Berhampur: The students of Industrial Training Institute, Berhampur, guided by their instructors, have invented two commonly used machines - a pedal-operated hacksaw machine and a hydraulic flat bar bending and sqirel machine.
Both the machines are operated manually and it can be very useful for the construction engineers, said the principal Rajat Kumar Panigrahi.
The parts used in these machines are made from waste products.
"We have used the frame of a damaged bicycle, crank and chain, square pipes as its base, machine vice, hexa and one 10 mm thick round disc to move the hexa during paddling in the pedal-operated hacksaw machine. It weights only 35 kg and is detachable and can be transported anywhere. When we have no electricity in the construction sites, such machines would help us a lot. It also saves time and energy," said instructor fitter trade Bichitra Kumar Padhihari.
"A group of 8 students, including Surendra Kisku and Siddhilal Murmu, under the guidance of part-time guest instructor Gaya Chand Sahu and myself fabricated the parts of this machine within three days," said Padhihari.
This machine can cut pipes made out of metals and plastics and in any size. When we cut GI pipes we require some coolant oil. But no coolant oil is required while cutting PVC pipes using this machine, said Padhihari.
The flat bar bending and sqirel machine was developed by trainee students, including Srikant Jena, Rajiv Odia and others, guided by instructor fitter trade Arun Kumar Patra and part-time guest instructor Gaya Chand Sahu. It is manual and requires no electricity to operate.
"We have used a hydraulic jack (generally used to lift a four-wheeler during changing a wheel) and three rollers mounted with a bearing for easy manipulation. It is simple to operate and can be used from different angles for steel bending. You can raise the height of the jack to further bend the bar. It can also be used as the most advanced cold metal bending machine," Sahu said.
This apart, another group of students in plumber trade have designed some art work out of waste PVC and GI pipes.
