A newbee from Hyderabad, India

[vijay kunchum]

The greeting has a nice ring to it. A warmth and freindship associated with it.
Hello folks, I am vijay kunchum from Hyderabad, India. I am an interior designer, fascinated with crafts. I am now doing less of designing and more of wood finishing. I am also working with bamboo. I have developed some joinery for bamboo, with which I can make knock down furniture and structures. The trails have been encouraging. I now will have to make the actual products and test them out in real life before I can actually start making and marketing them. But more than that I would like to go into the jungles where the bamboo grows and teach the people living there the designs I have developed. This will help me visit the jungles frequently and enjoy the fresh air, water and the lack of facilities. The urban people are getting spoilt, living with too many facilities.
I also would like to work with other woods. One wood that I think has potential is the palm wood and coconut wood. It's very hard to work with, because of the fibres. The wood is available only in thin sections. One could beautiful thin section furniture. They would be very elegent and modern. Let's see, what all things I can accomplish.

[Wood Borer]

Welcome to the Bulletin Board VK.

Can you post us some pictures of your bamboo joinery because it sounds interesting.

It sounds like you enjoy the jungles and the fresh air.

[Woodwould]

Welcome Vijay!

[wm460]

G'Day Vijay,
Welcome to the forum.

[Ed Reiss]

The urban people are getting spoilt, living with too many facilities.

Right you are, who needs to live without a toilet, running water, electric, A/C, resturants................................

I also would like to work with other woods. One wood that I think has potential is the palm wood and coconut wood. It's very hard to work with, because of the fibres. The wood is available only in thin sections. One could beautiful thin section furniture. They would be very elegent and modern. Let's see, what all things I can accomplish.

It can always be laminated if you need it to be thicker.

Welcome to the forums Vijay

[artme]

G'day Vijay and welcome to the show.

Would love to see some of thar bamboo joinery. Bamboo, IMHO, has tremendous potential as a building material.

We have furniture in Australia that is made from Coconut palm and a friend of mine has just erected a Balinese style hut using Coconut palm for the 4 corner posts. Looks great. Lucky me got the offcuts to make some pens.

I think I know what you mean by urban dwellers being spoilt with amenities but I have to agree with my mate Ed. I was in Chenai last year and if what I saw of amenities is anyrhing to go by then living in the jungle would actually mean better amenities. at least the filth and squalor would not be all pervading. I found it distressing that such wonderful people are living in such conditions.

[prozac]

Welcome Vijay,
I would also like to see some examples of your work. It sounds very interesting.

[munruben]

Welcome my friend.

[vijay kunchum]

Thanks folks for all the letters for my post. I will definetly send the images of the joints I made.
As far as the filth and living conditions of the people in chennai, it's just a small part of the whole system that is rotting. At least in the villages the poor need not live in such filth. Yet every year millions migrate to the cities in search of livelihood. The cities seem to dehumaise people. One is caught in the whirlwind of having to eke out a living and having to live a life of dignity.
There is enormous amount of talent in this country. Yet the opportunities are so far and few inbetween. Beleive me when these people come from the villages they have no skills which can earn them a livelihood. Yet they persist and learn a skill and make a living. This nature of Enterprise is what keeps this nation going down the drain. It's not becaue of our polititians that this nation is surviving. It's because of the optimism of the people who live here.
Coming back to bamboo and other woods, next month there is going to be workshop here on bamboo structures and furniture. We will be having a few people from the "Indian institute of technology" one of the premier engineering institutes in India. Then we will be having a few kids from the tribal areas where bamboo grows. The effort is to impart training in using bamboo effectively. Also there will be the forest department and other government agencies. I hope there will emerge from this endevour some interesting ideas for the use of bamboo.

[fenderbelly]

Hi and welcome to the forums.

It's just a pity that they will not be doing the workshops were the kids live,

they may have learned something themselves about how difficult it is to get even the most basic of tools to work with.

Cheers Fred

[vijay kunchum]

That we will be doing later. we would like to finalise some designs and then set up the bamboo processing units in the villages, where bamboo is available. At the same time we are promoting the plantation of bamboo. We are talking to the farmers and assurance of buy back of the produce from the third year onwards.
I had earlier done a three month training program in the tribal area. It was difficult for the first few days. These kids would just look at me and then there would be no expression on their faces. I couldnt make out whether they understood what I was saying or just standing there. It was quite erriee. Later on when they warmed up to me the going was great. It was fun teaching them. And beleive me they are natural when it comes to using tools. It took them very little time to get the hang of the tools, even though they were using them for the first time. Most of the people I taught are not doing the work, but a few are carrying on with the work. It needs sustained efforts and creating of the market linkages for more people to take up the work. That's what we are planning to do.

[vijay kunchum]

John, I was thinking about your quote. Most of the time the ghosts are walking. Maybe if they are sleeping on the floor they will fall through the floor.

[vijay kunchum]

Hai, wood borer,how do I load the images or the drawings that I have made. I thought I would load the detailed drawings with what I have done so that there is a clarity. Just photographs will not give a proper picutre.

[vijay kunchum]

I have put up a few of my designs at Google 3d warehouse. Just check out "kunchumvk". One look is all and you will understand the joinery. There is nothing much to it. It's simple and really simple.

[vijay kunchum]

Hey folks how I have made some drawings for bamboo joinery. How do I upload them on the forum.