Welcome to the forum! I moved this to the CNC Routing forum so it will get more exposure to those who might know what you'll need.

Best guess is no, you won't find a desktop CNC or laser to cut steel as a general rule. Something as thin as 0.5mm might be doable, though, for the CNC. It will likely take a fiber laser to cut the steel, though. No idea what those cost and they typically aren't nearly large enough for your 200mm diameter requirement. Many of the small CNC's are that large, either.

 

Thanks for your fast response David and for moving the thread. Your response is in line with what I read so far and was afraid was true.
What about drilling (still cnc) using a fine drill for the interior where the fine machining is needed and then change to a large diameter drill to cut the exterior. At the exterior I could accept some “local radiis”, at least for the stator. Are there machines with magazines for changing active tool automatically?

 

Welcome to the forum @grape

 

Thank you Sir!

 

Could this be something after upgrading to a more powerful spindle (makita)?
Also, electric sheets are available in smaller thickness than 0.5 and the smaller the better for the iron loss but of course, more labor for making the sheets.
I liked that it is delivered with a laser engraver as well.

CNC Router Masuter Pro with 40W and Black R42 Rotary Roller Kit

FoxAlien CNC Router Masuter Pro features with the all-aluminum structure design. The Z-axis uses linear rails which make the machine solid enough to engrave different kinds of materials like hardwood and soft metal. This laser kit includes everything you need to explore the laser projects.

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Hi Grape and welcome to the forum.
Unfortunately, I know zero about the CNC and Laser tools. BUT - I am interested in your project.

 

Hi!
Thanks!
Are you in the power electronics and/or electrical machines field? I can share anything from what has been done so far, I.e an inverter and gate driver circuit providing sinus-PWM gate control pulses that, in turn, are generated by an arduino uno. I started it January last year and only work on it during winter season (November-April). I’ve had tons of problems until I got it working without burning mosfets and/or gate driver ic:s but finally it runs stable. I have loads for testing it up to approximately 10A and at this point the inverter is cold as ice (large heat sinks). It’s built using mosfets rated 100V/60A (could be 50A, I can check later). Anyway, that current cannot be reached unless the core is under water. The DC-supply voltage will be 48V but so far I run at 24V because I buy components when it’s time to take the next step to minimize the money spent if I will not succeed
I can attach pictures if I only know how to do it.

I honestly saw the motor building part as the easy part of this project, I never could imagine the fantasy prices for cutting some steel sheets 😂.

 

I have a sienci long mill CNC machine. There is at least one user on our forum that has attached a plasma cutter head to that CNC and cuts steel with it routinely. You can read about it on the Sienci forum. The CNC will come in under your budget, but I don't know what his cost for the plasma cutter is. You could ask him on the forum, if you like.

 

Hi!
Thanks for your response. That would be great! Do you happen to know the nick for that user?

 

Here are some pictures attached from design to construction to running.
Is there a way to post a video? If so, there is a video that shows the three-phase wound flower pot spinning a magnet hanging at its center. I did that setup just to test that it was possible 😁

 

Is there a way to post a video?

Yes, post it to YouTube (or other like Vimeo) and then paste the link here. Make the video widescreen, preferably, like our monitors rather than vertical (portrait).

 

Having the steel laser cut is going to be the best option. There are no DIY lasers capable of cutting steel sheet. Commercial laser cutters usually charge by the inch of cut. They are very precise, and very fast.

Is there a desktop machine available below 1500 USD that can cut electrical steel of maximum thickness 0.5mm including very fine details in the sheet (like slot openings about 1mm wide). If it cuts mechanically or by laser does not matter to me. Maximum diameter of sheet is 200 mm.

A small mill like a Taig or Sherline could possibly do it, but you're going to spend closer to $2000-$4000. And then you'll likely find it incredibly difficult to make the parts you want, due to the small sizes and intricate details. You could be looking at a year long learning curve, and still might not be able to make the parts. A laser should have no trouble.

 

Having the steel laser cut is going to be the best option. There are no DIY lasers capable of cutting steel sheet. Commercial laser cutters usually charge by the inch of cut. They are very precise, and very fast.


A small mill like a Taig or Sherline could possibly do it, but you're going to spend closer to $2000-$4000. And then you'll likely find it incredibly difficult to make the parts you want, due to the small sizes and intricate details. You could be looking at a year long learning curve, and still might not be able to make the parts. A laser should have no trouble.

Thanks for your input Sir!
Yeah, unfortunately this seems to be the conclusion. Unfortunately since I today tried a laser cutting company’s price calculator. They had the feature of calculating price based on a dxf file. And yet again, a really ridiculous price in the 100 000 Sek range (equivalent to 10 000 USD). I mean, I’m not buying their machine 😂

 

Welcome to the forum, @grape

 

Got another quotation today for cutting the sheets from a company working with laser cutting. Still way too expensive for me, about 3600 USD so still cheaper to get a CNC desktop machine provided it can cut this thin steel sheets.

 

Buying a motor is cheaper than making one if I understand your need. I've seen 3-phase motors 2hp or less under $200.

 

Yes, that is correct but it violates my project definition - to build the hardware and software for a complete drive line myself. Also, I think it is tough to find a permanent magnet synchronous motor (not brushless dc) rated at this low voltage.
I have thought of building a transformer (the sheets for that should be cheap) and then use standard motors, but again, it would take away some of the fun.