When I first got out of college, I moved into a one-bedroom in Manhattan, quickly realizing furniture is an essential component to a decent living space. So, I turned to IKEA because I didn’t want to spend too much money, I said on 5th Avenue. When the parts arrived, I took out my trusty screwdriver and got to work. Hours and hours of hand cranking away, and I was able to get my bed frame, maybe a shelf complete. I thought this was the only way to do it really, and why building furniture yourself wasn’t super popular from what I was seeing.
One day my dad says to me, You should get a drill. A drill, never really thought about that – what do I need a drill for? I’m not woodworking or anything, don’t need a dremel, certainly don’t want to drill any holes in the wall – what do I need a drill for? The screwdriver works just fine, certainly I don’t need it to assemble furniture right? You should just have one, he says. So, I go and get the drill.
When I got the drill, I thought of trying it on my next IKEA project, why not? It had a little Phillips head, surely if it can handle putting holes in the wall it can handle a couple of screws? I wasn’t gonna let this drill collect dust I just spent a lot on it! So I tried the drill. The feeling of giddy joy like I opened the coolest holiday present in the world mixed with absolute regret waved over me – I’ve been cranking these screws in by hand for days, and this drill just, does it for me??
What was all that time hand cranking the screws for?? Sure I messed up my chair a bit and there was a screw sticking out the side but, a drill couldn’t do any better… could it? I was absolutely smacked by this realization. Yearning for the hours of hand screwing every piece of furniture in my Manhattan apartment back.
Eventually I started to figure, maybe my dad was right and the drill could actually be useful for me, maybe it could help me with these screws moving forward. Even though I spent so much time screwing in IKEA furniture by hand. Now, I could use the drill and focus on other important things – like, putting on the parts the right way, aligning everything so it doesn’t fall apart – there’s a lot to think about when assembling furniture that isn’t just, how do I screw this in without my hand getting tired.
I could have stayed mad about the drill, I mean this isn’t the first time I’ve hand-screwed furniture with my trusty screwdriver. I felt like all those hours have just been utterly wasteful because I could have used a drill instead. But, I just took it as a sign that to do this particular task, and perhaps others I’d realize in time, the drill is the right tool for the job, at least better than a screwdriver.
That’s when I stripped my first screw. I think this was the chair, although I’m not sure. Apparently, you can drill a screw in too hard – I thought the drill would be smart enough to not do that. Turns out you have to tell the drill how hard to screw, because it doesn’t know. A drill is too powerful sometimes and can overdo it – rendering the area you meant to screw completely unusable.
Ah – I thought – this is why they still sell screwdrivers. I didn’t stop to think why, if drills were much better than screwdrivers why they still sold the inferior product. Turns out, although there’s a better tool for the job I was doing, the utility of the screwdriver has changed. You can use the drill for most things, you should use a screwdriver when you’re being careful. If you use a drill for everything, you need to be especially careful to not overscrew. I see.
Over time, my relationship with the drill turned from regretful and vengeful to inspired to make more furniture. I can now put screws into wood much easier, and I can do a lot of other things I couldn’t even imagine doing by hand. So later in life I began buying more complex shelves, not from IKEA this time. I began using my drill for hanging pictures, mounting TVs, things I didn’t think were possible with a screwdriver.
I learned that the drill is a tool to construct, to build. Just because I’m not using a screwdriver doesn’t mean I’m handing complete agency over to the drill. If I do, I might strip a couple of screws!
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