unbalanced load

Stepper Motors

Hi,

I watched a video by Compumotor recently, and learned something
interesting. It showed what may happen if a stepper is subjected
continuously to an unbalanced load, or if the shaft is subjected to a
hard sideway knock. This may cause the rotor to rub against the
stator, and eventually cause the insulation to fail, destroying the
motor? Don't know if I remembered or describe it correctly, but hope
the experts will elaborate on this further.

I had planned to take a "short-cut" and fix a pulley directly onto
the shaft, which will then drive a timing belt, which will then move
the table. Looks like this will be loading the shaft in an unbalanced
way and likely cause premature failure of the motor?

Also, if one scrimmed on flexible coupler, and use a solid coupler
instead, will this also lead to accelerated demise of the motor?

Peter

BTW what is a hybrid stepper? A stepper with an encoder attached?