Mirror Mirror On The Ball

May 6, 2024 5:39 PM

The process of making a mirror ball. The last remaining mirror ball manufacturing factory in Japan. [14m30s] Depicts making a mirror ball. Actually pretty interesting.
posted by hippybear (33 comments total)

Surprising lack of safety googles around the machine producing the hot and spinning metal filings.
posted by rh at 5:52 PM on May 6 [3 favorites]

I noticed that as well, along with the lack of masks to protect from breathing in fine particulate metal and glass.

It was a suprisingly laborious and very hands-on process!

It wasn't laborious at all to watch, thank you hippybear.
posted by ashbury at 6:09 PM on May 6

I was also surprised by how it's all done by hand but I guess there isn't a huge demand for mirrorballs so doing it this way makes more sense than developing machines to automate the various steps.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 6:13 PM on May 6 [1 favorite]

Jimi's playing in the back room
Led Zeppelin on stage
There's a mirror ball twirling
And a note from Page - Neil Young
posted by stevil at 6:14 PM on May 6 [2 favorites]

Fascinating from beginning to end.

Bunch of things surprised me, including the process of making hemispheres out of flat plates, which I would have said was very unlikely to even work

And gluing the mirrors to the ball, because the mirrors do not actually touch each other — they couldn’t really because six identical circles can’t all touch a central seventh except on a surface with zero curvature — which I think must mean there’s a lot of skill involved in placing them just right.
posted by jamjam at 6:19 PM on May 6 [2 favorites]

I don't know if this is a modern mirror ball feature all around or just specific to this Japanese factory, but the mirror balls I've encountered in my past here in the US, of which there have been a surprising number, have been with smaller square mirrors, not rounds like in this. In fact, doing a quick search online shows that most of the ones listed have square mirrors.

Honestly, I think this one with the large mirror circles and then filled with grouting is really elegant.

Mostly I'm reminded of U2's POPMart tour and their disco ball lemon that they'd emerge from for the second half of the show.
posted by hippybear at 6:25 PM on May 6 [6 favorites]

I was just thinking the same thing as hippybear - I want a mirror ball with round mirrors like this! It's lovely.
posted by queensissy at 7:12 PM on May 6 [1 favorite]

Bunch of things surprised me, including the process of making hemispheres out of flat plates, which I would have said was very unlikely to even work

The ductility of metal continues to surprise me when I see fabrication videos like this. I wonder if anyone has tried to make a globe using that technique.
posted by mollweide at 7:29 PM on May 6 [1 favorite]

Fun fact: factory is short for manufactory, so calling something a manufacturing factory is redundant. This fact was faxed to me manually by Immanuel, one of my faction's many men.
posted by dephlogisticated at 8:49 PM on May 6 [13 favorites]

Not shown in this video: this factory has the best parties.
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 9:03 PM on May 6 [12 favorites]

Youtube seems to recommend to me a lot of videos of people outside my home country (USA) making things. I often notice what feels like a high level of skill and hand work and wonder if I'm romanticizing the work because it's being done in a different culture. If I saw the same video but with a few people in Alabama, would I feel the same way about it?

Do I never see a video like that because of the algorithm, or because those sorts of things are harder to find in this country?
posted by Ickster at 9:48 PM on May 6 [1 favorite]

Very interesting. When I first read it, I thought it might be about those completely mirrored globes you see in people's backyards, or maybe they have gone out of fashion.
posted by Czjewel at 9:54 PM on May 6

rh...Not a lot of safety goggles were in evidence when I visited manufacturers in Taiwan and Bangkok who were producing Disney jewelry for the company I worked for in Orlando in the 90s, which we then sold to Disney parks and cruise ships. One company derp in the countryside outside Bangkok made 14 kt charms for us. It was basically a foundry. Lots of young men employees in the foundry in cut off pants and bare chested. And barefoot. All smoking as they worked. Must have been 110 degrees inside. No goggles.
posted by Czjewel at 10:03 PM on May 6 [1 favorite]

I wonder why they tape the ball when applying cement. Wouldn't you want to do it all at once, so that there isn't a tape line?

Also, I want one so bad!
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 11:53 PM on May 6 [2 favorites]

If I saw the same video but with a few people in Alabama, would I feel the same way about it?

Do you remember the show How It's Made? If you do then you probably know the answer to this. If not, here's a playlist of old segments from the show.

