Indeed. I rounded several HSS drill bits before I wised up and bought carbide.
Method:
- Pilot drill all your holes from the non-griptape side with a small bit. Blue painters tape makes marking your holes and starting the bit a lot easier.
- Drill with your desired diameter bit. All drilling should be high speed, low pressure. Let the drill do the work, and focus on keeping it from walking. Its gonna want to walk. Since you will be using a drill press, this should be easy. Also make sure you are drilling your holes straight up and down, do not follow the curve of the deck.
- I countersunk my holes with a ⅜" carbide tile bit. I tried a HSS countersink bit, but it dulled almost immediately.
This is accurate. Dont fuck around with carbon fiber dust.
I have central vacuuming in my house which exhausts outside. I put this right next to the drill bit as I was drilling. Dont do this with a standard vacuum, the filters in most household vacuums are not good enough to trap all the CF dust.
I also wore a valved/sealed respirator.