Cordless screwdriver - the latest addition to my tool kit

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A cordless screwdriver was a perfect gift from my brother-in-law who just returned from Indonesia and is the latest addition to my tool kit.  I thought I was fine with the set of screw drivers that I had, but I was completely wrong. I just realized how much more convenient a power tool like this can make my life. I have been playing with it for the last couple of days and the  tool is really handy. I tried using it in place of the allen key wrench and it works like a charm. What I love is that it has driver bits for all possible screw heads and that means I do not need to keep track of each of the wrenches and hand drivers. I still feel that pre-drilling a pilot hole is essential as I was not able to generate enough power to directly drill the screw in. Maybe I need a self-drilling screw for that.

Cordless screwdriver, with the drill bit set

That said, it certainly eases the effort required by at least a good 40-50% and now am eagerly looking forward to work on my next project.

Here are some facts about this cordless screwdriver :

• Rotates slower (180 RPMs) than the usual electric drill
• The tool is strictly for running screws and bolts. It is not a drill
• This one is single speed and rotates in both clockwise and anti-clockwise direction
• Completely a DIY tool and unsuitable for professional and everyday prolonged use
• It is not bulky. It is just as big as the size of my outstretched palm
• Very easy on the hands and is completely safe to use, considering its lower RPM
• It is battery operated and the power cord is for only charging the battery
• Operates at 240V eliminating the need for a voltage step down transformer
• Comes with 6 twist bits and 17 screwdriver bits 

Don't you think gifting something related to your hobby is a very thoughtful act ? I always ask for a tool when someone asks me what I need as a gift. What do you ask for ? Share your thoughts.

- Somu

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Google Sketchup as a design tool

3D model All Blog Furniture design Google Sketchup Interior design tool

I did write a little about how Google Sketchup is a wonderful, easy to use free tool for furniture designing. With Google introducing the ability to embed models using html (Visit our Gallery), I thought it deserved a much detailed post. Sketchup is a freely downloadable application for creating 3D models and has a simple to understand interface.

The interface comes with a patented push and pull technology which makes creation of 3 dimensional images a cakewalk. Quoting Wiki, “Images can be created in 2D and these 2 dimensional planar faces can then be pushed or pulled by editing tools within the environment to easily and intuitively model 3D volumes and geometrics”.

The interface also has the axes in place which makes drawing a certain line or an image along a particular axis much easier. 

Google Sketchup interface

Below are some practical uses for the Sketchup interface. The images below are embedded directly from my Google Sketchup warehouse - a feature that enables home decor and design bloggers to showcase their design work with a 3D perspective to their readers. You can rotate the images below along the Y-axis, and have a 180 degree view, while the Google Sketchup application allows for rotation along any which axis that you desire. 

Understand the color schemes that can be used for the furniture. The interface allows for various colors as well as textures to be applied onto the image faces. This enables experimenting with colors / textures, especially when you are making your own furniture or custom making it, before taking a decision		Design the interior of a room (in our case a kitchen). Play around with cabinet / couch / table / draw / shelf etc... placements, especially when the piece of furniture is a permanent fixture and cannot be moved around. You want to do a feature wall and want to know how it will affect the overall look ? This is a tool for you. Take a moment to let us know how the image looks in comparison to the actual red and while kitchen below.

Provide the end user with a 3D visual of what you are building for him / her. It allows for discussion and enables the user to modify any aspect of the design that he / she may not like. The user can also give his stamp of approval of the design and any contention at a later stage on the end result can be amicably handled.		Convert the approved design into a 3D skeletal view. This is more so useful to understand the number of planks required and at what dimensions. This allows for estimating raw material required and for evaluating cost. Also to understand where additional reinforcements, in terms of screws and glue, are required.

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Red and White Kitchen

These are only some of the uses that I have encountered for my personal requirements. However, this tool is extensively used in automobile design, architecture, interior designing, etc... with an ability to contribute and share your models with friends. The 3D warehouse also has a load of  models from other designers that can be downloaded and modified per your requirements. The options are limitless and I have listed only a very limited aspect of it.  Certainly an alternative tool to Autocad. Try it out. It is bound to be lot of fun.

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SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS

• How do you plan your designs before implementing them?
• Be it decorating your room, or building a piece of furniture, do you visualize what you want and how you want through an interface besides your mind ?
• What tools do you use ?
• Or do you love the traditional way of capturing your visuals in a paper ?
• What do you think of the 3D image of the kitchen in comparison to its original counterpart ?          >>>>>>>

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P.S. I also intend to provide a detailed DIY tutorial of this center table and this garden corner shelf using the Google Sketchup tool. Be back for more or just stay in touch through our FACEBOOK FAN PAGE.


Linking in : Lines Across My Face, Colours Dekor - Somu