Some Great Indian Brands for Woodworkers

The Indian Hobbyist Woodworker's Eternal Quest for Quality Tools

 Abid Ali, the Gurgaon-based woodworking coach and maker, and I are old hands at tool hunting in India. There was a time not long ago when decent woodworking tools were virtually impossible to find in India. To get hold of something worthwhile, one had to scour unpleasant locales such as Chawri Bazar in New Delhi or rummage through the rare shop that stocked tools of another generation, mostly rusted and useless.

The entry of Amazon into the market brought about a consumer revolution in my view and companies that were hitherto unknown popped out of the fog of Indian industry. Smaller companies making specialised tools, who had so long only been selling to a handful of industrial clients, began to wake up to the fact that there was another emerging market of hobbyist woodworkers and individual makers interested in quality tools.

Today, there is still a dearth of good manufacturers of quality tools but the situation is much improved in the last decade. There are a number of companies in India who are making top notch tools and that too at very decent prices. Abid and I decided to each list five manufacturers whom we thought make good tools.

First is Abid's list of his five favourite Indian manufacturers of tools, equipment and hardware.

Anant
The company started in 1949 and in 1952 they introduced the first Indian made hand plane, since then they have been the market leader in carpentry tools. Anant does make tools for other industries as well. Some of Anant's outstanding products are bench and joinery planes, mitre/corner clamp and chisels
Website www.anant-tools.com .  

Anant Tools

Ebco
This company started in 1963 as a tool room from there it has grown to become the biggest manufacturer of hardware and fittings for the furniture and construction industry. They have three verticals: Worksmart - office furniture and hardware, Livesmart- intelligent hardware for homes; and Ebco - drawer slides, locks, furniture assembly components etc.
Website www.ebco.in

Ebco Hardware

Kristeel Shinwa
They are my first choice when I recommend marking measuring tools to a student excellent quality and great value for money, they're are in technical collaboration with Shinwa Japan. Kristeel has three manufacturing units and they control 65% of the market share. Woodworking, engineering, jewellery making, textile, photochemical are some of the field they cover.
Website www.kristeel.com

Kristeel Shinwa Measuring Tools

Paul Forging
This mid-size manufacturer from Jalandhar makes excellent assembly clamps at very reasonable price, the product that I love and recommend is the sash clamp, its about 30 per cent lighter than a T bar. Paul makes a fantastic sash clamp. They also make metal working vice.
Website www.paulforgings.com.
+91 99880 11674 contact person Mr Satinder

Paul Sash Clamps

Climax Vices
There are very few good manufacturer of proper woodworking vice and most are very expensive, Climax who sell through Amazon make every size from mini 6 inch to massive 9 inch vice with very nice Toe in feature even in the entry level model, they also make a very good clamp on woodworking vice to convert any table to a woodworking bench, their customer service is excellent.
Website www.climaxvices.com

Climax Vice

My List

Shobha Industries
My list has to start with Shobha, a company I have been a big fan of for many years now and have become acquainted with its young owner, Agnay Chuttani, who operates out of a pleasant factory in Sonepat, Haryana. Shobha have been making fine hand planes, chisels and a range of woodworking tools for the UK and US market for many years and it is only in recent times that they have started selling in the domestic market, which incidentally remains miniscule as compared to their export market. I have and will continue to recommend getting hold of their tools for woodworking, be it hand planes of all sorts, chisels, gauges, vices, you name it. They have a website which unfortunately is not up to the mark in my opinion and does not list even half of the diverse tools they make. To buy their products call Ms Preeti at [91]- 11 - 4311-8888
Website: www. Shobha-india.com

