Working with Oak Continued

What you see here is a custom 3/8 diameter drill that I sharpened to match the countersink of my flathead screws. And this drill will be used to produce clearance for the head of the screw as well. The drill on the bottom has a 118 included angle (which is common) but the top one has something very different. All I did was grind the angle until it matched my screw. This is important because if the angles don't match, there's a good chance of the fastener coming loose over time.
 

I bought a "plug cutter" to make wood plugs for all the holes I'll be drilling. This cutter is made by W.L. Fuller and has four flutes along with 3/8" shank. Now I should have done this awhile ago when I was making the toy box for my granddaughter because it would have saved me a lot of time. All you do is plunge the cutter into whatever wood you're using and snap it out with a screwdriver. This process only takes seconds, cuts a press-fit plug and it works great.
 

Here I'm getting ready to drill all the holes for the screws, and it will be a multi-step process. First I used a center drill to make sure each location was where I wanted it. Then I used a 3/16" drill, which is clearance for the body of the screw.
 

After drilling all the clearance holes, I was ready to switch over to my custom drill. However, if the larger drill isn't exactly in the center of the hole, it will cause all kinds of problems. Knowing this, I'm placing the 3/16" drill back into the hole, clamping my work piece and then switching to the larger drill. Yes, this is a slow process but it works.
 

I bought some cabinet screws in place of the drywall screw I showed you earlier, but the angles are the same The depth of the screw head is just over 1/8" from the top surface. This will give me plenty of material under the screw head for strength.
 

Here I'm transferring all the screw hole locations to the side pieces. And to make sure all the holes are in the right spot I'm using a 'transfer punch'. One or two taps with a hammer and the point on the end puts a dent on the matting part, making it easy to find.