Conical bits are very common in excavation of soft to medium rocks in a great deal of mining and construction applications. Bit rotation allows the conical bits to maintain their tip shape and allows them to work more efficiently for extended period of time. This paper discusses the importance of bit rotation and the research work of measuring bit rotation and the impact of various parameters on this phenomenon. To find the relevant factors contributing to bit rotation, a few dominant parameters such as bit type, cut spacing, depth of cut, attack angle, and skew angle were considered. The paper described full scale linear cutting tests which were performed at Kennametal rock cutting lab in Latrobe PA. This linear cutting test is a prototype experiment to verify the direct measurement of bit rotation, to evaluate the impact of related parameters before performing rotary cutting tests. This paper offers the review of the linear cutting test results and outlines the observed bit rotation during experiments and their practical implications.