I have a power drill. Most of my male friends do not. This tends to make them feel slightly emasculated, as though not only should they have a power drill but they should have a reason to use a power drill. They seem to assume that because I have one, I have a use for it. The fact that I offer it to them freely to borrow also annoys them. You get the feeling they feel that they should be offering to lend me their drill and even more, that they should be offering to come use their power drill on whatever I need done. The problem is that I don't actually have a use for my power drill.
Mine was a Christmas present from my uncle. The males in my family believe that there is a tool for every job. It doesn't matter what sex you are, if you use the wrong tool then that's a travesty. I obviously wasn't going to buy myself a drill so someone had to step up to the plate. So my uncle gave me the drill and all the bits. My father carefully instructed me how to use it and supervised the practise holes.
The drill sat in its box until my father came to visit. I asked him to put a shelf up for me. I got out my drill and its bits. He asked for the screwdriver. He put it up with muscle power. Suddenly, I realised, I had a power drill because I am a weakling. The cool kids don't need drills. I haven't had the heart to explain this to my male friends. I think it would crush what little ego they have left.
Generally, when you want my father for something, you head to the garage where he's lying on his back with his arms in the air under a car. Last week, the weather finally cooled down. I was in a frame of mind to attack my treadle machine. I realised that I could get the metal frame off of the wooden cabinet. The next thing I knew I was lying on my back with my arms in the air going at the screws with a screw driver. My cat was a bit puzzled but decided if this is what we were doing right now, then she'd better get comfortable. So she curled up next to me. I got the first screw out with muscle power. Alright, I can do this. For once in my life, I can be a cool kid. The next one wouldn't budge. I should have known my coolness wouldn't last. I attacked them all in turn. Some would move, some wouldn't.
I decided it was time for the big guns. I got out the extension cord and the drill. I dropped the extension cord down with a thud and plugged it in for the extra two feet of cord I needed. I started to feel a bit ridiculous. Back on my back with my arms up in the air, a la mechanic, I held down the trigger. The motor whirled and nothing happened, and then the screw started to turn and out it came. One by one, they all came out via a mixture of drill assisted by screwdriver and more drill, until the last screw. This one the drill was damaging more than turning. After swearing at it, hitting it with the hammer and going at it with Vicegrips, a la mechanic, I phoned my grandfather. I explained the problem and the fact my father wasn't home. My grandfather thought and told me to try and screw it back in to break whatever was holding it in place. So I hung up the phone, and went back at it with the drill. This time it came out.
In slight disbelief, I lifted the cabinet off the frame. I had used my drill and no one had gotten hurt. I had actually found a reason to use my drill. I had accomplished what I had set out to do. And I didn't feel like an uber feminist or anything of that nature, I just felt a warm glow that I could weld a power drill. I knew it couldn't be that difficult. Next time I offer to lend my drill to someone, I'm going to offer to come do it for them. It's the done thing when one has a drill.
3 comments:
Further to my brief comment to your comment on my sewing blog, I am now discussing this whole power tool thing with my husband who is the one who chose our cordless power drill. He says the power that you can get out of a power drill depends on the combination of amps and volts because you can get a corded power drill that doesn't have much torque and you can get a cordless drill that will twist your arm off. Anyway, you don't need a new drill or a cordless one - I'm just rambling. My point was that once you start to use good tools that are suited to the purpose, whether they be sewing tools or drills, you will really enjoy working with them. We put together an entire kitchen with our 14.4 volt Canadian Tire brand cordless drill and it was perfect. I was trying to think what kind of told you should consider getting next, now that you have ventured into power tools, but the only thing I could think of is some sort of saw. But you really won't find much use for that unless you are cutting wood. A nicely balanced hammer is a lovely tool. :) Anyway, enjoy your independence!
Dremel's are always fun to use. Fairly versatile as well. sanding, polishing, cutting... even some chef's/bakers find a use for them.
See, when I was young, my father would ask me to "help" him out when he was working in his workroom with tools. Helping him out consisted of me standing there doing nothing while he did whatever he was doing. Then, like a surgeon, he would ask for another tool when he needed one. He, however, never told me what any of the tools were called nor what they did so he was always frustrated with my ignorance. Alas, for some reason, I came to not enjoy "helping" my father out. And if I have learnt one thing in life, it's if you don't want to be asked to do something again just do a lousy job of it. So in a backwards Pavlovian way, my brain refused to make the associative connection between the name of a tool and its function. My father now asks my brother-in-law to help him do things like help fix the car and what not. But hey, it's good for them to bond so in my own little way I have done my bit to create unity in the family.
Getting back to power drills, my father over Christmas was building a play car for my niece and nephew from a blueprint he got at Lee Valley Tools. He was so focused on building the car for my niece and nephew that he almost drilled my two-year old niece who was wandering around like two-year-olds do. There's some deep philosophical point that that story makes but I will just use for my current purposes; I will not be asking to borrow your power drill.
Post a Comment