In the post about having a practice area, I showed my 3-way practice mirror. I practice alone, so I have never really shown the mirror to anyone. It was embarrassingly bad ha ha
I made it as a temporary proof of concept, with the intention of cleaning it up if the idea proved sound. Well the idea was quite sound, and although it was not pretty, it was functional. So I never got around to making it look better. There are wires wrapped around the back and they stick out horribly – but not visible from the front. And that is how it stayed for almost 15 years.
One major concern I did have was possible breakage, though. The way it was assembled allowed it to stand very well for practice, but to fold it up for storage 2 of the mirrors were on the outsides and unprotected. To be fair, it lasted 15 years and multiple home moves (one move was 8,000 miles overseas).
But I decided it was time to finish it.
First I cut off all the wire. I left the screw eyes and picture hanging hooks (the wire was picture hanging wire). A couple of the screw eyes were coming loose so I removed them, added some split toothpick pieces to the hole. Then poured in glue and screwed the eyes back into the hole. The toothpicks will give the threads of the screws a place to hold, and is a common way to repair holes with loose screws. I worked in building maintenance for years and it is an old trick (but not a magic trick). You might be surprised at how many door hinges have multiple toothpicks in the screw hole.
While waiting for the glue to dry I removed most of the old tape on the back of the mirrors. It came on the mirrors 15 years ago and was quite worn out. I replaced it with new tape. Then I took some nylon fishing line and redesigned the ties.
There are 3 screw eyes on each side of the mirrors, where they attach. I made the middle screw eye permanently tied and long enough for the mirrors to fold up like a book – with the mirrors on the inside this time. The top and bottom clips are loose for folding. (Figures 1, 2, & 3). The reason for the different lengths of permanent string (hinges) between Figures 1 & 2 is that one mirror folds over just the middle mirror. The longer string has to fold over the other two mirrors.
The top and bottom strings are much shorter than the middle two. When I set up the mirror the top and bottom clips are attached, and the middle string hangs loose, but still attached. (Figure 4)
From the front it looks the same, and stands just as well as before. But now when I close it up it folds easier, and protects the mirrors better. For storage I still wrap the whole thing in bubble wrap, and put on a bookshelf.
It is still nothing fancy, but I want to show that you do not need to spend a ton of money for props or practice. The mirrors were from a dollar store, in 2007’ish. I do not remember what they cost but it was minimal. The picture hanging hardware was sitting in a drawer in my laundry room. I have seen similar setups being sold for between $30 and $75. This cost me well under $10 and has lasted 15 years so far.
