david weaver
When I was a kid, we either found stuff like a bookshelf at an auction, or my dad made one.

My dad had a circular saw, a jig saw, a 1/2 sheet sander and one of those old bulky low power black and decker homeowners drills........... and eventually a band saw (but he never used the band saw for furniture).

I remember everything he ever made was exactly the same. Pine (at least it was solid), wide boards bought from a local lumber yard. He'd cut the pieces, slab everything together and I guess they'd get glued at butt joints (and screwed and nailed).

Then he'd sand them and my mother would put stain on them and that'd be it.

As much as I can't bring myself to do something like that, I have to admit that everything that he's put together is still there. They even still have a wooden 2x12 bench sitting outside that he made over 30 years ago (though that got painted - white pine. ).

My parents went on to find and buy nice furniture that was made locally or mostly by hand somewhere, but a lot of the shelves that my dad made have been moved upstairs and they are all in good shape.

I guarantee we never checked any of them for square, we never used a clamp, etc. I never saw a clamp other than a C clamp and a pair of vise grips until I got into woodworking, but I'll bet in total, my dad has built more pieces of furniture than I have.