(There are a few other YouTube channels called "How It's Made" but to be honest I can't tell if they're made up of AI-generated scripts and stock video clips, or if they're just really cheaply made. The stuff you want is from the TV show that aired in the 90s and 2000s on the Discovery Channel.)
posted by chrominance at 12:17 AM on May 7 [3 favorites]

Ickster, I personally really love the Business Insider Youtube series "How Expensive", where they produce mini-documentary versions of how things are made. Here is the episode on expensive things made in the US.

The entire series does make you realize how little profit people make in some countries, while producing some of the most expensive goods that exist. Saffron, various salts, lotus silk and a huge number of other things made this a binge worthy series. This series does make me profoundly sad, because frequently it is highlighting the things a good show should highlight: poverty, safety issues, extreme inequality, inability to compete with modern petrochemicals, significant issues with global climate shifts and a wide bevy of other issues. Still love it though.
posted by burntbook at 1:29 AM on May 7 [1 favorite]

I wonder how much these cost. I couldn’t find anything like it online, all the balls had square mirrors and are, of course, not looking handcrafted. I did find HANDCRAFTED DISCO BALL BY YOLANDA BAKER based in Kentucky, USA. The list price is $169.99 – $6,499.99.

If you like things to be a bit more flashy, this Handcrafted Disco Ball for you! Starting at 8″ and going up from there, these Disco Balls are created by the one and only Yolanda Baker right here in Louisville, Kentucky! These beautiful Disco Balls are handcrafted by Yolanda with her nearly 50 years experience in the field. She’s made Disco Balls for Beyoncé, Madonna, Studio 54, and even the Saturday Night Fever film set, and is the last Disco Ball maker in America. These Disco Balls have an aluminum shell that strips of mirrored squares are attached to, making them much sturdier – and heftier – than knock-offs that have recently flooded the market.
posted by waving at 1:53 AM on May 7 [5 favorites]

Great find! Yolanda's video is a treat, what a crazy thing to have done for 50 years.
posted by thecincinnatikid at 4:20 AM on May 7 [2 favorites]

We had a condo that had a dark hallway that connected two different areas, and the ceiling was sort of... coffered? It went up higher than the doors at each end, and there was a large rectangular-solid void space above the hallway itself. It was like walking through a long skinny shoe box. Anyway, my wife rigged up a mirror ball (I think she paid around $800 and this was 20 years ago) and we changed out the wall sconces to small pin lights (not true pin lights, but small, focused spotlight type lights) that we shot at the ball. It was awesome. We never got around to installing a motor to turn the ball as there was no electrical in the ceiling, but it was cool as hell and everyone loved it!

When we sold the apartment the new owners insisted we leave the ball and lights and sell it as a package, which we did. It was the perfect spot to use a mirror ball, and there was a slim chance we'd find a new place to live with a good use for the ball and lights.

(My wife is a professional commercial interior designer, mostly works on boutique hotels and such and has had her own business for 25+ years and I am so proud of her!)

Also: great video!
posted by SoberHighland at 4:35 AM on May 7 [5 favorites]

This is awesome. The ones I've used have always been Styrofoam spheres with square mirrors. They're okay, but this one seems more brilliant. Perhaps a filming artifact.
I also noted the lack of safety equipment. And the gentleman operating the lathe was... putting his hands and arms closer to it than I would care to. He's still in possession of the arms though, so apparently he knows what he's doing.
posted by Adridne at 5:53 AM on May 7 [1 favorite]

If you like this story of Japanese reflective spheres, check out Edogawa Rampo's "The Hell of Mirrors."
posted by doctornemo at 6:12 AM on May 7

I wonder why they tape the ball when applying cement.

I was wondering if it was so they could take the two halves apart later if they wanted, but it doesn't really seem like they need that since they are shipping it as one piece.
posted by snofoam at 6:51 AM on May 7 [1 favorite]

The company is not directly linked to in the youtube description but it's website is here.

Just in case people are wondering, no, it is not a company that only makes mirror balls. They make a whole host of lighting equipment for halls and the like. Various kinds of spotlights and lighting effects and even ones made specifically to create color effects on mirror balls. A bubble machine, too. As was said above, they probably have the best parties.

I've mostly seen mirror balls still in use in Japan at karaoke places, both small group rooms and large party rooms. I don't go to live gigs these days so I'm not sure how often they are used in halls and such. I wouldn't know directly, but I believe some love hotels have them.

Their catalogue is here ( it will take you to page to download a pdf).

