The paper deals with hard cutters of drill bits for drilling rocks. The research on geometry of hard alloy and steel cutters of bits that work either under conditions of shockless loads was carried out in this work. The rationale of tungsten carbide and cobalt composition according to their hardness and robustness is provided. Different alloys were suggested to be used for tools working either under conditions of shockless loads or under shock loads for drilling rocks of high hardness. The rock deformation process was identified to occur by cutting and shearing forces. The highest influence on the cutting process is exerted by the acuity angle and back rake angle. Peculiarities of work of cutters with positive, negative and neutral back rake angles were determined as part of the main research. The dependence of penetration depth on the back rake angle of the cutter was obtained. Indicators of wearing identified in the research are including the type and properties of interacting surfaces characterized by the roughness of cutting bit surface, the hardness of materials in contact zone, friction mode that depends on unit pressure, movement rate, the nature of load application, and the rate of interaction of working parts of bit.