Madhav Bhoopal’s art of upcycling
Madhav Bhoopal, a garage-owner, has been transforming scrap into useful household items
Hyderabad: A car engine that has been transformed into a stunning glass table, a propeller shaft with a flywheel base and glass top that now shines in black and copper paint, a connecting rod piston that has become a clock – there is little scrap that remains scrap when Madhav Bhoopal gets his hand on it.
Having run an automobile garage from 1994 at Padmarao Nagar, it was a random idea that hit Madhav, to upcycle scrap and leftovers after car repairs.
“I came across some interesting pictures of upcycled spare parts on the internet. I then started exploring how I can use old parts lying around in the garage and turn them into something useful,” he said.
Earlier, the 58-year-old garage owner would just collect the scrap and sell them off every Dasara, but things changed once he learned the art of making creative household things out of them. He now makes lamps, tables, bottle holders, pen stands, and other such items, from scrap.
A glass table made of a car engine
On how he decides which part of the car can be made into which product, Madhav said it is his 25 years of experience in the field that makes it a little easier for him. “Some of these car parts are hardened for the structure of a car and you can’t drill into it or is not very easy to be made into something else. So I know what is inside a car engine, gearbox and the parts which I can use for a certain product,” he said.
Madhav also makes suggestions to customers about which part can be used to make it interesting. For example, if asked for a centre table, he would suggest (depending on the dimensions of the table) – that it can be made using an engine of the car, etc.
“Usually you just know what you want to make and go with the flow. The experimentation with parts and screws happens during the process. However, the overall parts might change from one item to another. Like usually I use pistons and connecting rods for the legs of a table, engine valves can be used to hold the glass up. I have also used wood and metal to give it a polished look,” he said, adding that he sometimes buys extra parts from the scrap market at Afzalgunj.
Talking about adding functionality, Madhav added: “If there’s a lamp, I would incorporate some gears to move the lamp in all directions. Also, for a table like the one made from an engine, I’m planning to incorporate a bottle holder or something similar with the help of the crankshaft (which rotates) in the engine.”
Madhav makes smaller products in 10-15 days and the bigger ones take longer. The price of the smaller products starts from Rs 1,000 while products like tables etc, cost Rs 10,000 and above.
Madhav looks forward to displaying his work at cafes and also to hold an exhibition once things are back to normal after the pandemic.
Long-lasting products
Madhav Bhoopal makes these articles of metal scrap from cars in such a way that they resist erosion for a very long time.
Ask how, and Madhav has an interesting process to it. “I try not to use much paint. People mostly like the rustic look these days. But however, after welding, drilling, and other processes we have to paint for it to look proper. Also, to save the metal from rusting, I give them a lacquer coating, powder coating, which is long-lasting unlike the other general paints,” he said.
To follow Madhav Bhoopal’s works, follow his Instagram page – Mad Hatter Creations (https://www.instagram.com/madhavbhoopal/)
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