Good question. I've had a quick look at the B&D drill but it appears to be a single speed at 2,800 rpm. To use this for screwdriving would give little control and could result in injury because it's much too fast. I used to use my two speed Bosch drill on low speed for driving lots of screws at 1,500 rpm but even this was way too fast and many times if I wasn't quick enough the screw head would be buried deep into the timber. I appreciate tools cost money and I've used tools many times for jobs they weren't designed to do but I'd highly recommend buying a decent cordless drill/driver; this would be a good investment and quickly pay for itself if you get into some serious DIY. I have a Makita 18V cordless with a 4ah battery and its just brilliant. It has high speed for drilling and a nice low very controllable speed for screwdriving; these drill/drivers have a selection of torque settings which when set allow screws to be driven to the desired depth without burying their head too deeply.
I'd like to say I was never a fan of cordless power tools because of their battery but since buying my Makita cordless drill/driver I've put both my corded Bosch drills away only bringing them out for heavy jobs. The Makita does a surprising amount of work before its battery needs recharging and even then it charges in 30 minutes. A bonus is that a few months ago I bought a "bare" Makita hedge trimmer; the 4ah battery fits this too.
For many years when Bron and I first married I had to use cheap tools due to lack of funds and did lots of work with these cheap tools; I even made and installed a fitted kitchen so such work can be done but with decent tools the work is much more pleasant.
To answer your question though; yes the B&D drill will drive screws but I'm sure you won't like it at all; why not try using your B&D drill to drive a screw but I haven't told you to do so. Christmas will soon be here so ask Santa for a decent drill/driver you won't regret it? Good luck in your endeavours and keep asking questions.
Another question, this may sound trivial though, Does B&D cordless drill would be fine? If so do I need any other accessories to screw on wall and timber?
Here's my Makita drill/driver which gets plenty of use; not cheap but buy good and buy once? Drill; hammer action; screwdriver; forward & reverse plus torque adjustment; I'd be lost without it and no power cable to snag on everything. Brilliant.
You'll need HSS (high speed steel) drill bits of assorted sizes for drilling pilot holes in wood for screws and for drilling holes in metal; HSS bits drill both wood & metal. a mixed set of drill bits up to 10mm diameter will suit your drill. If you need to drill bigger holes in wood then spade bits are cheap and come in a lot of sizes.
Your B&D drill will be fine for wood but will struggle if pushed in concrete because it just doesn't have the power and it will get hot quickly; when Bron and I first married 41 years ago all we could afford was the single speed B&D basic drill without hammer action and I think the chuck is only 3/8" I did a lot of work with this drill and I still have it.
Please watch a few YouTube videos covering basics for a DIY novice; here's a video as an example on drill bits; this is the quickest way to learn; you don't need to rush out and buy all the bits at once but just buy as you need to start with; there are many types of bits and all manner of boring tools so it depends on what you want to do.
Once you learn the basics then you'll want to buy more tools; in my workshop I have two Bosch mains drills and one B&D very old fixed speed mains drill; I also have two Makita cordless drill/drivers and a big Titan SDS drill/chisel for very heavy work; my background is mechanical engineering so I'm well stocked with drill bits of all kinds.
I'd better get back into the workshop before another day slips by but keep asking questions jacob.
One way to succeed at DIY as a novice is to start with a small project and then build on the new skills little by little. My background is mechanical engineering. I hated woodwork at school and when I left school aged 15 I had learned very little indeed. Fast forward to Bron and I getting married in 1976 and buying our first home on a big mortgage; the building society withheld £200 of the mortgage until the window frame was repaired to the big bay window in the front room. We couldn't afford to get someone in so this was my first real challenge at woodworking; I bought very basic hand tools and remember the tenon saw at 80p bought from the market.
We visited a local timber supplier and bought just enough timber to replace the rotten sections in the frames. The glass was leaded and I painstakingly removed the glass without breaking it; the rotten timber was cut out and the new timber spliced in; the building society inspector passed the job off and the remaining £200 was released. I was extremely surprised to have done this job so well and from then I've been learning woodwork for the last 41 years and these days I enjoy working with timber. Year on year I've improved my skills at first by reading but mostly by trial and error and there have been many errors.
I wish you the best of luck jacob and hopefully in a few years time you too will have the confidence to tackle anything and be building a decent workshop? My current project is to make a new front entrance to our bungalow which is now progressing very well as seen in the pictures below; I always work on my own with Bron as support keeping me supplied with tea and biscuits plus of course never ending encouragement. I never start a job then start another job without completing the first job; one job at a time works for me then I can give it my full concentration. This framework is so big I can't lay it down in the workshop but it doesn't stop me. Today I've been using my small B&D router to make beading; I'm going to install the outer beading then I'll give the lot two coats of Zinsser cover stain to seal the timber then I'll install the frame and finish the job off; I'm adding Flashband around the outer frame to protect it from moisture; I've cut the door joints and I'll assemble the door when the frame is out of the workshop giving me space to work in. I've spent little time on the forums this week because I've been working flat out.
