Hi Gable;

I agree with everything Ken wrote. In my experience in Northern New England I have never seen evidence of a peg shaped by driving it through a metal plate. I had formed my own opinion that draw-bored joints have long, slender gently tapered pegs. Sometimes they very in diameter which makes me think they may have been adjusted in size if the draw-boring holes were too far out of alignment. Red oak seems to be predominant but I have seen red maple, pitch pine (the only southern yellow pine which grows in Maine), and spruce. Powder post beetles seem to like red oak better than softwoods and the oak pegs show more damage than the framing. Most holes I have measured are 7/8". The smallest holes I have seen were 5/8" in a lightly framed 14'x40' carrage house.

Jim