Pine Bed - Bolt Fastening System

Here is a picture of my fastening system. You can't see them, but there are two 1/2-inch dowels that protrude from the bed rails and mate with matching holes in the head and footboard. There are also holes drilled through the head and footboard to match up with one drilled in the bed rail. You can see the bolt in the hole in this picture. This hole, on the inside of the ends of each bed rail, was made by squaring up a hole drilled with a 1-1/4 inch Forstner bit. The dowels actually carry the weight while the bolt tightens everything together.