Y6 MultiWiiCopter: Part III - Reversing the Shaft

This is my journal of the Y6 MultiWiiCopter build process. I do not claim to be a technical writer, nor an expert of advanced model engineering, and my goal for this blog post is to post images of my copter through construction and attach some notes of my successes and failures along the way, in hopes of helping others as they put together their copters. Please use my techniques and decisions at your own risk.

Index:

• Overview
• Part I - The Parts
• Part II - The Gimbal
• Part III - Reversing the Shaft - (You Are Here!)
• Part IV - Motors and Arms
• Part V - Wiring the ESC's
• Part VI - Assembly
• Part VII - Test Flight
• Part VIII - Custom Road Case

The instructions indicate the "You may need to reverse the shaft" for 6 engines. I believe that it should state the you do indeed have to reverse the shafts. Maybe there is a way to do this without reversing the shafts, but I unknown how to do this. So, this means that for the mount holes for the brushless motors to bee on the opposite side that the shaft is sticking out, you have to reverse it. It is not that difficult of a process, and you'll need a nail tap and a vice. My vice was out in the garage so I came up with a different solution involving a 4x4 scrap piece of wood drilled with a big and deep enough hole to secure the motor on, but have the ability to tap the shaft out.

You can see from this image that the shaft is sticking up on the same side of the motor as the mounts. We need to pull the shaft out, and mount it on the other side of the motor so the mount points will sit flush against the carbon fiber mounts.

Remove the prop shaft connector. and the small metal clip that will be reused.

Remove the set screw.

Separate the top nd bottom halves of the motor and place the outer housing with the shaft pointing down into the hold drilled into the wood.

Use the nail tap to push the shaft down into the hole below until it is free. If you are using a vice, just have something to catch the shaft as it falls. My method, the hold is deep enough into the wood to catch the shaft, and the wood is soft enough not to scratch my motor.

Place the shaft back into the hold on the motor housing the opposite way it was removed. Place the housing over the other half of the motor, reattach the clip to the short side of the shaft motor and tighten the set screw.

Continue to Part IV: Motors and Arms