Shobha Rebate Plane

Taparia
Taparia makes tools mainly for industrial uses but there are a few items that could be useful for woodworkers, including clamps, punches and screwdrivers. I particularly like the clamps which are an essentially requirement for any kind of woodworking. Taparia makes two kinds of clamps that could be used by woodworkers - the common C-clamp, which comes in many sizes and can exert enormous pressure, and the F-clamp, which is also very versatile. I have had their clamps for years and they are as good as ever.  They list an email in their website (sales@tapariatools.com). However, I would be pleasantly surprised if you get a response from them. They operate through an extensive network of dealers and it is best to locate a re-seller for their products in your city.
Website: http://www.tapariatools.com

Taparia C-Clamp

Pidilite
The plain old white glue (Poly Vinyl Acetate of PVA) has been around for more than a century and has proved to be one of the most enduring glues ever invented. The Mumbai-based company Pidilite has been making this glue for years under the brand name Fevicol which is the best-selling glue in the woodworking industry. Over the years, the company has added a large number of products to their inventory, including polyurethane glues, rubber glues, contact cement and much more. There is absolutely no need to give these adhesives a miss and go for much hyped foreign brands that do a similar job but cost ten times as much. Fevicol is available widely all over India at hardware and paint stores.
Website: http://www.pidilite.com/our-brands/fevicol/

Pidilite's Familiar Fevicol

Accutec
Want world class router bits at a fraction of the cost? Then contact the fellows at Accutec Tooling, an Ahmedabad-based company that specialises in making cutting tools including router bits, saw blades, shaper cutters and more. I have purchased several specialised router bits from them over the years and have always been happy with the quality. They are perhaps a tad more expensive than similar Made in China router bits but are still very affordable. I like their solid carbide bits the best which compare very favourably with some very expensive bits I had imported from the United States. The best thing about this company is that they respond to emails and phone calls, take small orders and usually deliver on time.
Website: http://www.accutectoolingsystem.com

Accutec Solid Carbide Bit

JK Files
Files, rasps and good quality drill bits are a must for all woodworkers but procuring these easily and cheaply was a challenge till recently. This company makes all three types of products and exports a lot of it. The company is a subsidiary of Raymond Ltd and has been around for 70 years.  These guys have a huge product range and an equally vast network of dealers and retailers. They also sell on amazon.in. Must check their needle files for sharpening saws and rasps, which are both excellent.
Website: https://jksuperdrive.com

JK Rasp

My General Observations

Most Indian companies suffer from a huge attitude problem: they do not consider it worth their while to deal with individual or small customers. They want big companies, the money bags, bulk sales, lakhs or rupees for every order. Most do not respond to individual queries. Others do not bother to reply to emails and many won't pick up the listed phone - often even the phone numbers listed on websites are non-functional!

This cavalier attitude, which stems from unbridled greed, leads to hubris and ultimate failure. The successful entrepreneur, on the other hand, is one who treats all customers - big or small - as worthy of respect. One of the reasons why Chinese entrepreneurs are so successful is that unlike their grasping Indian counterparts they see great potential in small buyers, the individual client and little by little they gobble up the market.

Wholesale dealers in India often do not care about a particular brand, but only the price of an item. The workmen and artisans who buy tools and hardware from the local market are equally unconcerned about brands, quality or efficacy of a tool. They prefer to buy the cheapest one. This mentality stacks the odds against companies only interested in doing bulk sales who are not interested in creating a brand loyalty or following.

For the hobbyist woodworker, the quest for tools within the country remains a tedious and frustrating endeavour. The ones with money in their pockets turn to sellers in faraway China, Europe or USA to fulfil their needs.

The silver lining is that attitudes are slowly changing. Companies like Shobha, which is most willing to sell even a single tool to a customer, are thriving, prompting rivals to follow their lead. The enormous success of Amazon in India has also allowed smaller companies to establish a market presence and sell to individual customers. This has the potential of hugely expanding their market and helping the hobbyist woodworker in acquiring decent tools.

Our recommendations here are actually a fraction of what is available and becoming available in this country. The better-known manufacturers of yesteryears with their myopic traders' mentality are fast becoming extinct. Who knows, perhaps, this is the dawn of the age of quality in India!

Indranil Banerjie with Abid Ali
6 September 2020