Using power tools, when appropriate, is just wise, and a huge time saver.
Of course, I also hate the other side, where they assume everyone has this massive collection of thousands of dollars of power tools.
There at times when it's better to use hand tools, and times when it's better to use power tools.
When those times are depends on the time you have and the accuracy you want.
Of course this all means more tools you gotta buy.
Best advice I can give anyone is to check craigslist and yard sales and resale shops and stuff like that, because it can get very expensive, and you never seem to have all the tools you need.
But 2x4 furniture really does look like crap. But that's the fault of the big box stores stocking only that crap. Check around, there's probably a lumber yard somewhere near you. You might just have to drive farther.
I only use 4x2 for workshop projects. For the types of projects I'm looking at dressed pine or plywood is better. Frankly, around here getting any type of wood that isn't pine is kind of tricky. We have some amazing native timbers but at the moment you can only get them at recyclers because it's illegal to cut down native trees. That seems like a weird thing but it's a part of a reparation package to make amends for the Treaty of Waitangi. That being said they are starting to come into the market, but they aren't coming into the big box stores.
This then gets tricky because I'm generally a weekend woodworker and the shops I might be able to get hardwoods etc from generally aren't open on the weekends. These shops also have to order them in because they cater to the trades and they generally don't use hardwoods. So we pretty much are left with whatever the stores that cater to the DIY guys supply and guess what that means? Even less likely to get good woods.
It is slowly changing but it's still easier to go to building recyclers and they know they have a captive market and charge accordingly.
For the projects that I am working on it's machinery all the way. I'm trying to get good at making wooden toys and the idea of trying to cut those fiddly bits with a handtool is really bad. Using a scroll saw is a much better idea and is the subject of an article I will be republishing soon.
Recyclers are def the way to go if you got one close.
As to making many parts, they're def easier with a CNC, but I'm sure there were likely tricks they used back in the day.
Sometimes I see someone do some trick with woodworking I never knew about and it's like a mindblowing moment because it's something that I would normally think would take quite a bit of effort, and they do it in a few minutes, or even seconds.