Popularizing DIY culture in India - An interaction with VP, Bosch power tools

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DIY in India is certainly a concept that is catching up. While there are individuals in pockets already indulging in Do It Youself, the idea by itself cannot gain widespread awareness unless there is more focus, attention and thrust coming from the industry at large. Bosch, India, is now getting to broaden that interest through its Home and DIY power tools and its DIY experience center, The DIY square.

Home and DIY Power Tools stall

I recently had the good fortune of interacting with Mr. Vijay Pandey, Vice President of Bosch power tools, India, at their facility in the Garden City. The event was organized for folks from the media to break Bosch’s image of being a predominantly Automotive focused organization and was aimed at introducing the audience to the other streams of business lines that it was already flourishing in - DIY, Home and Garden power tools being one of them.

Click here for more images from the event

Mr.Vijay Pandey at the Bosch Brand DIY Square

Here’s couple of interesting things that came out straight from the horse’s mouth.

He said,

“Bosch provides the joy and first hand experience of DIY by allowing interested hobbyists to unleash their creativity at the Bosch brand store and DIY Square – An experience center that provides tools, assistance and all the needed guidance to overcome the hesitation of using power tools. The use of DIY Square is completely free (unless there is considerable amount of materials used) and there is absolutely no sales pressure. Walk in. Walk out. And have fun in between.”

When asked about the target market,

“We are not trying to replace the carpenters, nor are we trying to convince every individual to DIY. There is a certain section that knows DIY is cool and the outcome of DIY is worth showing off. We want to target that section by providing them with a platform to learn and the right tools to experiment and experience DIY”

Tools demonstration at the venue - Got to hold and try the tools

It was also interesting to note that the tools are very easily available through Flipkart, Amazon, Snapdeal and other E-commerce portals. Bangalore is lucky in one sense that this whole revolution is starting with the city. We had a tour of the DIY Square (And that is a separate post by itself) and I spent the most time there laying my hands on the tools and watching others get a grip of it too. Friendly staff eager to see us brim with joy was an added bonus. Try it and if you like, buy it is an idea I wish existed here in Chennai too. 

Bosch tools on display

Bosch Home Smart Kit 

The whole event left me with a sense of pride. I walked out with the resolution to up my ante. DIY is cool and I hope to continue enjoying the benefits that it has to offer. And it is indeed nice that Bosch is doing its bit to popularize the DIY culture in the Indian sub-continent. That said, what is your take ? Do you think there is growing enthusiasm to embrace this culture ? Share your thoughts as a comment.

Disclaimer : My entire visit was sponsored by the event organizers. However, I was not asked or influenced in anyway to write this post. My opinion here is voluntarily written and is completely mine.

Look what I received for winning the Bosch #MyDiyProject contest !

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Honestly speaking, not much DIY is happening at home. Chennai is at its hottest best and sadly the worst is yet to come. Locking ourselves up in an air conditioned room is the most popular activity that is going on for some time and that gave us the chance to catch up with few horror movies we always enjoy watching together. Meanwhile, Bosch India invited entries from DIY enthusiasts to showcase their DIY works. And considering it was very relevant to what we do here, I sent a load of entries to them. Not that I am indulging in any vanity here, but the contest rule clearly stated that I have to be posing alongside my project.

Posing with my DIY projects

In fact, I sent few more entries too. But, only the following were shortlisted.

• My Inverter Battery cabinet
• My first ever project – The center table
• Our latest work – A Woodooz lampshade

There were other entries too from other hobbyists and it was wonderful that one of our entries was chosen as a winner.  And here’s what they had to say about the entries:

“We are delighted to see the kind of DIY skills our participants showcased through their #DIYProjects. With so many amazing #DIYProject entries it was hard to narrow down to three winners. Hence we decided to announce not three but four winners. Congratulations to all the winning entries!”

The #MyDiyProject winners

If you have been following Bosch India, you would by now be aware of their DIY Square in Bangalore. While I have only had the opportunity to read about it, it does seem like a go to place (And I have it in my agenda during my next Bangalore visit) for folks who want to try their hand at power tools and get some first-hand do it yourself experience. Not surprisingly, I received a Dremel Engraver as a gift couple of days after the winners were announced. Not surprising because there have been lots of workshops happening over the last few months at their DIY Square and the Dremel has extensively been the product of attraction.

