I am currently building benches as part of my eagle scout service project and I need to know how to cut notches into a piece of 4×4 cedar wood for the arms of the benches to fit into the legs so the two can be screwed together. the cut will have to be in an "L" shape.

I am not allowed to use table saws or hand saws while building my benches for safety reasons.
sorry for not mentioning this earlier, i am allowed to use band saws and chop saws, can either of these instruments be used?