Starting with an idea, I did hand calculations and did magnetic simulations in FEMM for a custom motor design. The goal was continuous torque >= 1 Nm
I had my design cut from silicon steel, but this cutting job was far from perfect.
Post processing and bonding the laminations presented some unique challenges, such as bonding the stack, deburring the laminations, and insulating the layers.
I felt in my element machining out the parts needed for the motor. I turned both the housing and the rotor on a manual lathe, and then use jigging and adhesives to apply the magnets.
Winding the motor was by far the most tedious part of the process, not helped by often having to rewind after the motor shorted.
To finish the design, I 3D printed some endcaps and installed some bearings. After re-winding the motor once I successfully got the motor spinning! Testing and validation is currently ongoing.