogar of home rolls in the stash. YUou may have noticed that I fancy myself a word-coiner. I like the sound of that "kilogar" which popped out. I spose you could abbreviate it "Kg"; but that's already taken. Perhaps "Kgar". I dunno yet. All I know, I'd like to stash a kilogar. So this morning I counted the stash:

I come up with 642. There's room in there for 400 more, cause a lot of the boxes you see may only have half a dozen left inside. So many have been smoke or mailed away. Consolidation would not be difficult. Stick the half dozens together in one box So a kilogar is certainly not out of reach.

What would the project look like?

Bliss is right that the plumpfecto is a more challenging shape than the delicado. Tho the delicado actually does include a miniature but very rounded perfecto foot, as you can see from one of today's dolls waiting to be wrapped:

... as well as a typical rounded head:

Also, I have tended to plump the barrels, the way I do the plumpfectos.

However, it seems obvious to me that the shape which I have most neglected for a long while is the simple corona. True, coronas are just a pitiful snap to roll. OTOH, what more efficient way to briskly reach a kilogar? If I were to continue knocking out two delicados a day, just to enjoy the shape; but throw in a corona tenner now and then, just for the speed of it; I could easily stash a kilogar before my birthday. Prolly by Spring, in fact. Another point to consider: I have amassed a bag of CT shade leaves which I deemed plenty big enough to wrap coronas, tho too small or holed to cut the big S which I need for a plumpfecto. This would put that beg to work.

The one thing that gives me pause is Spring. I am no spring chicken. If I had a Kgar in stash, that's three years of smokes. Who am I stashing them for? I may not be heere to smoke them. I need to get a second grandson smoking gars. Luckily, I have one just turned 21. I just don't much see him. And he's got this girl he plays house with. No telling if she would put up with the stinkage.



What you think? Does the world need a kilogarman?

 

[blisscigarco]

Well, what's your motive for this 1000-cigar stash?

I know, that's one of those bum questions you get from small-minded people whose hearts are bereft of romance. But not intended that way: if viewed as a purely romantic/visionary venture along the lines of mountain climbing and solo circumnavigation, then it doesn't matter if the world needs a kilogarman. It's none of the world's business.

As to vitolas, sounds like you've settled on a corona. Besides the have-leaf-just-big-enough-for-that practicality of it, it's a very practical and I think lovely vitola. I reckon I feel this way about all the 42s: petit corona, corona, long corona, and lonsdale are all really natural and attractive sizes.

On the other hand if you want to cause yourself real pain in the name of gain, I'd say: learn how to make a perfect torpedo head, where that last little flap just folds perfectly over the closed point of the head and organically caresses the tip of the cone; and then, having nailed that, moving onto the salomon, with its pointed tip at one end and tricky nippled foot. This would be a natural continuation of what you've been doing with the plumpfecto.

Alternatively, for difficulty, there's learning how to do a perfect Davidoff-style Dominican single cap. Something you said a few years ago you had no interest in learning (you didn't want your third cap to be attached by a little string of tobacco, you said). But hey, people change.

No matter what, I look forward to whatever new cigar adventure you settle on for 2020!

P.S. Funny thing about that warehouse drying pic in your above post: I imagined myself being able to walk through there whenever I wanted and just pulling any stick from anywhere and smoking it whenever I wanted to for the rest of my life, and asked myself, would I still roll? And the resounding answer is yes, I'd still roll just as much. That is what I try to convey to people who are thinking about rolling.

 

[Jim D]

@webmost , I enjoy your vernacular and made up words, a favorite being the mataloto. I like the K-gar sound too, sounds like the USMC knife. Of course the concept is pretty cool too.

Sounds like you built the muscle memory you were striving for. Personally, that's my goal for the year. Only I'm shooting for a 46 rg parejo with consistent density and draw rather than just short smokes for the ride to and from work.

Whatever your goals, I look forward to reading about it here on BOTL.

 

[webmost]

Well, what's your motive for this 1000-cigar stash?

I could call myself the sescentorian -- but doesn't that sound like an old duffer who has half lost his mind?
Nope. Gotta roll on.

I do not care for the torpedo. Doesn't feel right in the mouth.
The salamone is grandiose. Not for me.
My corona mold is more like a 46 than a 42. It's in good shape.