Holes that look
machined.
Not drilled.
Three sharpened points. A negative rake angle. M2 high-speed steel. Translation: no wandering, no tear-out, perfect accuracy... on hardwood, plywood, softwood, acrylic, and just about anything else you can clamp down.
A drill bit shouldn't be the weakest link in your project.
Cheap twist bits were designed to chew through wall studs at a job site. We don't build wall studs. We build furniture, jigs, knife handles, brass hardware — work where a torn fiber or a wandering bit means starting over. So we designed a bit that doesn't.
The bit wanders.
A standard pointed tip skates across hardwood and figured grain. By the time it bites, you've already missed your mark — or worse, marred the surface.
Stop worrying about tearout
Positive-rake geometry pulls fibers up through the hole instead of slicing them. Result: splinters and tearout on your show side. Always. Every single time. No more blue tape, backwards spinning by hand or zero clearance jigs.
Brass grabs. Plastic cracks.
Aggressive cutting angles dig in on non-ferrous metals and acrylics. You get chatter, snapped bits, and cracked work — not clean holes.
Same drill press. Same wood. Same speed. Two very different holes.
A bit that slices instead of tearing.
On a normal drill bit, the cutting edge is angled into the material — it digs, grabs, and yanks the chip out. That works great for rough carpentry. It works terribly on hardwoods, plywood, brass, plastic, and end grain.
A negative rake angle flips that geometry. The edge meets the material at an angle that shears the chip rather than ripping it. The cut is slower by a fraction. The hole is dramatically cleaner.
- ✓No tear-out — fibers are sliced, not pulled.
- ✓Won't grab in brass or aluminum — chatter-free, no snapped bits.
- ✓Acrylic without cracking — chips ribbon out instead of shattering.
- ✓End grain stays clean — the killer for traditional twist bits.
Three points. Zero walk. One clean entry.
Most twist bits start with a single point and pray. Ours plant a sharp center spur first — locating the bit exactly where you marked — then the two negative rake outer spurs slice the fibers. Zero skating, zero tearout, even on figured maple or polished brass.
The 3-point tip that won't budge.
The center spur locates. The outer spurs cut. Even on a hand drill, you're starting exactly where you wanted to start.
We let strangers put the
negative rake set to the test.
Shopify gave us a two-day storefront in Venice, CA. We brought drills loaded with the negative rake bits and a stack of boards. Hundreds of people — woodworkers, beginners, curious tourists — pulled the trigger themselves. Same reaction every time. See for yourself.
"Most drill bits, no matter if they're $2 or $200, they're always gonna tear out. These don't tear out. That's beautiful. You don't know how much gold that is for any level of woodworker."
"I've followed Jonathan Katz-Moses for at least a few years. I've learned a lot from him. I didn't know what to expect from this whole event, but it was worth it."
Randy Taloma · Woodworker · Venice Pop-Up, Day 2Four sets.
One shop hero.
8-piece for the most-used sizes. 15-piece for the full range. Both in imperial and metric. Hard-shell case included. M2 HSS is the industry standard for cutting tools, offering an exceptional balance of hardness, wear resistance, and heat tolerance.
8-Piece Set
The most-reached-for sizes. If you've got a project starting tomorrow, this is the one.
15-Piece Set
Every common imperial size from 1/16" to 1/2". The set you buy once and reach for forever.
Every size, accounted for.
Each bit lives in its own molded urethane slot. No rattling. No mystery sizes. Pop the case open, find what you need, get back to work.
| # | Size | Decimal (in) | In 8pc | In 15pc |
|---|
ⓘ All bits are M2 high-speed steel
Wood. Plastic. Rubber. Brass.
Negative rake geometry was originally engineered for non-ferrous metals — brass and aluminum, where standard bits grab and snap. It turns out the same edge that won't grab brass also won't tear out hard maple. Or shatter acrylic. Or wander in MDF.
Hardwood
Maple, walnut, oak, cherry, exotics. End grain stays crisp.
Softwood
Pine, cedar, poplar. Clean entry, no walk on contact.
Plywood & Baltic Birch
No blowout. The back side looks like the front side.
Plastic Sheet Stock
Acrylic, polycarbonate, HDPE. Ribbon chips, no cracks.
Rubber
Slow steady feed. Clean walls. No smearing or tearing.
Polyurethanes
Cuts cleanly without grabbing, melting, or chattering.
Metal
Grab a cobalt or carbide bit instead.
Masonry and Glass
Different bit, different aisle.
"I keep the 8-piece in my shop bag for hardware installs and pull mounting. The 15-piece lives on the drill press for anything joinery related. Either way, it's the kind of set you stop reaching past your other bits to grab — because you know the hole is going to come out right the first time."
If you take pride in clean, repeatable holes — plywood, hardwood, plastic, rubber, polyurethane — this set belongs in your shop.
Jonathan Katz-Moses · Founder, KM ToolsBuilt like a tool should be.
Drill the cleanest hole
of your shop life.
You'll never reach for the cheap bits again. Promise.
Shop the Sets →