Hand vs. Machine Tools
The debate over whether or not to use hand tools in the creation of reproductions is long and tumultuous.
The medieval craftsman didn't use a pit saw for its spiritual purity, it's what he had and as soon as water-driven mills came onto the scene (as early as the 14th Century in some areas), happily used them.
The question is one of the goals: are you trying to build reproductions of medieval furniture or are you trying to be a medieval craftsman making furniture?
In some sense, the operation you are performing dictates the tools you can or should use.
Operations that involve straight lines are well suited to machine work: turning a log into boards, ripping boards to width, planing boards to thickness. And in period, this sort of work was performed by servants or apprentices, especially in urban areas.
More complex operations, particularly ones that can't be fenced, can usually be done faster with hand tools. Even some simple straight cuts are much easier with a hand saw than a powered saw.
For instance, using a table saw, an angled cut up to 45-degrees is pretty easy. But 75-degrees? If you can't manipulate the board so as to make a 15-degree cut is possible, but not advisable. With a hand saw either cut is the same level of difficulty (and risk).
Similarly, low relief carving can be done with a router and great care. But the process is slow and risky. Carving by hand is quite quick. Most of the common motifs are executed with just a few chisels and layout tools such as a square and a set of dividers. Some designs only use a v-tool, others add one or a couple of gouges. A remarkable array of carving can be done with just these tools. See Conybeare (1991) for extensive examples.
So, you are going to have to use some hand tools to execute all but the most trivial reproductions. The question is how many, if any, power tools?
For me, the answer is some.
I am not trying to be a medieval craftsman making furniture. I am a modern furniture historian who wants cool period furniture.
Because I have or can develop the necessary skills, I choose to make these things myself. For me, it's part of the study of the furniture. Reproduction is the best way to truly understand how and why a peice is the way it is. This dovetails into my other passion, the history of tools. Tool marks and construction techniques shed light on the tools used in the construction of a piece.
Therefore, I use sawn wood, process it with a joiner, a planer and a table saw into my rough parts. From there, it's mostly hand tools. But, if I come to a repetitive or tedious operation, further power tools will be deployed.
For instance, chopping out a couple of mortises is no big deal by hand, I have a couple of great antique mortise chisels. But, one project had 36 mortises. In oak. No. I wheeled in and set up my hollow chisel mortising machine (a benchtop drill press that drills square holes for the uninitiated) and laid on like a butcher.
Again, for me, the end result is the important part.
I want the finished item to resemble the original item closely (though...see my article on Medieval Reconstruction and the Modern Aesthetic). And I have limited time to spend filling my house with cool furniture having a full-time job, a part-time job, a family and other demands on my time.
So, I could rip that plank with a hand saw. I have several nice ones that I restored and sharpened. But I won't. Sorry.
Unless the power is out. Or there is no power.
For instance, I keep a smaller crosscut saw in my toolboxes in the back of the truck for use in the Home Depot parking lot if needed to get wood into the truck. I have seen contractor types fire up a generator in the parking lot so they could use a circular saw... See, now that's krazy. The garbage pine you are buying at Home Depot (or Lowes, not to play favorites) had leaves on it yesterday and a sharp saw makes very short work of it.
