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I rough-cut small branches with a set of cheap scissors-type pruning shears from a discount store. I carry them in a back pocket and they aren't much of a loss if they fall out.

Branch and twig ends should be trimmed flush with the trunk so as to leave a smooth and attractive scar. Especially if the bark will be left on, this often takes careful paring and is a job for back at the shop. So I leave an inch or so of limb on in the woods. Later, I use a sharp utility knife, a small coping saw, and a wood rasp and, when needed, scalpel-sharp X- model-building blades to shave away especially stubborn hardwood knots, stem ends, and dry splinters. Edges of bark where limbs protrude through will often pull away from underlying wood during trimming. A small, nozzle-ended tube of fast-and-clear-drying wood glue is invaluable for fastening the free edges of holes and tears in the bark so it won't create a "hangnail" that will snag on everything and continue to separate.

My single most-used tool is a cordless drill/driver. I use it for drilling mortises, through-peg holes, the small pilot holes that precede every nail or screw, and for putting in self-tapping drywall-type screws. Mine has a two-dimension spirit-level molded into the butt end. A bubble is aligned in the center of one of a pair of small bull's eyes—one on top and the other on the butt cap at the end to indicate that the tool is perfectly horizontal or perfectly vertical—a big help in drilling properly aligned mortises or plug holes.

I have several sets of wood-drilling bits: spade bits with wide cutting ends, Forstner bits that cut flat-bet tented holes, and brad-point twist-drill bits that don't skip on even rock-hard wood but enter precisely where you want them.

Also a set of hole saws—tubes with a pilot drill down the center and saw teeth on the circular business end—that are normally used to cut round holes through doors for lock sets or through drawer fronts for latches. Twig builders will drill all the way through a seat or tabletop so a big tenon can poke through to be wedged in place. Also, can use them to make tenons Drill an inch or two into the center of a thick log, then trim off the collar of wood remaining around the core—you've got a prefect tenon. The central pilot drill limits hole saws to large stock used in bed-steads and the like.

I find that the cheapest and easiest way to make uniform mortise and tenor joints is to buy doweling kits containing a brad-point drill and drill stop, dowel centers, and dowel pins in several sizes. Use it to make doweled joints (where you drill mortises in both parts of a joint and join them with a mutual tenor from a single dowel). For handmade mortise and tenor joints, you can make a tenor gauge from a length of hard-wood. Drill two holes side by side in each dowel size and glue a matching dowel in one of each pair.

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