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Ding in wood prop. Repairable?

I would call another prop manufacturer to be sure, but I think that is repairable unless the underlying wood is damaged. Once upon a time, Mike Demuth told me to fill nicks to the leading edge with JB weld, sand to shape, and move on. That looks like your situation.
 
Same prop

Buddy of mine has the same prop on a -4 180hp --- it needed some TLC and he sent it to Sensenich in Plant City, FL ---- came back in beautiful condition.

Ron
 
Years ago, they repaired one for me (not even their prop) that had a 3-4" long split due to some idiotic maintenance person letting the prop go while doing a compression test. They said they use industrial strength 'Krazy glue', iso-whatever to glue cracks. (Since I do all my own maintenance, the idiot will remain unnamed.)

A neighbor had a bigger chunk than that knocked out of a brand new Prince P-tip prop, and it was repaired successfully. edit: IIRC, Prince told my neighbor the same thing Demuth told Kyle.

If A-D is still around, give them a shout; someone there will almost certainly fix it for you, or tell you how to proceed.

Nicks in wood props are nowhere near the big deal they are in metal.

Charlie
 
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Unless you are really sure you know what you are doing, I think this is a repair to be made by a prop manufacturer.

Remember that prop is going very fast and is VERY critical. A prop repair failure can easily be catastrophic!
 
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Agreed.

I agree with Mell on this one. We have a Prince and love it, but it was one of the older carbon over wood props. It had the older legging edge protectors and found a few good sized stones a couple of times. We repaired it with epoxy per Princes instructions and it did very well. When it picked up another we took it back up to him and had the new style leading edges installed. It now is like a Timex and takes every thing from rain to small rocks. A good wood prop is most often field repairable and even though we can and have done this, I would urge you to run it by a maker of wood props. You can send it to a good maker and they will restore it for just a few hundred dollars and it will be as good as new, that is one of the good things about wood props if you take care of them. It is hard to see in a picture some times, but I think I see you have just broken the gel-coat down to the wood itself. I think you have a good repairable prop here. Just my two cents, Yours, R.E.A. III # 80888
 
AD long gone

I would call another prop manufacturer to be sure, but I think that is repairable unless the underlying wood is damaged. Once upon a time, Mike Demuth told me to fill nicks to the leading edge with JB weld, sand to shape, and move on. That looks like your situation.

Kyle, AD is no more but others are saying Sensenich. I may call them. The damage is deeper than just the gelcoat. Some wood is involved.
 
Unless you are really sure you know what you are doing, I think this is a repair to be made by a prop manufacturer.

Remember that prop is going very fast and is VERY critical. A prop repair failure can easily be catastrophic!

Good words and I agree.
 
Wood Prop Manufacturers

I agree with Mell on this one. We have a Prince and love it, but it was one of the older carbon over... I would urge you to run it by a maker of wood props. You can send it to a good maker and they will restore it for just a few hundred dollars and it will be as good as new, that is one of the good things about wood props if you take care of them. It is hard to see in a picture some times, but I think I see you have just broken the gel-coat down to the wood itself. I think you have a good repairable prop here. Just my two cents, Yours, R.E.A. III # 80888

Robert,

Can you suggest some manufacturers to go to? I have Sensenich and Prince, but who else is out there?
 
Repairable? Yes.

End user repairable? Possibly but only if it can be determined it is surface damage only.

Repair options include paint removal to insure the damage is limited to the edge. Fill the damaged area. Reshape edge. Paint / finish. Static balance.

I?ve done my own Aymar Demuth Prop but only because I had confirmed the damage was limited to just the edge ... and because my shop has the necessary equipment.
 
Ed Sterba...

Dave,
Ed Sterba has repaired other prop makers props in the past. Since Mike Demuth's passing, Ed is is one of the few "original" wood prop carvers still around.
He recently carved my third prop in 25 years for my Sonerai 2 that was once again, dead on performance wise.

His contact info is:
[email protected]

Ed Sterba
9660 SE 72nd Ave
Ocala FL 34472

V/R
Smokey
 
Dave (the OP), when you get this repaired and flying come back to this thread and tell us the results.

That is, how bad was the damage, and how was it repaired? And, is the performance the same as before, and would you repair it again?
 
as a reference data point, MT says anything allowing the wood to be exposed grounds the airplane

the logic is that moisture will get into the wood, and centrifugal force will push it out to the blade tips and crack the blade as it goes

agree with posts above saying you can simply epoxy and sand to match, that agrees with MT's services directive
 
I forget the guy's name, but the owner of Performance Props used to post here. I also met him at Oshkosh several years ago. I'd look him up regarding advice/repairs.
 
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