However, my friend (who is far more athletic and muscled than I am,
was, or will be) prefers hand wrenching.

So, what do the other fine posters on this group think? Hand wrenches
or power tools? Lets not dissolve into chants of "Great taste / less
filling" which was a mantra from a beer commercial a couple decades
ago.

============================
I rebuild/restore cars as a hobby.... and I have a complete woodshop
in which I build furniture as my other hobby....

Using a impact wrench is just much easier physically ...no brainer not
to use one ....picking up an air rachet on the other hand pure is
more trouble then it is worth unless I am removing a manifold etc and
will be removing more then 6-8 bolts....this is justified only because
it saves time...

In the woodshop... I'll use the jointer to produce a flat surface on a
piece of lumber..then flip the lumber to produce a flat edge which is
90 degrees from that first side......then walk over to the planer to
produce the second side which is perfectely parallel to the other
side... Now I can use the Table Saw to finish the work piece

Using a hand plane works BUT it honestly takes not only much more
time..BUT a HELL of a lot more skill...

On the other hand using a cabinet scraper is much faster and produces
a much smoother surface then using sandpaper...either by hand or with
a power sander...

Bob Griffiths