This thread is dedicated for our continued tech and development into brushed and brushless motors. Many builds that start as customs will change existing models or become a new model fit for production. Enjoy the ramblings that keep me up at night!
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start:{greasy salesman pitch}
When you have a need for power that isn't satisfied by normal motors, choose Holmes! We guarantee the finest parts and construction techniques available for your needs. Our building team has more than a combined 45 years of experience. With podium spots and overall wins at state, regional, and national events worldwide- we have what it takes to take you to the top!
Our professionally crafted brushed motors begin with Japanese quality parts and USA hand winding / assembling. Armatures feature pattern winds with specific wire sizes to suit YOUR needs. Wind termination is reinforced using high-temp silver alloys (1000f+ melting point) doped with electrical specific fluxes. We use state of the art resin to impregnated coils, ensuring long term reliability. All armatures are precision balanced on our dynamic balancing machine and the commutator is diamond trued. We finish with hand assembling of each motor, taking great care to assure that every motor is aligned, shimmed, and constructed for best performance and quality.
end{greasy salesman pitch}
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I enjoy building and designing motors. It has been a passion in my life for years, and only gets stronger by the day! I REALLY enjoy custom tailoring motors for individual needs, even with off the shelf parts. Over the past I have had the pleasure to build motors pulling from a variety of “ideals” on what the best should be, giving motion to regular Joes and the world’s best drivers alike. I also have been very fortunate to engineer motors for a variety of customers in the Aerospace, Military, Weapons, Industrial Manufacturing, and Cinematography sectors. Thanks for supporting my passion, my life.
John Robert Holmes
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Looking to find these motors for sale? Contact us through holmeshobbies.com or check out our motor section! Holmes Hobbies / Holmes Bikes :: Motors :: Brushed
Here are a few examples of Pro Custom’s we have built, some of which become other brand lines down the road like the Team Flow or Team Crawl edition. Many times I will assist in selection of a motor that is the best fit, as the options can be overwhelming if you don’t already have a favorite build type. We can also fully customize any size motors from scratch: building the can, magnet layout, laminations (stator or rotor), and winding to suit the exact needs whether it be brushed or brushless. Although our business tends to service the R/C market in higher volumes, we can also build to suit any robotic or electric vehicle system that is needed.
Set of Team Flow motors for Multi time National champ Austin Dunn. I have hung out and crawled with him for years and knew exactly what he wanted before we even went back and forth. Big power, smooth control, but not too heavy. We could have gone nuttier in any direction, but sometimes a balance is the best option.
Skewed 3 slot arms, 30t medium fill, epoxy balanced
laydown brushes
Stage 4 Lightening
flux rings for on the spot tuning and emergency torque
Black rust preventative
5.5 ounce each
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Another pair of motors built for National champ Turbofest. James wanted light, and was building a super light rig to match. He didn’t want hammer down power as much as lightweight smoothness. I chose the Team Crawl for him. Enough oomph to get going fast, but light and super smooth down low.
5 slot CrawlMaster arm, 13t medium fill, epoxy balanced
Standup brushes
Stage 3 lightening
Black rust preventative
5.5 ounce each
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JeepSoHigh wanted a set of motors that were like a sledgehammer on course, but smooth enough to have great tactile feel down low. We went with a set of Team Flow motors for him as well, at this point the Team Flow was becoming an established build type
Skewed 3 slot arm, 30t high fill, epoxy balanced
Laydown brushes
Stage 3 kit
Blue hoods
Raw Oiled steel
“light” colors
5.6 ounce each
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Eddie from Crawler Innovations also wanted something like a sledgehammer on course, but he wanted full torque and then some. Looks were also important, he wanted them looking sharp! Drag brake was a big concern for Eddie. He wasn’t very concerned with startup, so I had the chance to make him something a bit stouter in magnets. This would be like a modified Team Flow edition. He is the first person in the US to have FB12 magnet motors, maybe the first person in the world of R/C!
Skewed 3 slot arm
Laydown brushes
Orange hoods
FB12 magnets
“blacked out”
6.6 ounce each
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We have many many other examples of custom and Team motors, and just like this hobby the hot items are always changing. Typically we only build 5 or 10 custom pairs per week, but they are always fun to build and it is very rewarding to help people get exactly what they want! Want to see something specific or have a set of Holmes motors to share? Feel free to post up! More to come as we build em and remember to photo em...
Some fancy heatsinked motors going to Japan. These turned out looking sweet!
A more plane jane set of Pro Customs, all black with laydown hoods. Don't remember internals.
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Now for a set of motors for ME!! I wanted light, without compromise. I wanted smooth startup, without compromise. I wanted the BEST motors available, which means nothing "off the shelf" would do. By the end of this project, these custom motors morphed into the future of the Puller 500 motor. There was no way I could make something like this without sharing!
Modified 540 endbell
Custom armature, "540" size
3000kv
n32 neodymium magnets, 75% coverage
Aluminum faceplate
Chromoly can
31.75mm diameter (regular 540 is 36mm)
4.5 ounces light
So how did it test? Startup is as good as our flagship model, the Crawlmaster. Can't get much better than that! Ok that is a lie, I have secret motors out there with better startup :twisted: How about light? A full 2 ounces less than a regular motor! That is a 1/4 POUND dropped off my XR10! Say hello to forward weight bias without increasing my rig weight :mrgreen: Power and torque were PLENTY as well, on 3s there is no point where I got close to stalling the motors and the pep is really amazing. The best part was how cool the motors ran during the many hours of testing this past weekend. After a 40 minute pack of just beating on them, they were very cool. Certainly much cooler than my 540s run!
So what was the rub? I could use a bit more drag brake on em, as could most people. We can either use Holmes Hold to accomplish this, or I can keep working on the design and improve it as we go forwards. I think I'll try to improve the armature and magnet layout. What else to do when my job is building motion control systems all day? "thumbsup"
540 on the left, Proto Puller 500 on the right
Thanks for reading! I'll share more motors as we go along! I have 16 customs to wind up this morning, maybe a few will be fancy enough to share.
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:lmao::lmao:
