Just wondering the view people take on using pointed stays over traditional 4 sided square stay ends. From a strength point of view 4 sides must be better than 1 round; theres nil locking in a circle; but keen to see what other people think.  

Has there ever been any loading test done on both styles to confirm that one is better then the other?

If a pointed stay had a plane run over it then it looks just has tidy has a sguare stay.It would likley look more in place with all the round wood has the strainer is round and the stay is round.

I am a big fan of the round drilled ones, they are quick, they are easy to teach new staff and very easy to get a good resalt, the health and saftey aspect of using chainsaws to mortice is also gone with drilled ones. we use them all the time, the only time we dont use them is if we are doing really poor acess jobs where we are forced to carry the drill and chainsaw for a long time.