How can I connect a drill bit, etc. to my stepper motor?

Question

Hi there,

I've purchased a stepper motor and connected it to my Raspberry Pi and a driver. Now, my cylindrical smooth shaft will happily rotate as per my wishes, but I'm lost as to how to go about connecting this to drive anything.

The only thing I've tried is using a plastic gear to tightly fit on the smooth shaft, but the plastic gear came off when when trying to drive something needing a lot of torque.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! I'm wondering if I can find parts on element14/newark to purchase.

Thanks!

bad_boy_y · Accepted Answer

if the motor shaft and your drill bit have the same size the easy way is to use a screw terminal like this and cut the plastic use one terminal like a shaft coupling. But if your shaft and bit have different size you need shaft coupling with different both end and right size. http://www.newark.com/red-lion/rpgfc002/flexible-coupling/dp/19P7166?in_merch=Popular Have Good Day!

kirkstrandberg · Answer

Then a stepper should be your last option, as it uses more power.

The motors in standard drills are pretty efficient. If you have 50W power on the drill bit, you need at least 50W power on the input. That's basic physics, there's no way around it.

Or if what you're looking for is torque but less speed/power, then look for a geared down DC motor. That can produce the same torque but as you lower the rpm of the output you can lower the power input needed.

How can I connect a drill bit, etc. to my stepper motor?

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