Thangapandi Lathe Work

Down on Kovil Street in Bodinayakanur, you will find our small lathe shop. It is a quiet street most of the time, except for when we have the machines running at full speed. We have been here for a good while, and most of the people who live nearby are used to the sounds of metal being worked on. The shop is quite small, so we have to be careful about where we stack things so we don't trip over them. We use older tools that require a bit of patience and a steady hand. There is a sense of calm in Bodinayakanur that we really like, even if our work is a bit loud. We don't have any big slogans or marketing plans; we just open the doors in the morning and see what the day brings. Sometimes it's a farmer needing a part for his equipment, and other times it's something totally different. We just take it as it comes. The walls are covered in old calendars and notes we’ve scribbled to ourselves over the months. We don't worry much about keeping things looking perfect because a lathe shop is never going to be clean. As long as the work is done right, that is all that really matters to us. We’ve had the same few people working here for years, and we all know exactly how the shop should run. It's just a simple life for us here on Kovil Street.