I face-screw stair treads and fascia and I'm killing a Starborn Smart-Bit every ~400 holes in Ipe. The carbide tip holds up but the tapered drill dulls and starts smoking. Tried DeckWise's version — about the same. Is there a bit that actually lasts, or is this just the cost of doing business? Sharpening jigs an option?
400 holes is actually about right for Ipe, sadly. The move that helped me: keep two bits and rotate them every 50 holes so neither heats up. Heat is what kills the taper, not wear.
Amana makes a carbide-tipped tapered countersink that lasts me roughly 3x a Smart-Bit in Cumaru. Pricier up front, cheaper per hole.
Honestly, 400 holes in Ipe is about the ceiling for any off-the-shelf bit. Those tapered bits are just heat magnets. I stopped relying on the built-in bits entirely. I use a high-quality jobber-length cobalt drill bit instead and swap them out every few hundred screws—they're cheap enough that it doesn't hurt. For the countersink itself, I keep a dedicated countersink bit separate. It takes an extra second to switch, but you stop burning the Ipe and ruining your bits. Don't waste time with sharpening jigs; once that high-speed steel loses its edge in Ipe, it's never the same.
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