Working DC Motor

This is a model I made for a physics assessment for school, and thought I would upload it for other makers. I apologise if the instructions aren't clear as I haven't designed it around being constructed by others, but I will try my best to describe the build process. You may need to ‘hack’ some of the components together by grinding screws and bolts, hot gluing components together etc.

I believe this is the only 3D printed/home made DC motor on this site. Hopefully this inspires others to make more and better designs for the community as something like this helps with understanding of how DC motors work, the things that we use in most projects.

Here I am attaching a google drive link of a video to prove that I'm not crazy and it does in fact work: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1l0gXlbOs6-XwK_4yMmZBzaEi90NPmFQJ/view?usp=sharing

For this project you will need a few components, such as:

1. Neodymium magnets, which should be disks of 1.18"D x 0.12"H. I use 8 total, 4 on either side but you may be able to use less depending on how well you construct the tolerances and how smooth you get the motion.
2. Enameled copper wire. I use, i believe, 22 AWG and wind it till it just fits within the edges, and use tape to help contain the wire. You can use a higher gauge or lower depending on your scale, voltage, and just whatever works for you. This isn't an exact method, just a reference.
3. BallBearings. I use a skateboard bearing that also happens to be used in some RepRap projects. its dimensions are 8mm x 22mm x 7mm. Sorry for the change in units as I live in australia and am just getting the measurements off the listings :P
4. You will need fasteners. I use some small bolts, around M1 M2 and M3 size. You will also need the nuts and washers as I do not thread most into the plastic.
5. For the commutator brushes (where the name Brushed DC motor comes from) I use a copper solder wick. Any conductor works and I intend to improve the design by using paper clips as they are more durable, but this method works.
6. You will need a metal tube with inner diameter of roughly 8.75mm. You can adjust the file to change this or the scale of your print for whatever works for you. This is to go around the commutator component attached to the windings. It will need to be conductive and to be cut. You also need a glue or epoxy that binds to metal and plastic.
7. A small wire such as a paper clip to work as the rear pivot, it has less friction than a bearing and is cheaper. Also allows for production errors as slight imbalances or misalignment can be accounted for in the wire pivot.
8. Super glue is your best friend.
9. A battery pack and switch. Runs well on 3V or 4.5V. You don't need the switch if you just intend on holding the contacts together, but it is recommended. As seen in the picture, i use a light switch and a home-made battery pack.

Also word of warning, be careful with the magnets as they are very strong and can easily pinch skin or even break the build or themselves. Always ensure careful handling and never let them clash together, connect them in a controlled way.

Now, for the actual construction:

1. First step is to just print all the components. Some will need supports and some will not. Just print them however works for your setup. Its good to have them all on hand and attempt to put them in the right places, as per the images provided, ensuring correct tolerances to allow the function of the motor before you start construction. Test the tolerence of the bearing in the “Commutator External Component.stl” and the “Commutator Internal Component.stl”
2. Next, wind the wire around the “DC Motor Rotor and Wire Windings.stl” allowing for extra wire at the end to be connected to the commutator. These will be sanded and trimmed later, but allow around 50mm or 2". Ensure the “Rear Pivot Bracket.stl” and the “Commutator Internal Component.stl” are able to be able to be bolted on flush at either end. They have slightly different alignment of bolts as a way to ensure they are connected on the right side of the windings.
3. Glue the metal pipe onto the “Commutator Internal Component.stl”, and trimming when you get to the bearing mount. 
4. Once the glue has hardened, you will need to cut a slot as aligned on the “Commutator Internal Component.stl”. It's ok if you cut into the plastic a little bit, its just to break contact between the two halves of the metal tube. This will later function as the commutator which changes the direction of current flow twice a rotation, ensuring same direction torque throughout the function of the motor.
5. In the low center portion of the two halves of the metal pipe, drill a hole for an M2 bolt and washer to be threaded into the plastic. This is to allow a small portion of bare copper wire to be wrapped around and set in place by tightening the bolt and washer onto it, ensuring continuous contact.
6. Remember those two excess wire strands? You will now need to trim them to have roughly one loop around those two holes you drilled. Once trimmed you will sand the enamel down and wind them around the screw and tighten it down.
7. Now In the slots of the “Commutator External Component.stl”, with the bearing and the connected “Commutator Internal Component.stl” and “DC Motor Rotor and Wire Windings.stl”, slide in the copper solder wick. I suggest align them with the slots in the metal pipe so you can slide it in deeper and ensure a proper contact. Make sure that neither of the solder wicks touch the bearing, and nor does the pipe as this would create an electrical short. Hot glue the solder wick's in place and trim both of them around 75mm, or 3", away from where it is inserted. These are now your contacts.
8. Now to glue the commutator together. Bolt the “Commutator stand.stl” down in the base and glue in it the “Commutator External Component.stl”. MAKE SURE THAT THE COPPER SOLDER WICK COMES OUT HORIZONTALLY OR IT WILL NOT WORK. The commutator is now complete and you can insert and remove the stator component (the part that moves).
9. For the wire pivot on the rear, you will glue the “Rear Pivot Support.stl” to the “Motor Body.stl”, gluing the plate of the “Rear Pivot Support.stl” to the outside of the motor. Glue in the small metal wire, such as a paper clip, into the “Rear Pivot Bracket.stl”, printing a small support if needed. This should be as close to a right angle as possible.
10. On the “Motor Body.stl”, there are the circular cut outs for the magnets. For mine, I used 4 magnets on either side. Make sure that they both face the same direction, as that one magnet has north facing in and the other south facing in. Once you slide in a magnet on either side, you can then CAREFULLY slide extra magnets on to the exterior to increase the strength.
11. Now for the final step. If you decide to, you can solder up the battery and switch configuration however you like to the solder wick, one side positive and one side negative. Make sure the motor spins freely and then align the windings with the magnets. When you turn it on, it should spin. If not, there might be too much friction or improper contact. Or who knows, you might have stuffed up bc my instructions are very not clear :P Either way, good luck and have fun!

Good luck with the build as im sure my instructions totally and completely suck :P If you open the model file you can see where everything goes and the rest you could probably get from the video and photo provided, but I thought I may try and write instructions to see how it goes. Overall this project was really fun to make and design and I hope it can serve as a fun project to at least one person out there :)