The Dremel Engraver in their own words - "An engraving tool with variable depth control, for engraving on a wide variety of materials like metal, glass, wood, plastics, ceramics, etc. This kit also includes a letter & number template for easy engraving of letters & numbers."

Bosch Dremel Engraver and my experiment with it

I have been playing with the Dremel over the weekend and I am yet to get the hang of it. I still don’t know what kind of projects I would be using it on, but I intend to experiment with it more and put it to best possible use. I do have some thoughts, but need to gain more expertise in using the tool before I can even start executing the project. Will share it here as soon as I start giving life to those unexplored ideas. Meanwhile, it has been a long time and a comment from you would be really nice. :-)

Disclaimer : Do note that I received the Dremel as a gift for winning the contest hosted by Bosch India.This is not a tool review or a sponsored post. I was not contacted by Bosch to write this post.This is part of the series where I write about the tools that I use (/intend to use) for my home DIY projects. You can read about the other tools that I use by clicking this link here. 

Oscillating multi-function power tool - My recent fascination

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Disclaimer 1 : This is neither a tool review nor a sponsored post. I have not been contacted by anyone to write this post. This is part of the series where I write about the tools that I use for my home DIY projects. You can read about the other tools that I use by clicking this link here.

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Owning a tool or not having the skill to use one is probably one of the hurdles in DIY in India, and am sure many of you would agree. This is a reason why I invariably outsource the cutting wood activity to someone at the timber store.  It has always been easy that way. Give the dimensions and be done with it. But, with my side table, I was left with a challenge. I needed to have the plywood top cut to the exact dimensions as the frame inset measurement. The challenge though was that the frame was not fixed exactly at 90 degrees, which meant, giving the dimensions to have the plywood cut may not really work.

This is when I decided to take the task upon myself, and took out a tool gift that I received couple of years back – The oscillating multifunction power tool. I have used the tool earlier but I was not ready to write about it here until I was fully convinced that I could use it for a real project. Before I put it up here, I wanted to be sure that I am able to use the tool to suit my DIY needs at home. So, finally I braced myself and cut the plywood (12mm thick and 18 inches in length) in less than 5 minutes and the result is here for all to see.

Oscillating multi-function power tool

The concept behind the tool is quite simple. It comes with a spindle to which you can attach the required cutter / blade / other attachments. When powered on, the spindle oscillates back and forth at an astounding speed of 21k oscillations per minute (may vary from product to product). Imagine using a saw to cut wood and your one up and down manual motion of the saw as one oscillation. This tool can do 21,000 of those in just a minute. With the right angle, and the right pressure applied onto the wooden surface, getting your work done is a piece of cake. The plywood cut came out so perfect that I was kicking myself for not using the tool earlier.

Recommend reading : Some basic things to take care of before you start using a tool or even a kitchen accessory from the United States of America

Oscillating tool and the blade accessory

The accessories / blade attachments are sold separately and there are quite a few attachments available for various activities like cutting wood, pipes, removing grouts, sanding etc… (hence the name multi-function)  I only have an angled cutter that is now coming in handy for my DIY cutting needs. This now gives me the confidence to move from smaller projects to medium sized projects.  But the biggest advantage I see is that I can eliminate the dependence on timber stores for my home needs. I would have loved to do a video. Nonetheless, I am leaving you with a link to Youtube videos that talk about the tool’s versatility.

Trying the oscillating multi-function power tool

I would like to thank my cousin Raji for this gift and want to tell her that I have started fully using the tool. The official site claims that this is a tool suited for home DIY and hobbies and I fully agree. This is certainly a valuable addition to my tool kit which is mostly only hand tools, barring my electric drill and I highly recommend it for a budding home DIYer like me.

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Disclaimer 2 : I am merely posing for the photo. Please exercise caution and ensure you read the user manual for the correct way to hold and use the tool. Also ensure you take precautionary safety measures before you start working on a DIY project using the tool.

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