It doesn't have to be high tech or spendy to build this way. My first few log benches and tables were done before I had tools. I got a couple of cheap hole saws like this
Buy the longest ones you can. I cut / drilled into the ends of the log sections with a $10 thrift store drill. Then I marked a line around the log at the depth of the hole saw cut and then cut around that line with my $5 home made buck saw
till I had a perfect little wood doughnut to pull off the top. I wouldn't recommend the next tool but I used a dollar store razor knife to carve a bevel from 3 or 4 inches back from the tenon ( the dowel part ). I got a used set of paddle bits for the mortises ( the hole the dowl part goes into). I used an old butcher knife as a draw knife to peel the logs ( again not recommended, my wife was not impressed with my abuse of our household cutlery). Crappy tools made it take longer to get a good result but I sold those items and used the money to upgrade.
Power tools are great but I have to admit I hate the noise, vibration and lack of portability and need for power. The most fun I'v had building log stuff was hiking to the spot I cut the logs then building right there in the woods. I had a cordless drill in my pack but the rest of the tools were simple hand tools. Having just discovered Dick Proenneke a few days ago thanks to Permies I really want to get back to building things. I want to focus on simple quality hand tools. Thinking about this reminds me of watching PBS as a kid. I always liked The Woodwright's Shop way better than The New Yankee Workshop. I need to learn blacksmithing so I can make or at least fix my own tools.