The redwood timber I bought and initially thought good was absolute rubbish and it's given me a week of nightmares as I've struggled to cut joints; this job has taken a great deal longer than it should and two of the days I had worked myself to a standstill by dinner time not knowing where to put myself; however after a good dinner I was back on the job. Years ago I made a pair of extremely strong sash cramps and have used these to apply tremendous pressure to force this framework together otherwise it would have ended up as firewood. In future I'll buy sawn timber and plane it myself after all I'd be hard pushed to end up with worse timber than this rubbish.
Make all the mistakes as I have over the years and still do jacob but learn from them rather than be annoyed.
Kind regards, Colin.
My chum David reckons with a bit of whittling I'd have propellers.
Very had work just to reach this stage.
It took tremendous force to assemble the framework. Beading is now being cut and installed.
You're already building your skills jacob on this first project; good on you for adding the pictures; it not only shows your first project but hopefully will encourage others to have a go. A shelf such as yours is an ideal first project involving a number of skills and techniques. It looks basic and simple but actually takes quite a bit of thought in order to put up a shelf; deciding where to put it and at what height; how long should it be and how wide; what kind of support to use; how many holes to drill into the wall; what size screws and wall plugs; how to install it level; this is a very good first project and now you're considering adding an end upright.
Just a couple of suggestions; the upright could be set in from the end of the shelf by say 3/4" (OK I'm a dinosaur for the youngsters say 18mm). This would add visual appeal and allow the sharp corner at the left hand front edge of the shelf to be nicely rounded over; screws will be fine and by positioning the upright in a bit screw from beneath to hide the screw heads. A second suggestion is to think about what style of end upright you would like; yes it can be a simple plain upright but what about adding a bit more interest by shaping the top of it; use a jam jar lid as a guide drawing around it then cut to the line this would round over the top front corner; depending how far you want to go or what tools you have the end piece could be carved or have say an heart shaped cut out all neatly sanded and painted.
Now you've succeeded in installing this shelf how about a fitted kitchen next? No I'm not mad because this is what I did when Bron and I first married but I did it the hard way making my own units; here's an idea to play around with especially if you have very limited funds;
May I suggest browsing the web looking for free kitchen units? I've just had a quick look on Gumtree and just an example can be seen above; there are plenty of free sites for all kinds of things. Our lovely neighbour Carole when she moved in four years ago replaced her kitchen and posted the old expensive oak units on Freecycle totally free of charge. As I say it's only a suggestion jacob but once the DIY bug bites you'll want to try all kinds of things and you'll find it's an exciting and interesting hobby and you can save an absolute fortune by "doing it yourself". Bron and I have a lovely detached bungalow but the only way we could ever afford such a home was for us to do all the jobs ourselves; six weeks after we moved in two ceiling were damaged by water ingress; Legal & General Insurance Company told us the problem was due to lack of maintenance and refused to pay; we lived here for the next 18 months with buckets and bowls to catch the rainwater whilst I researched replacing the roof; we couldn't afford to have the roof repaired and we couldn't borrow more money; we couldn't sell the bungalow without a substantial loss so understandably we detest insurance companies. We visited Marley tiles in Dewsbury and were kindly given a comprehensive brochure showing all their tiles with specifications. We worked flat out to save money and in 18 months we had enough to pay for best materials; Bron and I not only replaced the entire bungalow roof but we also replaced the flat roof over the rear two roomed extension. In 1989 having now replaced the roofs we had the bungalow valued; for mortgage purposes it was £90,000 and to sell £125,000 we paid £40,000, we now had our dream bungalow at last and we've been working on it ever since in fact I was out pointing by 8 o'clock this morning but Blackie is here putting a lot of rain down so I've had to knock off.
I've worked with many people over the last 55 years and understand how difficult it can be for a novice to get started due to put downs and ridicule; I still regard myself as a novice because the more I learn the more there is to learn; I've been cutting lots of mitres on glazing beading and managed to cut three the wrong way round; I don't mind admitting my mistakes because at least I'm doing something unlike many critics pointing the finger but they are useless themselves.
Just be careful jacob and use lots of common sense; if it feels unsafe then it is unsafe so don't do it. The electric points beneath your shelf could be dangerous to a novice drilling the wall nearby; usually cables go up or down but there are lots of novices who do strange things?
I hope I'm not preaching but I'll always encourage anyone to try something new; play safe and enjoy your mistakes.
Thanks for pointing out the electric stuff beneath the shelf, in fact, I should have used some kind of sensor before my drill act.
Regarding the upright on the left side, my question how can I make the upright with some screws or other accessories to make it fix there? I would not like to drill again to keep the MDF wood intact. Some kind of angle bolt or long screws would be apt to fix it?
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