The past couple years i've done that exact same transition in that I used to use power tools for everything and after having issues with precision in various cuts, I decided to go "old school" with some very high quality hand planes, chisels, and other tools I had once belonged to a friend of my grandfathers and I was shocked how much better they worked... and without all the noise and sawdust. The most essential skill needed for these tools to be effective is proper sharpening. I have chisels that I have hollow ground and honed to a double bevel that make razor blades seem like butter knives that go through hard sugar maple like it's nothing. Since I deal with quite a few extremely hard woods like Ebony, Pau Ferro (Bolivian rosewood), and stuff like Snakewood, which makes maple seem as soft as basswood it's so crazy hard and difficult to work with.
All of these woods are common in my line of work, gunsmithing. While various species of walnut is the go-to wood for long guns, custom made handgun grips require much harder woods for durability and of course aesthetics.
Here's a custom grip I made from a chunk of Bolivian rosewood. I also did the hand checkering myself, which is a skill i still need work on. I can see why so few people know how to hand checker these days, it's definitely becoming a lost art.
This is a much better example of my checkering.
And not a single power tool used.
That's great! I've thought about doing a computer case out of wood but what kept me from doing it was the grounding properties associated with using a metal case as well as metal's RF shielding.
Dont get me wrong, I definitely mod computer cases. Last year I obtained a dead PowerMac G5 which has that killer solid aluminum case which is typically useless because it does not comply with ATX standards. Well... it didn't when I began work. It does now.
http://s1248.photobucket.com/user/AndrewKalionzes/library/PowerMac G5 Hackintosh Conversion
Now it fits PC components, runs Mac OSX, and even chimes when you hit the power button.
