Bryan Wood
Well Known Member
One of the things that gives me the creeps when working on my RV is filing on the propeller. My 9a with that big Hartzell on the front seems to act like a vacumn cleaner and pick up stuff off the ramps and leave little nicks in the prop more than my Cherokee ever did so cleaning up the blades happens more frequently.
How do you dress your prop? Any tips, tricks, or special tools? Are there any veterans of propeller dressing out there that would like to share tips and techniques?
Recently somebody showed me how to clean up the prop without removing material, but having never seen anybody else do this I'm reluctant to do it on my airplane. Instead of filing out nicks he uses a smooth steel roller of sorts, such as a large punch and slides it up and down the blade with pressure applied. On the nicks he rolls the punch back and forth instead of just sliding it, and then once smoothed out he slides it back and forth. Over several minutes the blade is free of nicks and the shape of the airfoil appears to be original. For lack of a better term the nicks appear to be "Smooshed" back into place. The end product is beautiful, but I'm wondering if it does anything to prevent cracks or blade failure. It also seems like this method would work harden the affected area. This person is not an A&P, but is pretty crafty none the less. This method makes the prop pretty again, but it just doesn't seem to fix anything. ???
Another person locally has made a set of tools with varying grades of sandpaper adhered to them. The tools are made of some sort of nylon plastic material similar to the plastic that the slider canopy blocks are made from. These seem to work well.
Then of course there are small files and most of us have many of these to work with. Lastly there is the Dremel Tool on the work bench that yearns to be used, but surely must not be allowed to touch my beloved Hartzell. So, please share, how do you clean up nicks from your prop? Is there a right way?
How do you dress your prop? Any tips, tricks, or special tools? Are there any veterans of propeller dressing out there that would like to share tips and techniques?
Recently somebody showed me how to clean up the prop without removing material, but having never seen anybody else do this I'm reluctant to do it on my airplane. Instead of filing out nicks he uses a smooth steel roller of sorts, such as a large punch and slides it up and down the blade with pressure applied. On the nicks he rolls the punch back and forth instead of just sliding it, and then once smoothed out he slides it back and forth. Over several minutes the blade is free of nicks and the shape of the airfoil appears to be original. For lack of a better term the nicks appear to be "Smooshed" back into place. The end product is beautiful, but I'm wondering if it does anything to prevent cracks or blade failure. It also seems like this method would work harden the affected area. This person is not an A&P, but is pretty crafty none the less. This method makes the prop pretty again, but it just doesn't seem to fix anything. ???
Another person locally has made a set of tools with varying grades of sandpaper adhered to them. The tools are made of some sort of nylon plastic material similar to the plastic that the slider canopy blocks are made from. These seem to work well.
Then of course there are small files and most of us have many of these to work with. Lastly there is the Dremel Tool on the work bench that yearns to be used, but surely must not be allowed to touch my beloved Hartzell. So, please share, how do you clean up nicks from your prop? Is there a right way?
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