Most of the mirror ball prices are listed as "Open" as in no set price but the prices listed run from 49,500 to 396,000 yen.
posted by LostInUbe at 6:58 AM on May 7 [6 favorites]

This just reminds me - a blue collar guy - that very often we don't use safety equipment unless we're required to...it's often hot, annoying, gets in the way and diminishes our "feel" for what we're doing. Some of the work these very skilled guys are doing without safety gear gives me the heebie-jeebies.
posted by nevercalm at 7:04 AM on May 7 [6 favorites]

Thanks for posting, excellent and highly relevant to me:
I need to add "mirror ball motors" to the house budget. I need them, I really do.
We have what turns out to be a dead tree in our backyard, and before it goes I'm realizing a dream: to fill it with chandeliers and mirror balls and happy skeletons and glowing pumpkins.
Also, when we have very bright early morning sun it hits my small cheap mirror ball collection on the bookcase just so, and my cat is utterly fascinated. So we're the house having an early morning disco party in case you were driving by and wondering.
posted by winesong at 8:32 AM on May 7

The safety goggles, the gloves, the turning on the lathe with his head directly in line with the giant metal disc of doom. The direction of spin probably makes it safer than it looks.

It reminds me of learning to use a skilsaw from a bunch of guys who pinned the guard back, used thier legs as sawhorses, and thought of OSHA inspectors as the enemy. "If it kicks, it'll move away from you!"
posted by surlyben at 8:35 AM on May 7 [1 favorite]

Further ponders Yolanda's 50-year career making mirrored balls, considers 50-year span, realizes 50-year high school reunion is coming in three years, 1977-2027, considers 1977 dawn of disco, launch of Saturday Night Fever and Studio 54, recalls utter revulsion of seemingly inescapable disco in late 70's - yup, Yolanda's timeline fits like a sequined glove.
posted by thecincinnatikid at 12:05 PM on May 7

This is great, thanks.

The last remaining mirror ball manufacturing factory in Japan.
This description implies that there USED to be a LOT of these places.
posted by AsYouKnow Bob at 1:53 PM on May 7 [2 favorites]

About the safety goggles (or lack thereof) in the opening sequence. That machine is not a lathe. The operation being done there is to stretch the metal from a plate into a ball, not in any way to carve or abrade it into shape. No filings or metal turnings were made in that sequence. Probably OSHA best practices would call for using goggles but the likelihood of injury there is very low.

Later, where you see a guy sawing and snipping sheet metal, he is wearing goggles. And gloves.
posted by Aardvark Cheeselog at 2:06 PM on May 7 [1 favorite]

Look again, around 3:13, big pile of metal shavings. I don't think we are reacting to whether it is technically a lathe or some kind of other similar giant spinny machine which will have similar failure modes. The big metal disk is likely to fly across the room if there is user error, and if the edge of the disk isn't deburred, a glove catch looks possible. Maybe it's all low speed enough and so difficult to screw up that we are completely overreacting. Lathes can be surprisingly non-murdery, as shop tools go (but also, I am not about to google "horrible lathe accidents" because I imagine it will produce the kind of images I would rather not see on a sunny afternoon.)
posted by surlyben at 2:35 PM on May 7

1,787,940 Yen, or 11536.50 USD on May 7, 2024.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 6:39 PM on May 7 [2 favorites]

My mirror ball is far inferior to this one. Styrofoam ball with little square mirrors.

That said, I did get it at the "$5 or less" store.

This was fun to watch. That first guy has to find a better place for the "on" switch for his lathe-like thing. This is like those segments on Sesame Street and Mr Rogers that showed how crayons or peanut butter or saxophones or erasers were made.
posted by not_on_display at 7:15 PM on May 7 [1 favorite]

I love videos like this. Specifically how calm they are without a hype man narrating how I'm supposed to feel, the US YouTube equivalent of 80s sitcom laugh tracks. No narration also makes for easier multi-lingual videos. I watch a lot of Korean street food.

Note the mirror circles are different sizes. You have to do that if you lay the mirrors out in the pattern they do, like lines of latitude on a globe. But there's a bunch of ways to tesselate a sphere with triangles, many of which don't involve things shrinking. (Ie the Goldberg polyhedron with its 12 pentagons.) I was left wondering if the different size mirrors were considered an important part of the product or just an accident of the geometry they chose. Maybe having horizontal lines is important for the pattern of reflections?

Note that $11,500 mirror ball up above is unusually large: 900mm or nearly 3 feet in diameter. The ball weighs 50kg (110lbs) and the price includes a motor.
posted by Nelson at 9:44 AM on May 9 [1 favorite]