Making toeplate screws flush?

[AZshot]

I've been wondering about making toeplate screws flush.  I have a Kibler kit I'm adding a thin iron toeplate to, that I made out of an old tool.  It is very thin, tapers from .030 to about .050 inch.  It's already shaped and the wood is inlet.

How do you make screws flush with the surface of the steel?  I bought some countersunk wood screws, but then realized their "cone" tapered part is deeper than the toeplate material.  I.E. there won't be much of the screw's taper purchasing on the edge of the hole.  Is there a better way?

[smylee grouch]

You might consider a " low dome " type of screw.

[rich pierce]

I've been wondering about making toeplate screws flush.  I have a Kibler kit I'm adding a thin iron toeplate to, that I made out of an old tool.  It is very thin, about .050 inch.  It's already shaped and the wood is inlet.

How do you make screws flush with the surface of the steel?  I bought some countersunk wood screws, but then realized their "cone" tapered part is deeper than the toeplate material.  I.E. there won't be much of the screw's taper purchasing on the edge of the hole.  Is there a better way?

Countersink all the way into the wood. Cut the slots deeper. Use domed screws as suggested above.

[Scota4570]

I make a countersink for each screw size.  The cylindrical part is a few thousands larger than the diameter of the screw head.  The taper matches the screw.  By grinding away half the diameter you get good cutting action.  They do not chatter.  See photo. 

I have some  similar countersinks that were factory made.  I guess a person could buy them too.   

I run the countersink in enough to bury the edge of the screw.  I do not like using a hardware store reamer that is oversized.  I use Blacksmith supply domed screws. 


Maybe some one who is more knowledgeable can answer this.  Didn't they use a domed head profile on most original rifles?
 

[AZshot]

Thanks for all the good ideas!

[JPK]

Chuck a flat head screw in a drill and file the dome on it, that leaves a sharper edge. The underside will often be improved by a little filing at the same time.

[Waksupi]

Put the threads in a drill press, and use a file on the underside of the head to index.

[stubshaft]

You might consider a " low dome " type of screw.

I've cheated by filing the screw slot deeper, countersinking the hole and filing the screw flush with the toeplate.

[AZshot]

Thanks again.  I'm pretty proud of the scrap iron I used to make the toeplate, it's from an old antique spatula knife blade, with lots of patina.  I don't even need to do anything to "finish" it, it has a 150 years of finish.   
Yesterday I stopped at Home Depot to see if they had any countersink tools, I got one that might work, I have to try it on some scrap first.  Hate to mess up that plate I had to carefully cut out of the blade!

All the original southern rifles I have have flush, flat screws or nails.  My decision to add a toeplate was because every one of the original southern mountain rifles, or Appalachian School, have one.  Plus I will shoot this from the bench a lot, and don't want to risk scratching up the metal.  I've been thinking about their original purpose.  Everybody thinks it's to protect the sharp point of the toe from breaking off.  But if that were the only reason, why would rifles that don't have an extremely curved buttplate have a toeplate?  I think it's because hunters would shoot prone from time to time, and it was to keep the wood from getting chewed up from rocks and roots.

[Eric Krewson]

I have a screw slot file, I deepen the slot, install the screw in an over size counter sink and drawfile the toeplate and screw together for a flush fit.

This is my Kibler SMR with a toe plate.

 

[AZshot]

Excellent, thanks for showing.  I'll show some pics of my toeplate too, being made.

[Jim Kibler]

As a note, original toe plates are generally much thinner than they are often made today.  .030" is probably pretty typical.  When I see thicker, they really stand out.  This is accentuated a bit since the sides are filed to match the stock curve.

[AZshot]

I was thinking about what you've said about thinness when I found my spatula.  It's very thin at it's tip.  I put that part against the buttplate, then it becomes very slightly thicker (as spatulas do) towards the triggerguard.  It kind of matches the taper of the buttplate, thin at the point, going thicker towards the top.  That's my artistic theory anyway.
It's hard to see the taper in this photo, but it's there: