Starborn Industries Smart-Bit Pro Plug System Countersink Drill Bit Tool for Wood Decks, Flooring, and Woodworking

This device is great for countersinking the hidden screws and leaving enough space for a dowel/plug to be inserted to hide the screw used. The only problem was that the length of the bit does not match the length of the screws in the Pro-Plug kit, so if used with very hard wood as the 'base' the hole should be lengthened with another bit or the screw will bend or break.

The tool makes it super easy to drill and countersink holes for the Pro-Plug system.I liked it so much that I even adapted it to drill and countersink some other holes that didn’t need to be so deep. I just made a spacer out of some large washers and taped them together so the countersink went to the desired depth. Worked like a charm.

As others have said, the drill bit is junk & breaks easily. Unfortunately, a good job ends far too quickly. Cool off hot bit with water between drills but drill bit will still break, poor quality for sure. When it breaks below the counter sink bit there's no getting it out to replace with a new one. I bought 6 of these for a job that should have taken one or two. As others have sad, instead of going into debt over these things pre-drill with a quality 1/8" bit and use counter sink to finish the hole for screw or else you'll go broke buying new ones. Good tool but cheap bits!

This is a great time saver when putting in a deck. The depth stop doesn't spin like a regular drill stop would. So no spin marks on the boards.

The Pro Plug system works well and definitely speeds up a deck installation. I used it for 3 decks on my home.. I was using Brazilian Cumaru which is hard on the Pro Plug tool. I went through 2 tools and about 12 bits. The bits seem to break for no obvious reason. It is also necessary to sharpen the plug hole cutting tool as it will go dull on very hard wood and become hard to drill. Be sure to use a corded drill with strong power. Also, the directions recommend a rubber or hard plastic headed mallet to pound in the plugs. I tried that method, but it is much easier to use a regular metal hammer or the plugs do not go in far enough requiring too much sanding.

I'm using this for a small deck constructed of Garapa wood. I initially started with the Starborn #7 bit for trimhead screws but then decided to go with the plug system so I removed the trimhead screws. Therefore 90% of the holes I drilled with this Pro Plug tool were already pre-drilled and slightly countersunk already.Even with that at approximately 65 holes drilled the countersink cutter wore out and started literally burning the holes out because it had become so dull, causing very ragged edges so at that point it was useless. The packaging states it should last for approximately 350 holes drilled for Garapa, not even close and yes I used a corded drill rather then a battery powered drill. Also what good is two spare drill bits that come with it when the countersink cutter wears out before you can wear out the initial bit?Garapa is on the low end of the Janka hardness scale for tropical hardwoods, I wouldn't even attempt to use this on IPE etc.UPDATE 8/13/2019 - Revising from 2 star to 1 star ratingI had 28 holes left to complete the deck project so I went ahead and purchased another one of these assuming that if the first one lasted for 65 holes I could complete the remaining 28 holes and wrap this up. The second one lasted for only 12 holes before the countersink cutter was worn out and started burning the holes rather then cutting them. Once the cutter is worn, besides burning out the hole, the ragged perimeter around the holes then requires extra work to carefully sand it to prevent any grain peel back.This product should be labeled for softwood only, it is worse then useless on hardwoods.

I ordered 6 of these based on reviews saying they quickly broke/lost sharpness. We ended up using 3 for about 1000 sq fr of decking (Cumaru). My contractor was happy with them. The plugs fit fine.

Great tool, works well with plugs. Stays sharp using it with hardwoods. Installed about 200 plugs and works perfect.