Keep going Jon.
I cut a frame with my father for his house back in 2000 or so. It was my first independent frame after working with a few timber framers and moving barns on my own. We would meet up after he left work - working under a travel trailer awning in his backyard.
We used white oak - small circular saws, drills, hand tools. Pretty rustic stuff. Square rule, and we kept it all rough sawn.
My dad who is a tool and die maker by trade would end up cut every few days from reaching for his chisel, and generally abusing his hands. He'd layout and cut using his machinist square, and then he'd generally fumble with band-aids.
Poor guy was a mess by the end of week 1. Much better off after the second week. I can't count the number of times we'd have to extract his chisel from the inside of a mortise from him driving it into the corners to clean it out...
Different trades and tools - but both require a high degree of thought and craft. I know if I set foot into a metal shop I'd end up burned and grease covered, and my hands would likely be just as mangled as I learned to use the tools.
Doug Fir can be pretty nasty as a splinter. Reclaimed even more so. I mortised some lovely reclaimed for a friends house - used a drill and 1 1/2" bit - and learned pretty quickly that it is tough to work when really dry. I had a water spray bottle on my horses, and anytime I needed to pare end grain (inside a mortise, or on a shoulder) - I'd give it a good spray, go do some layout, and come back - so much nicer to work.
