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Replies
A small flat wood bit would be good to do your countersunk hole
Coach screws, have always be available in 6mm, 8mm, 10mm or 12mm diam or imperial equiv when they had square heads. And i think you can get 16 & 20mm
And like you say below it needs to be big enough to fit socket on
Coach screws normally have a hex head, which is flat under the head, so they would't really suit a countersink, but if you use a forstner bit, you'll get a flat surface for your coach screw head to sit on.
You would also need a bit somewhat larger than 10mm, not just big enough for the head, but also the outside diam of the socket driver. It would be advisable to use washers as well.
create a wooden plug out of off cuts by cutting down the off cut to about 20mm then using a 30mm hole saw cut out a load of plugs, then use a 28mm flat auger bit to recess the head of the bolt at 25mm depth then plug the hole with the pre cut plugs leaving no sign of fixings or holes.
as said by james you should not need to predrill as not even an axe swung by the best of us would split through a sleeper so no m10 coach screw will.
also I would only use an impact driver to start the fixing and finish it off with a 3/4 socket or extension bar as the impact driver might shatter your socket bits or adapter so always have a backup.
Hi Benedict
we have just finished a job using oak sleepers to form a series of retaining walls. We used 200mm long Timberfix structural wood screws. We fixed straight down through the top sleeper into the course below using a corded SDS drill. Where the last course was visible we fixed the sleeper diagonally from the rear.
Hope that helps
Hi all, thanks for your replies. I am happy with how I am going to fix the oak and the construction of the wall. I'm after peoples recommendations for brand of type of bit for long life. I don't want to change to a new bit every couple of holes.