Hi,

I've looked in my local hardware store and on ebay for router bits. They all offer cheap sets of 24 and 36 pieces with either 1/4" or 1/8" shank. Most seem to have bearings attached which act as guides when used with a manual router. The CNC wood router I'm working on does not need these guides so I thought I'd ask you chaps if I'm looking at the wrong type of router bits for CNC? If so, what's a good source?

Thanks in advance.

GalaticDan

Those router bits you mention CAN be used. Many times I've taken the bearings off and used the fence on a router table/shaper as the "bearing" surface. In CNC, you only need to have the code direct the bit so only the cutting edge of the bit does the work.
For instance, you wouldn't want to take a ogee bit, remove the bearing and cut around a piece with the remaining small bearing stud (if there is one) draging through your table as you cut to your desired Z depth.
Just use each bit with careful thought.

As for special CNC bits, they are available but I haven't looked them up....although others here have quite extensive knowledge about CNC bits...both standard and "long reach" (check RPM rating) types.

Bloy

For many different profiles:
http://www.eagle-america.com/html/index.asp

For VERY high quality CNC tooling:
http://www.onsrud.com
http://www.vortextool.com