A popular theory holds that woodworkers belong to one of two categories: Normites, those who use power tools and only power tools; and Galoots, those who would rather take a hammer blow to the forehead than use a corded tool.  It’s a religious thing, no one can be both.  Like the Jets and the Sharks (when you’re a Galoot, you’re a Galoot all the way).  When a Normite and a Galoot approach each other on the street everyone else crosses to the other side.  There’s little common ground.

I’ve been a woodworker for ten years, more or less.  Like many, I began with a table saw.  My first project was a router table.  I added other tools (planer, jointer, drill press, band saw) as needed but in rather quick succession.  I had a well outfitted shop and all was right with the world.  I was a Normite.  Oh sure, I’d occasionally use chisels or even a block plane (oh, the horror) but I never strayed enough to put my American Federation of Normites membership in jeopardy.  I made a number of pieces of furniture this way.  Life was good.

That was the status quo for quite a while – the electric meter was an indicator of my time in the shop.  Until last year.  That’s when some evil people made me think about hand tools in a serious way.  There was no single event but a series of several involving talented, passionate, inspirational woodworkers.  My world had been a settled, comfortable place.  Until those evil people got me thinking.  They motivated me to learn about the wide variety of tools and their capabilities (though there is still far to travel on this long, steep learning curve).  They made me realize that some operations can be performed more accurately with hand tools.  They made me spend a lot of money.

This was my introduction to Galoots.  Like billionaires, I had known of their existence but I didn’t know any personally.  And just as billionaires are shrouded with mystery, Galoots were an unknown quantity.  I expected a bunch of throwbacks, guys stuck living in the good-old-days, possessed of a stubborn refusal to acknowledge progress.  I believed that woodworkers of the past would have welcomed the opportunity to trade their planes for electric routers.  Now I know better.

When I started acquiring hand tools I bought those that I thought would be useful based on what the (no longer so) evil people had demonstrated.  So what did I hope to accomplish?  What problems was I trying to solve?  (Beyond the obvious of relieving my checking account of excess funds.)  I had three goals: to improve accuracy and my ability make fine adjustments; to reduce the amount of sanding required; to wear ear plugs less often.

Several months later, I’m well on the way to accomplishing these goals.  On my most recent project I used hand tools when possible.  I cut finger joints largely with a hand saw and chisels.  I used a block plane to round edges and trim the end grain of stiles.  Tenons and panel tongues were fitted with a shoulder plane.  I haunched tenons with a hand saw.  The list goes on.  Most importantly, the joinery turned out very well, I didn’t have to sand as much as in the past and there were entire days with no ear plugs.  Along the way, I accomplished an unanticipated fourth goal:  I had a great time.  I’m not sure when I’ve had as much fun in the shop. 

There’s no turning back now, though I won’t eliminate power tools from my shop.  Frankly, the thought of dimensioning rough lumber using only hand planes is entirely unappealing. So I guess there are more than two categories for woodworkers (galootified-Normite?).  So much for popular theories.