Galoot

"Galoot" is an old word used in Scotland that means a person with an ungainly, cumbersome, and clumsy personality (eg. "ouch! ...ya big galoot, watch where yer goin\' !" )

Within Internet-based woodworking communities, a galoot is a hand tool aficionado, specifically old hand tools. This is contrasted with users of any hand tools who are called neanderthals in a number of internet woodworking communities. For many, the two terms are interchangeable. In this context, a galoot or neanderthal is one who hunts used hand tools and/or insists on using hand tools in preference to power tools, especially hand planes. Galoots may also champion tools that others would consider a lost cause, lovingly restoring a rusted or damaged tool by sanding, scraping, lapping, or using electrolysis to remove rust and repairing or replacing parts required to restore the tool to a usable state.

The galoot community includes, but is not restricted to, collectors of old tools. The only qualification for being a galoot is a love of hand tools (especially older hand tools) and a willingness to admit that this love may seem odd or unexplainable to others. By extension, galoots are often interested in old methods of achieving wood or metal work. For example, it is not uncommon for a galoot to create a replacement tool handle with a spokeshave, to resaw a plank with a frame saw, or even to forge and temper his or her own chisels.

Many galoots hold Roy Underhill, of the PBS series The Woodwright\'s Shop, in extremely high regard and may refer to him with the shorthand "St. Roy".

Other uses

\'Galoot\' is a word used by the cartoon character Yosemite Sam - he frequently refers to Bugs Bunny as a \'idjut lop-eared galoot\'.

Galoot is a left-recursive acronym which means "Galoots are lovers of old tools". alternate definition;

"Gregarious Association of Lovers Of Old Tools"

See also

• Tool
• Antique tool
• Roy Underhill

External links

• Roy Underhill web site
• Galoot Central
• Origin of the galoot term from the Old tools mailing list FAQ

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