[This thread split off from the TPP thread, over concern about being able to get motors for ebikes if there is a trade war with China]
When it comes to hand labor, the part we'd have a hard time in the USA getting quality workers to produce at a low wage is the hand-winding of the coils on the stator. (just my opinion, I could be wrong). Using powdered-metal processes with minimal machining (with the machining being done by CNC, same cut over and over) Some of the complex parts can actually be easy to make.
These days, it can be on-the-job training (OTJ). The product design can be tweaked to emphasize more of the machine-run processes, and to simplify the remaining hand-work.
The Lebowski motor is coreless, so the coils can be easily machine-wound. A hairpin configuration dramatically simplifies motor construction. Segmented cores still use laminated metal sheets stacked to make the core, but if you segment them, they can be machine-wound, and then assemble the wound segments into a stator, with the laminations laser-cut locally.
I don't know which method would be "best", or at least the "most doable". One design might be cheaper per output watt, another might be more efficient or more powerful per output watt. A third might be "average" in every respect, except that it has the least amount of hand-labor involved, which...if USA-made, could be a deciding factor in order to make the motor affordable enough that customers would actually buy it.
Regardless of the method, I can order the parts, and then assemble plus test ten of them on a Saturday. However, I don't want to start down that road unless the design is expandable in a way that they can be affordably made on a larger scale by employees.
When it comes to hand labor, the part we'd have a hard time in the USA getting quality workers to produce at a low wage is the hand-winding of the coils on the stator. (just my opinion, I could be wrong). Using powdered-metal processes with minimal machining (with the machining being done by CNC, same cut over and over) Some of the complex parts can actually be easy to make.
Build motors in the U.S.? With labor who is willing to gain the RIGHT education to run the equipment?
These days, it can be on-the-job training (OTJ). The product design can be tweaked to emphasize more of the machine-run processes, and to simplify the remaining hand-work.
The Lebowski motor is coreless, so the coils can be easily machine-wound. A hairpin configuration dramatically simplifies motor construction. Segmented cores still use laminated metal sheets stacked to make the core, but if you segment them, they can be machine-wound, and then assemble the wound segments into a stator, with the laminations laser-cut locally.
I don't know which method would be "best", or at least the "most doable". One design might be cheaper per output watt, another might be more efficient or more powerful per output watt. A third might be "average" in every respect, except that it has the least amount of hand-labor involved, which...if USA-made, could be a deciding factor in order to make the motor affordable enough that customers would actually buy it.
Regardless of the method, I can order the parts, and then assemble plus test ten of them on a Saturday. However, I don't want to start down that road unless the design is expandable in a way that they can be affordably made on a larger scale by employees.