I often find traditional ways having benefits not realized until after the fact. Peg making is a good example. Riving out pegs and shaving them on a shaving horse yields a better peg than one sawn and turned or sawn many times on a table saw jig. There are slight imperfection which highlight the methods used, which a trained eye can detect. The vast majority of people will never know the difference, but the builder knows.
I once heard Jack Sobon say when things get tough you may just have to pull out a modern card, specifically the chainsaw. I would encourage DLB to continue on the path he has chosen. Our ancestors lived a very different life than we do. Our minds are corrupted by a different technology. We eat different foods, have a different "drive" to a means, we are a different people. If it you come across a hurdle that is a little to high, you may have to cut it down to a more manageable height.
